“So,” Ricky asked as he placed the empty bowl on the coffee table, “how did it end with your boyfriend?”

“I did something . . . reprehensible.”

Ricky leaned back and waited for her to tell him what that was rather than pushing her. And she did tell him.

“I left him alone with Kyle.”

“You are a cruel woman.”

“I know, I know. I still feel bad about it. The man graduated from Harvard Medical School, and by the time Kyle was done with him, he had to take a sabbatical from the hospital.”

Ricky started laughing at the full-human’s weakness.

“It’s not funny. I still don’t know what Kyle said to him, but he was only in there for ten minutes. Fifteen tops. I thought he was just going to scare him off or something. Prove to him that my entire family was a bunch of spoiled brats that no normal man would want to be around. But it turned out Kyle really didn’t like him. At all.” She grimaced. “I think he was crying when he left. And Kyle was smiling . . . then again so was my dad, Coop, and Freddy.”

“If your daddy didn’t like him, that should have been a clue.”

“My father has never liked any of my boyfriends.”

“All full-human?”

“That’s who I was around. Except for the Van Holtz Pack, but all that Pack talks about is cooking. I still make Hamburger Helper.”

“I love Hamburger Helper.”

She grinned. “Me, too. Any time we know Uncle Van is out of town, we invite Aunt Irene and her kids over and I make a big batch of Hamburger Helper for everybody.”

“Why when he’s out of town?”

She was quiet for a moment before saying, “Everything is pretty much a joke to my uncle Van except three things. His daughter, Ulva, who I decked once during a family soccer game because she made Cherise cry; the cleanliness of his kitchen; and his food. Uncle Van takes his food very, very seriously. So, yeah, we keep our Hamburger Helper nights completely top secret. And you better never tell, either.”

“Your secret is safe with me. The Reeds are known for the ability to keep our mouths shut. In fact, I have a couple of cousins in Midwest prisons just for that reason.”

“You know that is something I’d suggest not telling people.”

“Funny, my momma says the same thing.”

“You should listen to her.”

Toni’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of the backpack she had resting against the couch.

“Fancy phone,” he said while she stared at it.

“It’s the one I got at the job . . . and yet Kyle already has the number.”

Ricky chuckled and Toni answered her phone. “Yes, Kyle? No, Kyle. No, you may not tell her she’s fat. Because she’s not and because it’s wrong. No, youcannot push her into an eating disorder. No, you cannot convince Troy that Dad isn’t really his father and he’s really the slow boy Mom adopted. Can’t you all just work together?” Sighing loudly, Toni closed her eyes and Ricky saw all the tension that had eased out of her over the last couple of hours come right back up. “No, you are not superior. You are one of us and you will work together. Goddammit, Kyle, I am not playing around.” She looked at her watch. “Fine. I’ll be home in—”

That’s when Ricky snatched the phone out of her hand and while she watched, he crushed the little technological marvel in his fist. “Uh-oh . . . look at what I just did. My big, clumsy wolf hands crushed your itty-bitty fancy phone. You know what that means?”

“That you’re insane?”

“No. That ol’ Ric Van Holtz is gonna be real upset with me because he’ll have to get you a new one. So upset he’ll have to send Dee-Ann Smith to pummel me because he can’t risk bruising those lily-white hands of his.”

“Don’t pick on Ric. He’s one of my favorite not-really-cousins.”

“ ‘Not really cousins’?”

“With a hyphen between each word. In other words, he’s like family but not by blood.”

“So you just make up ridiculous terms for no reason?”

“Pretty much.”

Ricky shrugged. “Okay. So you wanna make out?”

“No, I do not.”

He stared at her, waited about a minute, then asked, “What about now?”

“No!” But she was laughing and no longer tense.

“If I wait another five minutes . . . ?”

“The answer will remain the same.”

“But I’m crashing here tonight—”

“When did I invite—”

“—and you can’t expect me to just lie out here all alone with a beautiful woman in the very next room . . . can you?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Heartless.”

“So Kyle has told me.” Toni relaxed back against the couch and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Ricky also relaxed back, his shoulder pressed against hers. “Since I can’t get you to make out with me . . . what about massaging my head?”

“What?”

“Please?”

“You mean like a . . . scalp message?”

“It’s my favorite thing. And you got them strong hands. Plus”—he pulled off his Tennessee Titans baseball cap—“I’ve got a great head of hair. All shiny, smooth, and silky. When I’m around Mitch Shaw, I make sure to shake my hair out to make him jealous of its beauty.”