“I feel under dressed,” he said, looking at her crisp white shirt.
“Not as under dressed as your buddy Woodstock there,” she laughed.
Ryan looked down and chuckled, then looked back up at her. “It was a gift from my Mom.”
“That’s cute.”
Lucy wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or a bad sign. Either he was an overgrown mama’s boy or it was incredibly endearing that he had no issue wearing such a silly shirt out and about, even on a date. She had to remind herself that it didn’t matter either way. This was casual. Nothing serious and never would be.
“Thanks. She used to buy me one for my birthday every year.”
“Used to? She doesn’t anymore?”
“No. Sadly enough, no more t-shirts for me.”
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said, not sure what that meant or if she should ask. Nothing like starting a conversation off by bringing up someone’s dead mother.
“It’s okay. She just decided that I was too old for them and started giving me more grown up gifts. Truth is, I kind of miss them. So, I wear them when I get a chance. This is a pretty casual place and I thought you might be amused.”
“I am.”
“My work here is done then. Let’s get some food!” he said as their server approached.
With food on the way, the conversation resumed.
“So, your mother lives nearby then?”
“Yes. My entire family lives on the outskirts of town. They own a sheet metal shop that makes custom parts, mostly for our pack and others, but also for some of the locals.”
“I take it that you didn’t want to be in the sheet metal business?”
“No. I, um - I lost a brother to drugs when I was fairly young. It’s not that common with um, us, you know, but it happens.”
“I’m sorry. That’s horrible. I’ve known a handful of . . . us who have gone down that path. It’s not pretty.”
Lucy silently cursed herself. She’d escaped the potentially dead mother conversation only to end dredging up a dead brother instead.
“It’s okay. I was so little when he died. I don’t really remember any of the . . . bad stuff. I just know he was my brother and I loved him, but then he was gone and it hit me pretty hard. When I was older and understood what had happened to him, it struck me that I wanted to do something about the people who took him from me.”
“That’s understandable. So, you became a cop,” she said, carefully avoiding any discussion of what he might have done to anyone in particular that might have been associated with his brother’s death prior to that. Wolves weren’t exactly known for strictly abiding by the rules humans typically observed.
“Yes. I became a cop. In fact, I just got promoted. Today was my first day working more directly with the kind of people that led my brother astray.”
“That sounds exciting,” she replied.
He merely nodded, taking a sip of his sparkling water as the server arrived with their burgers and fries. The conversation slowed a bit as they ate, but picked right back up once they were finished and left the restaurant.
“So, the trail then?” he asked.
“You’re serious?”
“Completely.”
Lucy thought about it for a moment. The trail would likely be devoid of anyone at this time of night, as it was closed after dark. She would be completely alone on it with an Alpha wolf who she’d only been out with once before. It was risky, but there was a part of her that kept saying it would be okay. She wanted to go, but she was frightened. She told herself that it was all about being alone in the dark with a man she didn’t know that well, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew it was just as much that she didn’t trust herself with spending too much time with him.
She looked toward the trail and then back toward him. Why could she never just make a decision without overthinking it?CHAPTER SIXRyan
Ryan didn’t miss her hesitation and he understood it. He was a cop, after all. He rarely missed body language or verbal clues. He was fully prepared to make an excuse so she didn’t feel bad about rejecting the invitation. There was no reason he couldn’t say he hadn’t realized how late it was getting and retract it, but she finally answered.
“Sure. Let’s go, but not too far out. Okay? It’s late and I have early classes tomorrow.”
He almost laughed but held it back and reached for her hand instead. They ducked into the entrance at the trail head and began slowly winding their way upward toward the first overlook. Though there were several on the way up, the top one was the most spectacular, especially at night. You could look out all over the city and see the lights below. They wouldn’t go that far up tonight.