Love Wins Read online

  “Looks like entrails to me,” Nick said before turning around at the laughs he received. His face turned pale, and Kris’s heart sank for him. Nick obviously hadn’t meant for anyone to hear him, and even if he wanted to run away, Kris’s group blocked him in.

  “Uh, well, that’s the thing about abstract art—it’s up for interpretation,” Kris answered, offering Nick a small smile in sympathy, which he was shocked to see returned. “But I have to agree. It totally looks like intestines.”

  “Ick, it does,” a woman added.

  Kris continued where he’d left off about the more famous pieces in the exhibit. He intended to let his group roam around the room for a few moments in hopes of having a chance to finally talk to Nick, but by the time he wrapped up his main points, Nick had already left. Or so he thought.

  His eyes darted toward the exit, and just before Nick rounded the corner out of the hall, he looked back. A shy smile upturned the corners of his lips, and the butterflies in Kris’s stomach emerged from their cocoons to take flight, a giddiness ballooning inside him. He didn’t believe in love at first sight, but perhaps there was more to his “little crush” than he realized.

  FOR DAYS, Nick couldn’t keep the incriminating smile off his face no matter how hard he tried. He knew as soon as he stepped into his mother’s house for Saturday brunch that they’d smell it on him and circle like sharks until he confessed all his sins, but he had no idea what he’d tell them.

  He and Kris had shared a few awkward smiles and had some sort of weird, inadvertent conversation, if you could call it that. Hardly anything to write home about, or in his case, explain to his family over croissants and mimosas. Before he could open the front door, it swung inward, his sister smirking at him as she handed him a mug of coffee.

  “I thought I heard someone brooding on the front porch.”

  “I was not brooding,” Nick hissed, pushing past her into the house as he juggled his hot brew. He did his best to bite back a smile as he sat down at the kitchen table.

  “That is definitely not ‘not brooding,’” Courtney said as she sat across from him. “Spill.”

  Nick took in a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. “We might’ve talked a little… sort of.”

  “Who? You and Kris?”

  He gave a reluctant nod.

  “As in more than one word? Like an actual conversation?”

  “It’s a blur, really. It happened so fast, and I’m not sure he even recognized me from last time.”

  Courtney brought her mug up to her lips but hesitated as she asked, “Why wouldn’t he?”

  How could he explain what life was like in the shadows when the person asking lived theirs so far out of them? He’d grown up in her shadow, which he didn’t mind. He preferred near invisibility and the freedom it afforded him to move around almost undetected. He observed the world instead of interacting with it, and that worked well for him. Except now he’d found someone he wanted to interact with, but his fears kept him from trying.

  “Oh shoot! We’re out of orange juice,” his mother said, drawing their attention. “Court, be a dear and run to the store.”

  Courtney huffed in protest but downed the rest of her coffee before getting to her feet. “We aren’t done talking,” she said over her shoulder before storming out.

  “Bye,” Nick said, a smug grin on his face. “Hey, Mom.”

  She smiled at him and reached for the coffeepot to pour herself a cup. “How’d your week go, babe?”

  “Can’t complain.”

  He heard the clinking of metal on glass and watched as she stirred her coffee on the walk over to him. She took the seat beside him and sat her mug down to cool. “Any encounters with Kris?”

  His smile must’ve told her all she needed to know.

  “You and Court are very different people, which you know, but I hope you also know she means well.”

  “Of course I do. She just likes getting under my skin.”

  She took his hand and squeezed. “I hate it when you think you aren’t good enough.”

  He pulled away and took a drink.

  “You’re plenty good enough for him.”

  “How do you know? You’ve never even met him. Hell, I barely have.”

  She bit her lip and looked down at her mug. “Courtney and I might’ve done some reconnaissance.”

  “What?”

  “Strictly observational. We just wanted to see what the fuss was about, so believe me when I say you are good enough for him. A mother knows these things.”

  Nick groaned and leaned down to press his forehead against the table.

