Tarian Outcast (Page 9)
“Tell Kannon I said hi,” he called over his shoulder without looking back.
“Um, you can probably tell him yourself. Since you’re in the Tarian Pride?” Shifter dynamics were confusing. She turned to Josiah. “He didn’t pay.”
“They never do. Pieces of shit, all of ’em.”
“But…Kannon seems nice.”
“Kannon ain’t one of them. Not anymore,” Josiah said, frowning at the door. “Advice from a stranger, for what it’s worth. Don’t talk to the shifters in this town. It ain’t like Damon’s Mountains where they are accepting and all have a good side. You never know what you’re gonna get in Telluride.”
He set the gun back in its place behind the bar and finished making her margarita just as Drea sang out, “Whooo whooooooo!”
Grinning, Katy turned. She cupped her hands around her mouth to finish their old chant, “I love youuuuuuu!”
Her curvaceous, dark-chocolate-skinned, statuesque, hilarious, grinning, drop-dead-gorgeous bestie of a friend came running for her. Their laughter was so loud as Katy got all swept up in one of Drea’s infamous hugs.
“God, I missed this,” Katy murmured, squeezing her so tight.
“I missed you!”
“I did, too! But…” Katy squeezed her eyes closed so she could keep the moisture building there from falling to her cheeks. “I didn’t realize how much until just now.”
With a chuckle, Drea released her and flopped a gift bag onto the counter. “What’s she having, Jo?”
Josiah was already grabbing for the tequila. “Margarita. I’m guessing you want one, too?”
“Yes! I haven’t had a drink that wasn’t wine in so long!”
“Triplets keeping you busy?” Katy asked.
“Oh, Lord yes. And I started back to work at the flower shop. Donnie and I are still trying to find the rhythm between both our jobs and childcare and raising three boys under two, and God, I’ve been ready for you to come visit. I need a break from my life.”
Katy laughed and took a sip of her margarita. It was delicious. “Is Donnie watching the kids today?”
“Yep! With strict instructions not to bother me with anything unless the boys are bleeding, cussing, or in an ambulance. This is for you.” Drea pushed the gift bag toward her.
“For me? Why? My birthday isn’t for another two months.”
“Oh, this ain’t for your birthday. This is for that Facebook status update saying you’re single. About. Damn. Time! And whatever boy you’re banging that has Dayton texting me relentlessly, trying to find out more about him…” Drea slow-clapped. “Good for you. And fuck him. I hope he thinks about what he gave up every day for the rest of his life. I hope he sees your face whenever he looks at every tramp he tries to take home, too.”
“Drea!”
“What? I wish that on him. Misery. Misery for a miserable motherfucker. Gonna leave my friend on her wedding day. You gotta ’nother goddamn thing coming. Gonna get me and you matching voodoo dolls of him. Donnie said he would get creative on a voodoo doll, too! He hates Dayton.”
“Oh, I know. Remember right before the wedding? Donnie asked me to choose anyone on the planet but Dayton. I didn’t listen, and look what happened.”
“Yeah…” Drea smiled at her. “Look what happened. You found your backbone, girl. I can tell. Now open this and tell me about the new manfriend.”
Katy gushed about Kannon and all the qualities she liked about him as she tore out the bright green tissue paper. There was a ton of it, and it took a while to get to the bottom of the bag. Nestled in the very last layer was a tiny pocket vibrator. “Oh, my gosh, Drea!” Katy flipped the ON button with the edge of her thumbnail. Buuuuuuzzzzzz. She cracked up. “What is this?”
Drea slurped on her margarita and deadpanned, “I’m assuming it’s a close replica of Dayton’s micro-dick. I say ‘close’ because it’s the smallest one I could find, and I’m assuming he’s an extra extra small.” She frowned through Katy’s laughter. “On second thought, I should’ve got you a bigger one so your body can adjust to your new man’s normal dick. What’s his name?”
“Kannon—”
Drea choked on the sip of margarita she’d been in the middle of taking. Her eyes went round and in a careful tone, she asked, “Kannon who?”
