Being(s) In Love 03 - A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate by R. Cooper Page B

this tricksy pixy believes you,” Violet insisted, “but I’m going to call your mom anyway. Finish cookies. Talk to Mom. Go to bed. Or stay up. Whatever you want. His name doesn’t have to come up ever again.” Violet petted the top of Theo’s head, and Theo didn’t feel like reminding them he wasn’t a dog. He finally gave in and leaned against his friend.
    “I want to finish those cookies, Violet.” Theo kept his voice gentle. “That’s all I want. Really.”
    Violet gave a long, dramatic sigh. “Werewolves are terrible liars.”
    That was true. But what Theo wanted he couldn’t have, so he might as well finish the cookies. He moved, and Violet climbed off him, smelling of lavender and salt and anger. But when Theo went back to the kitchen, Violet followed, and kept silent as Theo lost himself in the icing.

Chapter 3

     
    “O H , SWEET destiny, what have you brought me?” Zeki pushed his nose against the coffee shop’s pastry display as though he’d never seen cookies before. Bars of different kinds and brownies and croissants were also available, but the row of fat pandas was too pretty to be ignored. If they were the same as the sugar cookie from yesterday, then Zeki was sold. “Two pandas please, and a job if it’s still available.”
    He straightened up in time to catch Mr. Elliot’s startled twitch. He couldn’t have been surprised to have a job applicant; he had a Help Wanted sign in his window. The tourist season was coming up. The coffee shop was going to start getting packed in the afternoons, and, naturally, on fire truck washing days as well.
    “You want to work here?” Mr. Elliot got out two cookies and gestured questioningly at a paper bag, instead of reaching for a plate. Zeki nodded, although the moment the bag was in his hand he shook out part of one cookie and bit the head off. Impulse control wasn’t usually an issue for Zeki; in fact, he had cultivated patience for the sake of his training. He had even learned to appreciate delayed gratification over the years. But that crescent moon cookie had lingered in his mind the day before, one of the few rewarding moments of a day spent feeling weird about being back in town and receiving glares from about half the citizenry.
    Well, it felt like half the citizenry. Zeki might have been sensitive after encountering the pixy from high school in the drugstore. The pixy was, or had been, Theo Greenleaf’s best friend, and the only one who ever called him “Teddy baby,” outside of Theo’s sister, not that Zeki had constantly eavesdropped on Theo’s conversations or anything. Zeki was simply observant, and in high school, Theo had been what he’d wanted to observe.
    Zeki might have had some fantasies about calling Theo that nickname too, fantasies he had forgotten about until confronted by a pissed-off pixy when he’d been trying to get some toothpaste.
    “Money is good.” Zeki explained his job-seeking with a wave after he’d chewed his sugar cookie. “I know I have a degree and an interest in magic, but I also know this job is seasonal, and I only plan on being here a few months. I need something to do, and if it helps, I was a barista during my sophomore year, and I remember how to work the machine.”
    “Yes, but….” Mr. Elliot seemed puzzled. He hadn’t even asked Zeki to pay yet. He was possibly trying to refer to the fact that Zeki had managed to become persona non grata in Wolf’s Paw in less than a day. Zeki wasn’t denying that. It was a mystery how he’d done it. But that was one of Zeki’s many faults; he loved a mystery. During his restless, sleepless night, he’d started to wonder why the town was so accepting of his father and not him. And since he was leaving anyway, he might as well stay and annoy everyone who didn’t like him. He might even figure out why.
    “If I’m going to drive away your clients, don’t worry about it.” Zeki pulled out some cash and left it on the counter. After a pause, he