  “Honey, sometimes the biggest obstacles we face in life come from within,” she soothed, drawing her fingers through his hair. He leaned into the comforting touch. “I know social skills don’t come as easy to you as they do to me and your sister—you can blame your father for that—but you deserve to find happiness, and sometimes that means getting out of your own way.”

  “And how do I do that?”

  “I don’t know; be brave. Take one of his tours, ask him his favorite piece of art, or offer to buy him a cup of coffee. The least he can do is turn you down, and then you can move on to someone worthy of your time. And we’ll get Court to arrest him.”

  He straightened and turned toward her with an incredulous frown.

  “Okay, maybe not the last part.”

  “But what if I can’t?”

  “I won’t pressure you like Courtney, and if you want, I’ll make her back off, but you won’t know if you don’t try.”

  He knew she was right, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try a little harder. “Okay.”

  Her bright smile warmed his heart. “Good. Now help me make pancakes.”

  KRIS WORE his best pair of slacks the next time he went to the museum. They showed off his ass quite well, and Tony said the blue shirt he paired with them brought out the color of his eyes. He might’ve lied, but he sounded genuine. Kris had no guarantee Nick would show up, but if he did, he vowed to have a proper conversation with him for once.

  He gave his first tour and only fumbled a few facts when he got to the abstract exhibit and his thoughts turned to Nick’s sweet smile. He wanted to see more of it, along with every other kind of smile he was willing to share. He’d even put up with the occasional frown, but only if he got first dibs at trying to right it.

  After he finished a bottle of water and gave his throat time to recover from the first tour, he made his way to the meeting area to greet the new arrivals. He scratched his head when he saw Marta leading them into the first exhibit hall. He double-checked the time on his phone, but he hadn’t shown up late.

  “Did Marta just steal my tour?” he asked Judy at the information desk.

  “Oh, she wanted me to tell you you’ll be giving a VIP tour this afternoon.”

  “A what?” Usually the curator gave the VIP tours. He’d never done one on his own.

  The phone rang before she could elaborate, but her too-wide smile unsettled him. He rested an elbow on the reception desk and chewed on a hangnail, his anxiety growing at the thought of making a fool of himself. He liked big tours because half the time the people ignored him. But one-on-one with a VIP? He might have to excuse himself to vomit.

  “Kris,” Henry called, a cheery smile greeting him when he looked up.

  He only had a split second before he registered Nick beside him as the two approached.

  “I want you to meet Nick. He’s a friend of mine, and I hoped you could give him a tour today,” Henry said.

  Kris nodded in reply, his smile already going supernova, but at least Nick returned it this time. “Uh, I’d love to.”

  “Great! You two have fun.” Henry tossed Kris a wink and then disappeared through a side door.

  Kris was too busy smiling like a loon to notice the silence that settled in until Judy cleared her throat. He turned to her, and she raised a brow at him, motioning toward Nick with her head.

  “Oh! Right, I
guess I should lead the way,” Kris said. “Sorry, I don’t usually do private tours.”

  Nick looked down at his shoes. “I-If you don’t want to, it’s fine.”

  “No, of course I want to, but if I stutter a bit, you’ll have to excuse my nerves.”

  “Likewise,” Nick said, meeting his eyes before he bit his lip.

  He looked insanely cute, and Kris wanted to kiss the worried skin, but he smashed down the thought and started the tour. In hopes it would settle his nerves, he stuck to his usual script, pointing out the more relevant pieces and the ones he knew well, but his disappointment grew as they went farther along. It felt too formal and one-sided when he would’ve preferred a dialogue and the chance to talk to Nick, not just lecture at him.

  Had he read the whole situation wrong?

  “I’M BORING you,” Kris said with a sigh when they made it into the abstract exhibit hall.

  “What? No, I’m learning a lot,” Nick insisted, his brow furrowing with worry. On the contrary, Nick had hung onto his every word, taking it all in along with the syrupy sound of his voice. Clearly Kris was the expert here, and he felt intimidated by his breadth of knowledge on the subject.

