Page 36 of A Broody Mate for the Human

Ozan frowns at me when I enter his shop. “The closed sign didn’t say anything to you?”

Elif nudges him with her elbow. “Dave can come anytime.”

“Right, right.” He sighs dramatically.

“This is an emergency, Ozan,” I tell him.

“What kind of emergency?” he asks curiously, his dark, bushy brows furrowed slightly.

I empty my pockets in front of him, revealing the remains of my phone.

“Who do you think I am?” Ozan says in disbelief. “An android that magically connects these pieces?”

“You’re playing too many video games.” I grin. “I don’t expect you to repair my phone. I just want to see if you can save my SIM card.” I hand him the small item, and he inspects it.

“I can try,” he mutters. “What the heck happened?”

“My douchebag boyfriend ruined it,” I say. I’ve made the decision that I won’t lie to my friends anymore and certainly won’t protect Matthew in front of them.

Elif stares at me. “Did you punch him at least?”

“No,” I admit.

“Should I punch him?” Elif offers. Imagining that tiny girl punching Matthew is kind of hilarious, but I don’t want her to end up dead, so I kindly decline.

“I can try to repair the SIM card,” Ozan muses. “But if you want to retrieve the data, I’m not the man to help.”

“Oh, I can do that myself,” I admit. “Software and IT was always a hobby for me.” I just lack the strictly technical knowledge, but while I’m not hacker-level talented, I certainly can retrieve lost data… and I’ll definitely try to find that message Jun sent to me. There are some truths I really need to find before I confront Matthew.

“Well then, anything for you.” Ozan sighs. “Or Elif will kick me.”

I grin at his words. He always tries to play cool, but he is clearly smitten by her. They are high school sweethearts. He was on the football team, and she was with the cheerleaders. It can’t get any more cliché than that. Well, that is until everyone knows their nerdy side and realizes they are more like video game nerds and cosplayers who found each other over their mutual interests.

“Do you want some tea?” Elif offers while Ozan is doing his magic.

I nod thankfully. “Please.”

While the both of us have tea, Elif asks me about thatdouchebag boyfriend of mine, and I try to tell her as much as I can. Neither of them knows anything about werewolves or their existence, and I certainly should keep it that way. But with bending the truth a bit, I can tell her the basics of mine and Matthew’s relationship.

Well, if you can even call it a relationship.

“I’m certainly not one to meddle with someone else’s business,” Ozan mutters while handing me back my SIM card. “But you can do better than this Matthew.”

I smile sadly. “Thank you.”

“Please tell me you will also buy a new phone?” he asks.

I chuckle. “And here I was hoping I’d get away with paying a round of mango lassi, but well…”

Elif jumps up. “We can do both. Sell you a phone and then go for dinner together.”

“Deal.” I smirk. “But you guys have to pay for my dinner then, especially after I spent hundreds of dollars on a new phone.”

She nods with a grin.

“Hey, Ozan,” I chuckle. “Choose a sturdier phone for me this time.”

“Not sure if I’ll have anything that survives your shitty boyfriend,” Ozan grumbles. “But I guess I can get you one that’s not too fragile.”