Page 29 of Jacob Michaels is Not Crazy

“Okay.”

“It’s not what was on my mind, okay?” Lucas grumbled, looking down at his plate as he ate.

I popped my last bite into my mouth and sat back in my chair and stared at him with a grin.

“You’re jealous.” I cooed.

“I am not jealous.”

“Say it enough times you might believe it.”

“Why would I be jealous?” He looked up at me. “I mean, do I need to be jealous of some vile hairball?”

I laughed as Lucas realized what he had said and how it showed his hand.

“I’m pretty sure you are, regardless of the fact that you don’t need to be.”

“Why do you want to talk to him, then?” Lucas asked firmly. “Why do you need to talk to him?”

“He said that my scent was intoxicating.” I shrugged. “Maybe not those exact words, but…and then you said the same thing the other day. I want to know what that means. At least, what it means to him. Does it mean something different to a werewolf than it does to just some guy who finds me sexually attractive?”

Lucas frowned at me.

“That’s all.”

“You’re going to go talk to some guy you went on a date with to ask him about your…smell?”

“No.” I rolled my eyes. “Just why he said it. Why he said it that way. Why did you say that?”

Lucas didn’t answer me but he continued to eat.

“Because I have some suspicions.”

“Just let it go, Rob.” Lucas glanced up at me, then back at his plate, his mouth full of food. “Don’t get into this.”

“You said that a lot of people in Point Worth have a monkey in their family tree at some branch or another.” I continued, ignoring his plea. “So, maybe I have a monkey in my tree? I mean, you said Oma is a wit—”

Lucas looked up at me with pleading eyes, so I stopped myself.

“Is that it?”

He glanced at the kitchen doorway.

“Don’t.” He whispered lowly. “Please.”

My head tilted to the side of its own volition as I looked at him.

“Mrs. Wagner will be upset with me, Rob.” He said simply. “Please don’t start this right now.”

“I’m not—start—anything, Lucas.” I chewed at my lip. “I just want to know what’s going on.”

“Later.” He said firmly. “Please?”

Why was Lucas so bothered with talking about this stuff in general, but even more so when it was possible that Oma would find out about it? It was almost as if he was scared of her.

“Fine.” I sat back. “But we will talk about this.”

He nodded. “Thank you.”

I was exhausted with everyone in Point Worth being so damn weird. But, when I looked at Lucas, I didn’t really care. When it came to Lucas, I had my qualms about him—but all of them were my own hang-ups about dating and guys in general. That didn’t keep me from wanting to do very naughty things with him every time I saw him. I didn’t even care if he was weird, too. However, he would have to be pretty severely weird to curb my appetite for him. Of course, I didn’t want him to know that.

Examining the situation, I knew that I would eventually have to know what, if anything, was weird about Lucas. I would have to face that—just like I had to face the fact that I went on a date with a werewolf and Oma was a witch—which was still hard to swallow. Because, if I did get my mind and my body into alignment, and that meant I wanted to make Lucas a permanent fixture in my life, it couldn’t be built on lies or even half-truths.

“Should we just spend this lovely, sunny day enjoying each other’s company?” I suggested.

Lucas chuckled. He pointed to the window over the kitchen sink that looked out over the backyard of Oma’s property. I turned my head and saw the snowflakes immediately.

“Well, shit.” I sighed. “I knew I was being facetious, but still.”

Lucas popped the last bite of his food into his mouth and grinned at me.

“Wanna go help Mrs. Wagner build her fire?”

“Absolutely.” I smiled at him.

First, though, we did the dishes from breakfast. Then we joined Oma in the living room. She already had a roaring fire going and had her feet kicked up on the coffee table, roasting her feet, which were covered in big, fluffy, mismatched socks, a wide smile on her face as she lounged on the sofa. She just smiled at us as we took the other end of the couch. Lucas and I kicked our shoes off and kicked our feet up on the coffee table, setting our feet to roast as well. At first, things were odd, especially when Lucas laid his head against my shoulder and wrapped his arms around me. Finally, though, we all settled into easy conversation and reminiscing.

Maybe things didn’t have to be weird all the time.