  And also his brain had yet to recover from the inappropriate thoughts of Kris the nudes had put in his head.

  Kris led him into an empty corner away from the other patrons. “I think… maybe I just assumed wrong, but I had the stupid impression that this was kind of a—oh God,” Kris said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I thought this was like a date, because I’ve seen you around a lot, and I thought you were really cute, but I’m not good at these kinds of things, and now I’m rambling. Point is, if you want to run away from me now, you can. I’ll completely understand.”

  “Y-you wanted a date… with me?” Nick asked for clarity’s sake, because that couldn’t be right.

  “Well, yeah. You’re cute, in case you haven’t noticed, and I thought you might be smart since you hang around the museum. Presumptuous, I know, but I guess I thought we could get together sometime and appreciate art or maybe a movie. That’s also art, sometimes—other times it’s just crap. And I’m rambling again.”

  Nick didn’t know what to say, his eyes darting around to the different pieces on the wall in search of answers. He hadn’t expected Henry to set up a private tour for him with the cutest guide they had when he asked where to find the sign-ups, but on further review, he should’ve caught the impish gleam in his eye when he agreed to take care of it.

  “We can just forget I said anything,” Kris muttered, his eyes unfocused and glassy.

  Be brave.

  “I don’t just come here to appreciate the art.”

  Kris met his eyes, his nervous smile turning hopeful. “No?”

  Nick shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this either, but….” He paused to force down the lump in his throat and take a cleansing breath. He could do this. “Can I, uh, buy you a coffee sometime?”

  “I would love that.”

  “Oh thank God.”

  As it turned out, the earth didn’t fissure and the universe didn’t implode on him when he conquered one of his biggest demons. He’d never had the courage to ask anyone out before, and it felt amazing to overcome something he’d struggled his whole life with. Maybe he’d never be that brave again, but right now it felt worth it because he’d spent hours in that exhibit hall examining all the pieces on display, and he knew firsthand none of them held a candle to Kris’s smile.

  LUCIE ARCHER is a student of the universe who is obsessed with the stars, in love with beaches, and crazy about dudes falling in love. Her weaknesses include a big heart, the sun, self-doubt, and kryptonite… probably. Not the exact recipe for a supervillain, but she has plans to take over the world nonetheless.

  Her first foray into nonacademic writing started with fan fiction—hardly an original origin story—but after a few years of honing her craft with other people’s characters, she realized she was perfectly capable of creating her own. Her underground lair, somewhere in Texas, is now overflowing with them as she prepares to unleash them on an unsuspecting world one book at a time.

  As a realist, she works hard to write stories that are as honest and accurate as possible, regardless of whether that means staying up till 5:00 a.m. researching circumcision in the Ol’ West or refusing to quit until she knows exactly what the runway in Circle Hot Springs, Alaska, consists of. (It’s gravel, in case you were wondering.)

  When she’s not writing, she can be found tending to her garden, playing with her four-legged children, procrastinating, or planning world domination. Although she does spend an awful lot of time fending off random plot bunnies that threaten to derail her WIPs.

  Website: LucieArcher.com

  Twitter: @Lucie_Archer

  Facebook: facebook.com/writerluciearcher

  Cats and Christmas Trees: Trouble Waiting to Happen

  By M.A. Church

  A Fur, Fangs, and Felines story

  What’s a half human to do when Christmas rolls around? Kirk tries ignores it, but his shifter mates Tal and Dolf, being sneaky kitties, persist in finding out what’s troubling him so they can make it better.

  Kirk

  FINALLY.

  I picked up the remaining cups of eggnog, took them to the kitchen, and quickly washed them while nibbling on the Mexican hot chocolate sugar cookies I had made. There weren’t many left. Werecats couldn’t taste sweets, but they could certainly taste spicy, hot things. Needless to say the cookies had been a hit. Werecats and food went together like peanut butter and jelly.