Katy lifted her chin higher and said, “Kannon Haid Killian of the T—”
“Tarian Pride,” Drea murmured, finishing Katy’s sentence. “Shhhhit.”
“’Nother drink?” Josiah asked in a somber tone.
“Yeeeeep,” Drea told him. She held up two fingers. “Make them doubles. And we probably need some food. My friend and I have a lot of catching up to do apparently.”
Chapter Ten
Two margaritas was all it took to get Katy a little too tipsy.
See, here was the problem. She had made a deal with herself years ago to not drink on work days. But her boss had her come in to the shop dang near every single day of her life, so she was now the lightest of all lightweights. The cheapest of all cheap drunks. And currently, the bell of the ball—that ball being the Swampy Frog and a slew of Chris Stapleton songs that played through an old jukebox. Which, by the way, wasn’t very Old West because jukeboxes hadn’t existed back at the turn of the century, but the music was nice.
“And here is a video of him saying his first word,” Drea murmured proudly as she hit play on the video.
“Drea,” Katy said, dragging her attention away from the jukebox. “You’ve showed me videos for the past half an hour that I’ve already seen on your social media pages, liked, and commented on.”
Drea frowned and put her phone into her purse. “I’m boring now.”
“No, you aren’t. You are a goddess.”
“Yeah, but I’m wearing mom jeans. My bra and panties don’t even match or really flatter my figure, and all I talk about is my family, who I was so excited to have the day away from so I could hang out with you.”
“Okay, the bra and panties I have no comment on except to say you need to surprise Donnie with some pretty stuff every once in a while if you want him to keep kissing your treasure cavern. But talking about your family doesn’t mean you’re boring! That means you’ve found ‘it.’”
“What’s ‘it’?”
“The something that everyone is searching for. Do you miss them? Right now, do you miss them?”
“Yes,” Drea said softly.
“Good. And despite all the chaos and balancing schedules, do you feel fulfilled?”
Drea nodded.
“Are you happy?”
The corners of Drea’s mouth curved up in a pretty smile.
Katy said, “I already know the answer just from the smile on your face. You aren’t boring. You’ve done it! You’ve found the good life. You’ve found the thing that some people search their whole lives for and never find.”
“Yeah…but just for today, I thought we would party, and it could be like old times.”
“Silly woman, we’ve both changed. I can’t even do three margaritas in one sitting anymore. Who’s the boring one now?”
Drea let off a single, “Ha!” and sucked the rest of her second drink down. “Still me.”
“Amen.”
Katy snickered when Drea swatted her in the arm.
“Okay, but for real,” Drea said. “I’m not the one kissing some lion shifter in the middle of the street. You definitely aren’t the boring one. Show me that picture again.”
Katy pulled up the picture of her and Kannon’s woodland lip-lock on her phone and handed it over.
“Those lions are dangerous as hell, but I do have to admit, he’s really cute. I mean…” Drea looked up at Katy and arched an eyebrow. “Really, really cute. And he looks really into you. I never saw Dayton kiss you like this.”
Katy’s cheeks heated, and she dropped her gaze to the coaster she was spinning around in her hands. “I know you’ve told me the rumors that go around about the Tarians, but Kannon feels different than those. I know I won’t ever see him again, and I know we won’t go anywhere, but I like him. He’s fun. And light. And steady and mature and dangerous, yes, but in the sexy kind of way, and he tastes good and he actually paid for lunch, and you should see him when he takes off his shirt, and did I mention he’s hot? And nice to me? And protective? And he yelled at Dayton on the phone and told him to leave me alone.”
“Well, that last part alone makes me like him.”
Katy snorted. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all?”
“Yep!” Drea said. “Jo, we are going to need those nachos now. I’m feeling these drinks!” She turned to Katy, but something out the front window caught her attention for a second. A grin stretched her face, and she arched her delicate eyebrows. “And besides, never say never.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean never say you definitely won’t see him again, because who knows? Maybe you’ll see him again in thirty seconds. Stranger things have happened.”