Page 116 of My Big Fat Shifter Wedding

“Ay, Mama, I aged out of being a signorina somewhere in my twenties,” I objected, although I didn’t take offense. “But no matter what, I’ll always be your little girl.”

Her eyes became shiny with tears, which had been happening a lot more during the lead-up to my wedding. “Sì. This is true.”

We hugged, and then my phone rang. Considering my nuptials were in less than five days, I hurried to check it to make sure it wasn’t some last-minute pull out or other emergency. Because with my luck, that was bound to happen.

Thankfully, however, I didn’t see any of the many new numbers I’d had to save for my various points of contact. It was Amanda’s name flashing on my phone screen.

She rarely ever called me unless it was urgent, usually preferring to text or even send voice messages over our online chat, so I figured it would be better if I picked up even if the timing wasn’t the best.

“Sorry, Mama, I gotta take this.”

“It’s okay! You are a busy, busy bee! I’m going to go start on dinner; will you be with us tonight?”

“I should be, but it’ll depend on what this call is about.”

“Sì, understood. Just let me know!”

“I will!”

My mother hurried out, no doubt to sniffle happily over whatever she was making in the kitchen below, and I hurried to answer the call.

“Hey, what’s u⁠—”

“OhmyGodOliviaI’mSOgladyouanswered!”

Amanda’s words came as one solid rush that was so fast my brain lagged before it figured out what she’d said. Uh-oh, this did not seem like a regular check-in call.

“Is everything okay?” I asked uncertainly, fearing the worst.

“Oh my god, I messed up so bad! I just… I thought he was understanding! I thought he liked me for me!”

Amanda was crying, something I’d never heard her do outside of being kissed by Rosemary and Oregano, or during a character death in particularly well-done animated movies. Anger and concern ripped through me, all thoughts of my wedding vanishing without so much as a hint of resistance.

“Amanda, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” And for that matter, who was he?

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s not anything like that. You remember that guy from the comic book shop? The one I wasn’t sure it was fair to date because I don’t know if I’m really into sex or ever am going to be?”

“I remember.” How could I forget? Amanda had come out to me with something that was sensitive to her, and I had never once taken that for granted. It had really cemented to me that she saw me as her true friend. Maybe one day, I would return the favor and tell her I was a wolf. “Did it not go well?”

A choked-off wail sounded from her, and I was already out of my door and thundering down the stairs. Thankfully, the few people who were in the house around this time of day knew better than to get in my way.

“That’s the thing, it was going well! Really well! I meant to tell you, but we haven’t had much time to talk outside of the wedding, and you know how I tend to focus now that we’re in the final countdown!”

“I do know that,” I said, grabbing my keys from where they hung by the front door and sprinting out to my car. “But please, Amanda, even if I am getting married, I still wanna know what’s going on in your personal life.”

“I knew you were gonna say that. And I should have. But I also think I didn’t want to jinx it. Our first date was awesome. It was so chill, and he wasn’t rude or sexual and didn’t put any weird pressure on me. I thought I was going to have a super romantic story like you and Keith, so I didn’t want to spoil it!”

I would have been more flattered if my best friend didn’t sound like she was still fighting off her tears, so I quickly connected my phone to my Bluetooth and peeled out of the driveway faster than was probably advisable.

“I’m guessing by this call that it didn’t turn out that way, and I am so sorry. If you couldn’t already hear in the background, I’m heading to you right now. Do you wanna finish telling me the story when I get there? Or have me stay on the phone?”

“Oh God, you’re coming here? You must think I’m so fucking stupid!”

“What? No! Why would you think that? Why would I ever think that?”

“Because you’re so smart and put-together and mature, and I’m here crying because this guy I was seeing came over after our fifth date and tried to put the moves on me! Who does that? A moron, that’s who!”

I gripped the steering wheel so hard it creaked. “Hey, that’s my best friend you’re talking about, so watch your language,” I said, hoping the slight bit of levity would make it stick better. “And for the record, you’re not a moron for thinking that someone wanted to hang out with you just for you. He didn’t... he didn’t try to...” Even trying to say the words made me nauseous. Not because I didn’t think it happened, but because the idea that someone would hurt my best friend in that way had my inner wolf howling and pacing within me, waiting for the opportunity to attack.