“Okay. So say it’s true…then what?”

“Then you have a shot at what you want. What you’ve been wanting for years.”

Jackie shook his head. “She’s lying, Travis. She’s—”

She grabbed that tambourine lying on a desk and chucked it so fast Jackie didn’t have a chance to move before it hit him right in the forehead. He screeched like a wounded hyena, and like always, everyone ignored him. To be honest, he might not have even been in the room the way everyone didn’t even bother looking at him.

“Well…?” Sissy pushed.

“If it’s true—”

“It’s true.”

“If it’s true, then that’s a deal I’d be much inclined to take. But it better be true, Sissy. And he better be up for it.”

She grinned. “Mitch is usually up for anything.”

The females chuckled, but Travis only stared at her. “But if you’re lying, Sissy Mae, best get that cat out of town before we show him what Saturday nights used to be like back in Grandma Smith’s day.”

Sissy’s eyes narrowed at the mention of that old witch’s name, and everyone but Travis took another step back. “That’s not funny, Travis.”

“Wasn’t trying to be funny since I’m not really known for my sense of humor. Now if you don’t mind, I need to meet with the Pack—which last I heard, you weren’t part of anymore.”

Sissy grinned. “Oh, that’s very true. ’Cause if I were, I’d have killed you long ago and worn that giant head of yours as a hat as a warning to any challenger.”

She turned and again headed toward the door. Before she even made it back to her rental car, her mind was desperately turning over how she would ever convince Mitch to do this.

Mitch was halfway through the unbelievably delicious zebra stew Sissy had made him for lunch when he realized that she kept staring at him. Anyone else, he’d assume they had a little crush on him. But Sissy was the kind of gal who didn’t get crushes, and when she wanted someone, she really went for it. No doubts, no obsessing. In a way, she was kind of like a guy. So then why the hell did she keep staring at him?

“What?” he asked when he’d finished his food. Now that he had his appetite back, it would take a hell of a lot more than curiosity to distract him from his meal.

“You done?”

“Yeah, I’m done. Now why do you keep staring at me?”

“Let’s talk in the other room.”

Mitch watched her get up. She was being really nice, which automatically made him wary. He followed her into the family room and sat down on the couch. She paced in front of him for several minutes before he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“They want me to go, right?”

“Well…”

“Don’t sweat it. I should go back to Philly anyway, and I don’t want you to getinto trouble because of me.”

“Wait. Let me finish.” She twisted her hands in front of her as she continued to pace back and forth. “I found a way for you to stay—for a price.” She stopped twisting her hands together so she could rub her temples. The pacing continued. “Lord, this is so embarrassing.”

Mitch winced. “You don’t have to marry your cousin or something, do you?”

Sissy abruptly stopped pacing and turned to him with a lethal scowl. “Think we can put aside the cultural stereotypes until we’re done with this conversation?”

“Sorry.”

Hands on her hips, Sissy let out a deep breath. “You can stay, but…you’ll have to…do something.”

“I’ll have to marry your cousin?”

“Mitch!”

He chuckled. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Now could you spit it out already?”

“You see…it’s the bears. Of Collinstown.”

Since he had no idea where Collinstown was located, all of that was meaningless. “Okay.”

“Well, we’ve had this rivalry with them for years and…well, you see…” Sissy started to pace again and again abruptly stopped. “The bottom line is they want you to play.”

“Play?” Mitch had no idea what she was talking about. “Play what?”

Sissy suddenly found the cracks in the floor fascinating, and Mitch had to admit he was entertained. He’d never seen her so obviously uncomfortable before.

“Uh…football.”

“Football? The game?”

“Of course the game.”

“Hey, excuse me if I find it surprising my life or death situation hinges on my ability to be Joe Namath.”

“Look,” she sat on the couch beside him, “I know this is a strange request. But I had to think of something. Without my parents here, I am at the will of that asshole Travis, and if I go ahead and kill him like I tried when I was eight, Daddy will have my ass.”

“But why football? I mean, let’s face it, we could always ask Bren for money or—”

“I can say with all honesty, Travis doesn’t care about money. He cares about two things…being Alpha Male—”

“And football.”

“And football,” she confirmed.

“So he needs me to play a little game of pickup against some bears?”

“It’s not really that simple.” She turned to face him, pulling her legs up on the couch and resting back on her heels. “As you know, each town of shifters is different from every other. And each region is different. But the one thing the Southern and Midwestern shifters have is our love of football. We have official teams that travel, and some of the richer towns have actual stadiums that’re for these games specifically.”