  The party had gone well. One of my mates, Tal, had noticed the closer we got to December, the quieter I became. He wanted to know why, but I ducked the question. Since the clowder I now belonged to were feline shifters, they didn’t worship a human god. And since Dolf and Tal had found and mated me, I too was no longer human.

  Of course, no longer being human didn’t change the fact I missed having a Christmas tree with a pile of gifts underneath, although I hadn’t had that the last few years. Things had been tight, and I’d been living paycheck to paycheck. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t as if I had anyone to buy presents for, since I was all alone and really didn’t have any close friends. Buying presents for myself felt silly.

  Then, on a snowy New Year’s Eve night not long ago, two stray cats—who I later learned were Dolf and Tal—showed up. I took them in, even though I could barely take care of myself. Amused, I watched them down the cans of tuna I found in a nearly bare cupboard like they’d been starved, even though they were ginormous and their coats were glossy.

  Little did I know how much they’d change my life.

  Since I wouldn’t come clean on what upset me, Tal, the imp, sicced Dolf on me. Several hours and a warm ass later, I finally admitted what the problem was. I wanted a tree, wanted gifts, wanted a party with our friends. Even though these shifters worshiped the cat goddess Bast, they understood the reason behind the season. So we talked and decided to make the holiday fit us and who we were.

  They did it for me, to make me happy, and I couldn’t love them more.

  Tal came up with the idea of having our Alpha and the rest of the betas over for a rousing game of Secret Santa. After explaining what the game was to everyone and setting a price limit, we planned a party.

  My sides were still hurting from how hard I laughed. Seeing our Alpha take the shiny paperweight Heller had become attached to was the funniest damn thing I’d ever seen. But seeing our Alpha frown mightily as Dolf took it from him left me in tears.

  Remi tried to hide what he took from someone else so he could keep it from being taken. It was a T-shirt that said I’m not Santa, but you can sit on my lap. Aidric dug through the wrapping paper until he found it, making Remi growl. Briar kept throwing balled-up wrapping paper at Heller, hitting him in the head, which made Heller bitch about his hair being messed up.

  There was trash-talking, shouts of encouragement, threats, an
d even a growl or two.

  As I finished loading the dishwasher, I glanced over at the soaring, white flocked tree in the living area. It was gorgeous and something I had always wanted but refused to buy because of the cost.

  All it had taken was my mentioning that desire in passing to Dolf, and the next thing I knew, there the tree was, standing in front of the den’s prowl windows. They spoiled me shamelessly, and I adored them for it.

  We lived in a huge log house with a truss system that Tal had built before they’d found me. The whole damn front of the house was nothing but windows. Honestly, the place was a huge cat play area.

  The fireplace crackled, and the smell of burning wood relaxed me. This was our first Christmas together, and it had been perfect. Tonight promised to be even better, or it would be just as soon as my two absentee mates showed up. Where the hell had they gotten off to? I was going to tie both their tails in knots for sticking me with cleanup. Sneaky little fur balls.

  Nails clicking on hardwood floors drew my attention from the fireplace. Wiping my hands on a dishtowel, I turned, snorting with laughter. I should’ve known. A rather large, jet-black cat raced down the hall, hot on the heels of a snow-white cat.

  In human form, Dolf’s hair was black, and when he shifted, his cat’s coat was the same gorgeous color. Tal, the clowder’s Omega, had long blond hair. All Omegas either had blond or red hair. When Tal shifted, his coat was pure white.

  Grinning, I left the kitchen and sat on the couch, preparing to enjoy myself. They’d eyed the tree from the first night we’d put it up and decorated it. All those shining, gleaming objects had driven my mates nearly insane. Cats and Christmas trees.

  Boy, if that wasn’t asking for trouble, I didn’t know what was.

  A blur of white flew past me as Tal ran the length of the den. Dolf was right behind him, swatting at Tal’s hind legs. Tal yowled playfully over his shoulder at Dolf and then leaped up to one of the numerous shelves throughout the space. Dolf sat on the ground, his tail swishing as he looked up at Tal.