Page 89 of Lucky In Love

Lucky laughed. “That’s how it goes.”

“Favorite animal?”

Without missing a beat, Lucky replied, “Tigers are beautiful.”

Once again, Crash was swallowing down a purr and sending up prayers of thanks to the gods.

Just as with every time before, Lucky sunk the quarter on her next bounce and smiled as she looked over at him. “If you were to come home and find a live penguin in your freezer, what would you do?”

All Crash could do was stare at her and blink. What kind of question is that?

Chapter Three

Shelly

Crash was about five shots into the game when Shelly decided it was time to call it quits. He was leaning heavy on the table and his eyelids were at half mast. The man was sloshed. Her night wasn’t going to end with a ride on the biker boy, but that was okay. It was the best date she’d ever had.

Her biker — and yes, she had begun to think of him as hers — was sexy, a gentleman, hilarious, and had a sharp intelligence behind those blue eyes. His bad boy persona and the facial hair were just icing on top of that very appealing dessert. Sure, it could all be an act, but her gut was telling her he was the real deal, and she was trusting her instincts.

“Time to go, biker boy,” she said as she stood, sliding her feet back into her heels and slinging her purse across her body. “Let’s get you back to your room.”

Crash slowly stood and wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning into her. “Only if you’re coming with me.”

His slightly slurred words were low and full of lust, but she doubted he’d be able to act on any of the promises behind them. Still, she patted him on the chest and nodded. “I’ll stay with you. Let me make sure the bartender is okay with your bike staying here.”

Crash nodded.

As she slid out of his grasp, she felt a slight slap to her ass and shook her head as she laughed, hearing a deep groan behind her from Crash. It took her just a few moments to secure an okay from the bartender, then they were on their way out of the pub and down the sidewalk, headed for the hotel Crash said he was staying at.

Shelly checked the address on her phone and was happy to see that it was only a few blocks down the street. With the way he was swaying when he walked, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle getting him any further than that without having to call for a ride. He wasn’t being uncooperative, but drunks were rarely easy to wrangle.

“Thank you,” he mumbled into her neck as he attempted to cuddle with her as they walked.

“For what?” Shelly tried to steer him down the sidewalk. “Gotta help me out here, biker boy. You’re too heavy for me to carry.”

“Ope, sorry.” He straightened. “For taking care of me.” Slowly, his path started to veer off to the right as he stared at her instead of where he was walking. “You’re amazing. My mate is a great woman.”

Mate? Shelly grabbed his arm to stop him from slamming his head into the side of a brick building that lined the sidewalk and pulled him back to the middle of the walkway. “Mate?”

Crash yawned and nodded. “Yeah. You’re my mate. My tiger told me. The gods picked you for me. I knew it at the restaurant. Then I saw you… and… and… yeah… fuck yeah.”

Shelly assumed that fuck yeah was a compliment, but she was still confused. “Your tiger? The gods? Mate? You’ve lost me.”

“That’s because I didn’t tell you about shifters yet, but I will. I will when you’re ready. Don’t worry. It will make sense.” He yawned again and almost walked out into traffic, but Lucky grabbed onto the back of his leather and yanked him backward. He was talking almost as if he didn’t realize he was speaking out loud, as if every thought that ran through his mind was popping out of his mouth and he didn’t have a clue.

“Shifters? Like Twilight?”

“Kinda.”

Shelly was pretty sure that her biker boy had drank enough to somehow dream while awake, or maybe he was having delusions. Either way, she’d play along until she got him safely tucked in. Then she’d reevaluate the situation.

Checking, she found that the traffic had cleared, and she helped him across the street. “One more block, Shifty.”

As he stumbled along at her side, he asked, “When we get to the room, want to see my tiger?”

Shelly snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

***