Bane of My Existence

Chapter 7

Kinsey shut the door to Sabrina's apartment and leaned back on it, still trying to process her surreal day. It was a miracle she had driven home safely. She probably should have stayed a little longer with Damon at the bar, but she needed to process this without seeming like a teenage girl. She had long since forgotten what the thrill of a new romance felt like, what all the nerves and excitement did to her stomach.

Sabrina poked her head out of her room, in her comfy lounge wear--or what she called her Inspiration Garments. Kinsey preferred to call them what they were: pajamas. She raised a pair of pale eyebrows at her. "Where have you been? I almost called Search and Rescue on you."

"I, uh. . ." Kinsey felt her face heat before Sabrina saw it. How did she explain her day when she was still trying to wrap her head around it? She went from studying Damon's pack's movements to being held captive then to making out with the pack's Alpha. It was to heal her, he said, but man what a kiss! He had been adamant to see her again.

Could someone like him actually want to go on a date with her?

Was it even a date? Maybe he was only being nice to her so she wouldn't file a report on his men.

The more she thought about it, the more she realised there was no way Damon Hayes, Wensworth's Alpha, would want to go on a date with her.

"Helllloooo?" Sabrina snapped her fingers in Kinsey's face. "You're in your head again, girl. What happened to you?"

Kinsey let her pack slip to the floor; she sank on the couch. "How do you know if a guy likes you?"

Her interest fully piqued, her friend joined her on the couch, leaning her elbow on the back of the couch, legs crossed. "Okay, girl, spill it."

Kinsey released a long breath then told her how her day went. Before Sabrina furiously stormed for the door to beat up the shifters who hurt her, she hastily assured her Kalem guaranteed they wouldn't do it again and, in fact, were taken care of by Damon, which Kinsey wholeheartedly believed. He had been angry when he saw her bruise and kind in the bar, tender when he touched her. She honestly didn't think shifters were capable of being so gentle. Damon proved her wrong. Maybe that was why she had so heedlessly agreed to have dinner with him. She thought she knew enough about shifters, but then he went and showed compassion and empathy. She was curious to see what else she--and her family--was wrong about.

Sabrina let out a whistle. "You have a date with an Alpha male. That's the hottest shit I've ever heard--very smooth on his part. You have to tell me everything. This is perfect for my newest book. I want my novels to be accurate now that we know about the shifters' existence. I feel bad about some of my earlier crap."

Kinsey fiddled with her fingers in her lap. "I'm not sure if it's a date. Maybe he feels guilty for the trouble he's caused me? I'm not exactly-"

Sabrina slapped her shoulder, silencing her. "Don't finish that fucking sentence, woman! You're a babe! He has good taste. It's a date. You don't kiss someone else like that and ask them out for a pity dinner. Unless you played up your little make out sesh." She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. 

Kinsey hadn't exaggerated. She could still feel his fingers against her scalp. The man knew what he was doing. Kinsey did not. She hadn't dated since high school.

"Give me your best books. I need to do some research. I barely knew what I was doing tonight and now I have to do it all over again tomorrow."

"Where are you going?"

"Le Bleu."

Sabrina held her hands to her heart, a sappy smile playing on her lips. "I love that place! Amazing food. Very romantic atmosphere."