have been an understatement.
“I just never figured you for Daniel’s type. Or any guy’s type for that matter,” Cora continued, her pert little face drawn in a frown.
“There’s nothing feminine about you, from that sloppy ponytail you’re too lazy to change to the jeans and T-shirts that fill your wardrobe. Hell, you’re not even wearing makeup.” She finished with a huff.
I heard her talking, only taking in bits and pieces as I’d already learned to do with Cora. Looking down I noted the jeans she’d referenced and my hair was in a ponytail but this was a date, not the senior prom, so little miss priss could kiss my …
“And you wear too much makeup,” was my eventual retort. Then, with an exasperated sigh, “I assume Daniel is on his way up and that’s how you know I’m going out with him.”
When she didn’t immediately reply, I turned to look at her while lifting my jacket from the coatrack by the door. She looked up at me and rolled her eyes.
“Yes, he’s coming. He asked what room you were in and I asked why. I should have lied,” she snapped.
At least she was an honest pain in the ass, I thought before shaking my head and muttering, “Thanks.”
I opened the door before Daniel could knock. He looked shocked. I wasn’t. I’d scented his arrival along with the heavy herb aroma of jealousy pouring from Cora’s direction. Despising the shifter traits and how lately they’d seemed to hit me full force, I pressed my hand against his chest to push him back slightly. “Don’t ask,” I told him, closing the door behind me.
He chuckled. “Okay.”
***
Dinner at the Olive Garden had never been so sweet. As many times as I’d been to the place since it was one of the closest restaurants to the school—outside of the pizza/sub shop, Starbucks, and O’Shea’s Bar & Grille—I’d never had such a wonderful time. Daniel was so easy to talk to, we didn’t argue at all. Except over the last breadstick, which ended with him breaking it in half and putting a piece up to my lips for me to bite.
“Would you like to stop for a drink?” he asked when we’d ridden a little way in silence.
I’d been looking out the window thinking of how different dinner with Daniel was from any time spent with Brayden and chastising myself for doing so. “Ah, sure, that sounds fine,” I answered halfheartedly.
For some reason I’d wanted to get back to the dorm as quickly as possible. I had homework but I didn’t think I was anxious to get it completed. No, there was something else, a feeling simmering just beneath the surface of my skin. It felt weird, like it didn’t actually belong but was taking place anyway. This had been happening much too frequently. I didn’t like it at all but knew there was no way to stop it. Shadow Shifters had heightened senses as part of their normal genetic make-up. They needed them to hunt, to fight, to stay alive in the depths of the rainforest where they’d been born.
I talk about them as if I do not belong to their culture, because I don’t. I won’t, not ever again.
I’d barely noticed the car had been parked before Daniel was pulling the door open for me. Unclasping the seat belt, I stepped out into the crisp night air and sucked in a quick breath. If I didn’t want to be a shifter, the only other choice I had was to be a human. A human on a first date with a really nice guy.
“Are you alright?” Daniel asked, quickly coming to me and grasping me by the elbow.
I yanked my arm away instantly as his touch had been painful, or almost, kind of. It just hadn’t felt right and so I reacted. Daniel frowned.
“I’m sorry. Yes, I’m okay, just a little jumpy for some reason.” Praying that would be enough to stop him from looking at me like I’d just grown another head, I stepped closer, touching a hand lightly to his. “Let’s have that drink.”
He seemed to soften, his quizzical look changing slowly as he closed the door, then took my hand, walking
Buffalo Bill's America: William Cody, the Wild West Show