Page 8 of Batty About You (Pine Ridge Universe #23)

Another head tilt, this one with an even deeper squint.

“Uh. No. I mean, Lennox is the gardener at White Pines, and Georgie, the guy doing the catering tonight, is an Orc. My brother-in-law is a warlock, and he’s an attorney with family and business law.

Oh, and the Kane brothers who run the garden center are dragon shifters, and there’s a troll at the fire station.

No one hides. Humans just don’t notice.”

“Me, they notice. I think.” It occurs to me that I’ve never, ever, ever risked exposing myself to humans after dark unless it was in my little bat body. My parents told me I’d be destroyed by a terrified mob if I ever tried. “Kelly saw me for what I am.”

“You did change from a bat to a—what do you like to be called?”

“Man-bat works. Batman gets everyone confused,” I mutter as Kelly begins to rock her head restlessly against my bicep.

“You changed right in front of her?”

“Yeah. No choice.”

“Well, if you force a human to see the supernatural through some big event, they tend to notice. I had to change into a rabbit and sit on my girlfriend’s lap before she’d believe me. Mind you, that woman is my wife now.”

“I love Kelly. I want her to be my wife. But she’s terrified of me.”

“She’s in shock. Now that you’ve opened her eyes, she can see all the supernatural things that 99% of humans miss.

She saw Lennox flying. If I were to shift right in front of her, she’d understand it.

If she were to go back to the party, she wouldn’t think that everyone was in costume.

I mean, some of us are, but some of what humans see tonight is how we look all the time. ”

“You turned into a rabbit?” Kelly asks in a groggy, confused voice, looking up at me.

The officer raises his hand. “Not him. Me. I sure can. Well, a hare. A giant black hare. The size of a corgi.”

I gently put Kelly down, but keep my arm around her. “Kelly? Want to go into your apartment and lie down?” I whisper.

Her eyes blink rapidly, and she shakes her head. “Why do you turn into a hare?” she demands of Officer Walsh.

“I’m a pooka. You can look it up if you want, but the short version is that a pooka is a type of Irish fae who can be a bit of a prankster, but can also be quite helpful.

My dad leaned into the trickery. I went the helpful route.

” He taps his shirt, then frowns. “Oh, that’s where my badge would be normally. I’m sorry you got such a shock, Kelly.”

“It’s okay,” she whispers, because that’s who she is. She always says she’s okay even when she’s not.

“It’s not okay. I should have told you. I tried to tell you.

.. I just knew I’d lose you when I did, and I was selfish.

I wanted to pretend we could have a happily ever after for as long as possible, and I should have done the right thing and let you go.

Told you we just had to be pen pals and never meet.

” I squeeze her hands as I let her go, stepping back. Out of her life.

And the most wonderful, strange, miraculous thing happens.

My Kelly? She hurries and reaches forward, a strained, conflicted look on her face as she slowly begins to speak.

Her hands, so graceful and beautiful, grab my hands, now covered in soft fur on the top and smooth, thick skin on the palms, the fingers elongated and more bony than a normal human’s would be.

“I don’t want to lose you. I would have cried for a year if you told me there was nothing between us, if you tried to leave my life,” Kelly hisses, finally raising her face to meet my eyes.

Behind us, Officer Walsh coughs. “So, if I had to fill out an incident report here, I would say that a beautiful couple, clearly in love, found out that one partner had a surprising condition. A physical challenge. That doesn’t matter to people who love each other like you.

To sum up, the startled woman realizes her boyfriend is hairier than she thought, and he realizes she’s more amazing than he thought.

You can work through this, especially in Pine Ridge.

I can give you a list of a couple dozen human-monster couples to talk to if you want. ”

Kelly whips around. “How many? Who? What kind?”

“Well... You’re friends with Cathy and Cindy, right?”

“I am. I know Claire, too.”

“Claire’s husband is an Orc, and Cindy’s husband is Lennox, the mothman you met. You could talk to them. They’ll tell you that no one even notices most of the time. And around here, if they do notice, it’s no big deal. Some of the nicest people in town are ‘monsters,’ after all.”

Kelly swallows several times.

“I’m still me,” I hazard a tiny whisper. “I’d never, ever hurt you. I wish I didn’t look like this, so ugly when you’re so beautiful, but I—”

My words are cut off when she suddenly jumps up on her tiptoes and kisses me, one swift, small kiss on the lips.

My heart spins in my chest, and the world mimics it. It’s my turn to feel faint.

I can hear the officer laughing happily in the background as I stagger, eyes wide, a smile slowly spreading on my face.

“You kissed me,” I say in wonder.

“I can’t stand to hear you talk like that about yourself,” Kelly bites off the words, her voice choked. “You’re still my Boggie.”

I can’t tell what mixture of emotions she’s swept up in, but at least one of them doesn’t hate me, and that gives me hope.

“Why don’t you two go back to the party for an hour or two? It doesn’t end until midnight,” Walsh urges.

Kelly hesitates.

“We can just sit here and talk,” I offer. “Ask me anything.”

A tiny smile graces her lips, one cheek dimpling.

God, she’s so cute.

“Can you dance with those bat feet?” she asks, her voice holding the faintest note of teasing.

“I can’t dance at all. I mean, I’ve never tried. I was just—well. I never wanted to dance with anyone but you.” I shuffle my feet self-consciously. Inside, my brain is screaming that I’m a total idiot because I agreed to go to a ball and never thought about the whole expectation of dancing.

I was kinda worried about bigger issues.

Like my girlfriend finding out I’m a bat, proposing marriage, and maybe having sex for the first time.

What if I’m not good at that? What if that never, ever happens now, even when I’m human, because she’s permanently repulsed or too afraid I’ll put a cursed baby in her?

But she did kiss me.

Officer Walsh said he’s a pooka, but he must be part guardian angel.

He clucks his tongue and says, “All right. I’m about to arrest you both for being the sweetest, shyest, lovestruck couple—even if you’re a little freaked out right now.

Dancing is easy. Put your arms around each other and sway until the music stops.

That’s it. I hereby order you to go to the ball for at least an hour, eat some cake, sip some punch, and put a little happy in your Halloween.

If not, I’m writing you up.” He reaches for his pocket.

Kelly gasps.

“I don’t think he’s really going to write us a ticket, Kell. But we should go, huh? We can just talk. Or dance. Or whatever. I just want to see you.”

She puts her hand in mine again, this time squeezing. “Okay. Let’s go.”