Page 36 of Friends to WHAT?!

He smiles down at the video monitor. “She’s a sweet girl.”

“That would’ve been around the time we got the clock?” Sterne asks, and Wolfe confirms.

“The problem was being handled on multiple fronts,” he says. “I’m not sure which one tipped the scales in our favor, or if it was a combination of all of them, but we got there eventually.”

I melt, just a little, when Sterne mirrors Wolfe’s soft gaze at the little girl in the video feed.

She is so loved.

Heis so loved.

I know that it bothers him sometimes, Amia not having her mother, but I can’t think of a more cared for child. Wolfe is not alone. He has Sterne, and his parents, and his siblings, and nearly every single person in this bar tonight standing right at his side as he raises his little girl.

Inexplicably, I think I just might cry.

I push my latest drink away from me.

Wolfe turns his head, catching the movement and questioning it with the rise of his brows. Before I can decide howto respond—I donotwant to get weepy during our first ever not date—another visitor shows up at our table.

I blink at the man.

Not short, not tall, he stands in an elaborate suit, complete with a floral waistcoat and a gold-tipped cane. Thick, wavy blond hair sits atop his head, bringing forth visions of lions’ manes. His eyes, more golden than brown, crinkle down at us.

I’ve never seen him up close before.

Stars, he looks like a fae prince. How in the world does Poem’s sister work for this man day in and day out? How does she not simply expire at the sight of him every morning? He’s not even my type, and I can hardly stand to look at him for more than a glance. He’s just sopretty.

“Mayor,” Sterne greets.

Wolfe’s face transforms, not into respectful deference, like Sterne’s, or enthralled appreciation, like mine, but into something much,muchmore interesting. One moment, he’s a little bit confused about my abandonment of my drink, but clearly pulled back from the edge of irritation by talk of his daughter. The next moment, he’s staring at the eccentric mayor of October and cursing, irritation back in full swing—and some might even call it something stronger than irritation. I don’t think it’s anger, but it certainly rides the line as he glares at the fae prince.

My eyes widen, and my skin prickles.

This is it! It’s time! It’s happening!

“Hello, constituents!” Veryan Hale greets, bowing his golden head. “I’ve come to express my vested interests in your lives and happenings.”

Wolfe repeats his curse, and Sterne’s mouth tips up in pleasure at the other man’s ire.

I all butbuzzin anticipation. Will it be themayorthat Wolfe loses it on, or whatever poor soul follows him?

Our fae lord continues, “As you know, elec–”

“No,” Wolfe barks,finally.

Mayor Hale jerks as he’s silenced. “N-o?” he asks, hand to his chest. “You don’t know about the elections?”

Wolfe looks at Mayor Hale,snarls, and growls, “No, you may not have a vested interest in our lives and happenings at this exact moment.” He stands, and the mayor takes a step back to get out of his way. “No onemay takeany moreinterest in our lives or happenings tonight,” he declares to the room at large.

An ice cube clinks on a glass, and Sonnet Devoe whispers, “Oh dear, he’s done it again.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see her start to push through the crowd to get to her boss, Veryan Hale, Fae Prince of October.

“I’m at my family bar,” Wolfe continues, glaring so ferociously he’s giving Fox a run for his money, and Fox ispracticedwith his glare. “I’m in my home. I’m meeting my friend. I amnothere to entertain the masses, and I’m definitely not here to hold court with you all. Most of you, I love. Most of you, I would love to talk to literally any other time, when you’re behaving with an ounce of manners. Right now? I don’t want to talk. Unless you are personally invited to my booth, I’d like all of you to go ahead and consider yourselves unwelcome in this corner. If you need to talk to me—notgawkat me—you can do it some other time.” He runs narrowed eyes over the room, then falls back onto the bench next to Sterne, who sets his hand on Wolfe’s shoulder and squeezes.

I fan myself.

Sonnet reaches our table and starts to herd the mayor away. “Sorry, Wolfe,” she says. “Leora. Sterne. I apologize. He got away from me.”

Mayor Hale smiles genially down at her as she prods him away from us, his voice fading with every step they take. “Sonnet, dear, youmuststop speaking about me like I’m yourchild. We’ve talked about this. If you speak of me as a child, you will think of me as a child. I don’t want you to think of me as a child. I want you to think of me as…”