“You say the F-word a lot.”
“It’s my favorite fuckin’ word in the entire fuckin’ world.”
“I don’t cuss.”
“Maybe you should. It makes everything feel better.”
“Everything like what?”
Nox ripped his gaze away from her and gave it to the map under his hands. His voice was empty when he muttered, “Like life. The F-word makes life feel better.”
“I want a puppy.”
“I’m sorry,” he deadpanned without looking up.
“The one I want is really cute. You wanna see a picture?”
“No. If you were a dragon and lived in these mountains,” he said, jamming a finger at the map, “where would you set up your lair?”
“A real dragon?” she asked, panicking at the thought.
“Nope. Hypothetically speaking. I like to play games. If you were a dragon, and not a submissive, albeit sexy little fox shifter, where would you set up camp?”
Nevada nearly choked on air, and in a rush, scanned the room to see if anyone had heard. “You can’t say that out loud. No one here knows.”
“That you’re sexy? Trust me, they know.”
“No!” she whisper-screamed. “That I’m a fox.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think foxes existed anymore,” he said at normal conversational volume.
She wanted to throat-punch him, which was insane because her tendencies were anything but violent. “I’m leaving.”
“Fine.” He gave her an empty look that dared her to go.
She stood and gathered her purse close. “I don’t understand you.”
“No one does.”
“You’re mean with almost everything you say, but you have these moments of goodness that keep me thinking about you.”
“I’m not one of those men you’ll ever fix, so if that’s in your head? Leave right now. I won’t change. I’m a stone. I’m not capable.”
There was something so frustrating about his outright refusal to ever compromise, but there was something so intriguing about his complete honesty. Frustrating and intriguing, just enough to make her second-guess her decision to go.
“So you’ll make everyone around you compromise, and you’ll never change.”
Something akin to hurt flashed across his eyes, but then they went hard and cold so fast she thought she must’ve imagined it.
“Pretty much. I told you I don’t like people, and I don’t like change. Sit and eat nachos with me and talk about theoretical dragons and shoot whiskey. That’s what I can offer you. Nothing more.”
“Why?”
“Enough questions.”
“Why can’t you offer more?” she asked again, refusing to let him get out of this one. “Why can’t you be nice? Why do you pick? Why when I say I don’t cuss does it make you want to string them together?” Why are you so damaged? That last one she kept carefully in her throat, refused to let it escape because it was too deep, too soon.
His lip twitched up into a snarl. He leaned toward her. “Because I’m the son of the cursed bear, raised by beasts, raised to be affected by no one, and to lift two middle fingers to anyone who would dare try to change me. I am who I am. Accept it or leave.”
“But I’m supposed to change to be more comfortable around you.”
“No, Nevada Foxburg. I wouldn’t ask you to change either. That’s the beauty of spending an afternoon with someone who cares for nothing. You can be just who you are around me, and I won’t judge.”
“Because you don’t care.”
Nox lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
She should go. Nox was dangerous. Not only was he physically dangerous to a smaller shifter like her, but he felt dangerous to her heart too. The cursed bear? Oh, she knew who he was now. He was the only son of Clinton Fuller of the Boarlanders—half-feral, giant grizzly shifter with a wild streak so wide it had clearly stretched to his son. Nox was a grizzly. Of course, he was. But Nox was also too interesting for his own good or hers, and her every instinct screamed that he was trouble. Sexy, sexy trouble. They were doomed as friends, much less more than that. Foxes bred foxes. Thems were the rules. Even if Nox was interested, they were from two totally different worlds.
He was dangerous and safe all at once.
Slowly, she slid back onto the bar stool. And soft as a breath, she whispered, “You said I was interesting, but I think you might be the interesting one.”
“Compliments will get you nowhere with me.”
Nevada blew out a frustrated breath, lifting the strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face. “You’re rude, uncompromising, probably don’t take direction very well, and you should really clean your boots off before you walk into a place. You’re too loud, too careless, and too rough, and I think someday you’ll be mated only to the idea that you’re better off alone because people are too much work instead of admitting it’s you who caused your own loneliness.”
Nox offered her a slow and genuine smile. “Much better.” He nodded magnanimously. “And thank you.”
Chapter Four
Nox was trying not to stare at Nevada.
He was trying to be a cool-boy, but she was making it so damn difficult.
Sexy. Curvy. Fox.
She was tipsy now, relaxed. He’d needed her to relax. Something was wrong with her, but he couldn’t figure out if it was a problem with her human side or her animal side. She didn’t like people. No. That wasn’t it. She couldn’t deal with people. She shrank when anyone passed too close to her chair at the bar. Even three shots in, talking to the bartender made her stutter and blush and lower her voice like she had no dominance at all. She made no sense and made all the sense in the world at once.
Why? Because Nox was fucked up around people too, just in a different way. His was an animal problem, and a self-indulgent part of him hoped her issue with her anxiety was an animal problem too, so he didn’t have to feel so fucking alone with his issues.
Selfish monster. He should leave her alone.
All he did was make the people around him miserable. Oh, he knew it. He wasn’t blind. Anyone he liked, he fought. Anyone he respected, he fought. Anyone he wanted to be friends with? He acted out in a way they didn’t understand, and they ran or pushed him away.