I shrug against his chest. The sadness I buried so deeply, the one I've been running from all these years surfaces, but lying on Titus' strong chest makes it seem less consuming than it used to feel. "I had no college education. I didn't want to go crawling back to my parents, especially because they hadn't supported me marrying so young. I didn't want to hear I told you so.
"A friend of a friend who made jewelry for a living invited me to join her on the arts and crafts circuit. I helped her while I figured out what I could make that would sell and not compete with her, and I've been doing the circuit ever since."
"And then you met Foxfire's dad? What happened with him?"
"Johnny. Yeah. He wasn't the settle down and marry type. He was a very kind man. We had a spark immediately. Like you and me."
Titus' brow wrinkles but his gray eyes remain intent on my face and he doesn't interject anything.
"He had a really backwards family. Some kind of cult, really. And they wouldn't allow him to leave the flock or marry or anything. He was out selling wares on the circuit, too. That's how we met. We hooked up. It was his first time with a woman, and he didn't even think about condoms. I didn't insist because-well, I knew I'm not exactly Fertile Myrtle and he was obviously clean."
"But you got pregnant."
"Yes. We'd already parted ways when I found out, and he felt terrible. He talked about leaving his cult to come and live with me, but I didn't want that kind of pressure. I'd already had the picket fence and the provider husband and it sucked. The pressure to be perfect was too much to live up to, you know?"
Titus' jaw flexes. "Yeah, but he had a responsibility for the kit. I mean your little girl."
I laugh. "Did you call her a kit because of her name? That's so cute."
Titus' steel-gray gaze bores a hole through me.
"He did the best he could. He sent cash when he could scrape it together, but he was as poor as I was. I sent pictures. It worked out fine. Honestly, it's probably easier to raise a child on your own. No one to argue with about how they should be raised."
Titus shrugs. "True. Although I still don't get how a parent could live without their child. It's unnatural."
I tilt my head, noticing the clouds in his aura. "You never forgave her for leaving, did you?"
Titus stiffens, his abs going rock hard like he requires protection. I run my fingernails lightly down his chest, over his belly.
"No, I didn't. But she didn't just leave us. She cost me my job. My livelihood. She embezzled thousands of dollars from the company I worked for and then took off."
I can't hide my shock. "Wow. Total betrayal."
"Right."
"I'll bet you felt like you didn't even know who she was after she left."
He leans up on his elbows. "Exactly. How do you know that?"
I shrug. "I felt the energy of it. I'm so sorry, Titus. So you have to know it had nothing to do with you, right? That's just the kind of person she is. She would've done that with anyone."
"I was the idiot who decided to mate-I mean, marry her."
"No. Don't make yourself wrong. Your choice resulted in Tank. How can you possibly regret that?"
Titus' face softens. "You're right. Yeah. Totally." He scrubs a hand through his beard. After a beat, he says, "I get it now."
"What?"
"Why you won't settle down."
I hold my breath, not sure I want to hear his assessment of me. This is usually when I get my feelings hurt.
"You felt like you failed at it."
Tears spear my eyes. Titus lifts a hand and cups my cheek. "But the truth is, sunshine, you were perfect. I know you believe the Universe has your back and all that shit. Maybe the Universe just didn't want you to get stuck with that asshole raising pasty-faced weakling children. The Universe wanted you to have a big, bold bright daughter who is strong and as eccentric as you are."
I eyeball him. "I'm not sure if that was a compliment."
"Hell, yeah, it's a compliment. You did a fine job raising a child with smarts, grit, and the spirit of a warrior. So how can that be wrong?"
I grin at him like an idiot. He grins back. Then my stomach growls.
"Let's ride back into town and grab some lunch before you go out to the gorge," Titus offers.
"Yeah, okay." I climb off him, allowing the warm glow from his words to surround me. I pull on a little sundress and slip into a pair of sandals. For the first time with Titus, I feel like we might be on the same page, and I really like the way it feels.
Titus
AFTER LUNCH, Sunny leaves me at my place and heads out to the bridge to work.
I'm still anxious to get back and sniff around Sunny's RV in wolf form, but I'm going to wait until tonight. The moon is full. If there are other shifters around, they might be out on the hunt. I may find what I'm looking for.
In the meantime, I head into town and stop into the local dive bars, asking about my buddy Buzz.
No one's heard of him. And I don't get the sense they're lying, either. Maybe my friend isn't in these parts anymore.
I end up walking through the plaza. Everything reminds me of Sunny. The cantina where we had drinks. The place I was standing when I heard her car wreck. The roof where she gave me the worst cock tease of my life.