Lorenzo sucked on another beer as Diego painstaking decided on which ball to sink next. They were playing pool, and Diego was the most finickity male ever born. It took him ten minutes to decide which shot to take, though Lorenzo suspected that was mostly done to psych out whomever he was playing with.
“Just take the damn shot,” grumbled Lorenzo.
“Aha.”
Diego licked a finger and held it up.
Lorenzo ground his teeth. “We’re in a bar; there is no wind resistance.”
Diego shrugged and gave him a self-satisfied look. “Just making sure.”
Lorenzo huffed and puffed, getting irritated in spite of himself. Diego was lousy at pool. He’d fail spectacularly at his next shot, but because Lorenzo was so worked up, he’d then fluff his shot. It would go on and on until finally, Diego won with a few lucky shots, or Lorenzo gave in. It was how Diego always managed to beat him.
Diego leaned over waving his butt to and fro and giving Lorenzo a huge eyeful. Lorenzo growled and looked away.
“There we go,” declared Diego.
Lorenzo snapped his attention back to the table. Diego was giving him a smug grin.
“How did you…”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes. Diego just pushed the ball into the hole – he was sure of it.
“Nice shot,’ he said through gritted teeth.
“Thanks.”
A couple of females he didn’t know approached them.
“Hey, may we join you?” asked one of them, sending a flirty look in Diego’s direction.
Diego grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Lorenzo sighed inwardly.
The other female looked over at Lorenzo, but on seeing him up close, the smile on her face froze. Lorenzo’s beast growled as she started whispering frantically to her friend. The friend slowly and reluctantly drew her attention away from Diego, and sure enough, her expression froze as well.
Diego noticed their reaction and his smile dimmed. “Some other time, ladies,” he purred politely. Though he really meant, not a chance in hell.
The first female looked like she was going to object, but her friend started tugging her away, perhaps considering she was getting a lucky escape.
Diego humphed after they were gone and started lining up another shot. He’d probably be ready in about twenty minutes.
“Don’t let me stop you if you want to have some fun with them,” muttered Lorenzo.
“Nah, not my type anyway,” said Diego dismissively.
Lorenzo grunted. Diego was his oldest friend, and yeah he guessed he would call them best friends – though not out loud because they weren’t thirteen years old and Diego would probably laugh at him. Diego was protective of him – just as much as his parents and brothers, and he was bothered more than Lorenzo whenever anyone stared at his scars. Lorenzo was used to it, and he could ignore it, but his family and friends were upset on his behalf.
They were regulars at the bar – Claws was a shifter friendly hangout, and lots of his own jaguar leap and the local lion shifter pride frequented it. Mostly it was filled with locals who didn’t look twice at Lorenzo and his face full of scars, but there were the occasional tourists or shifter lovers who specifically came to the bar to hook up with one of his shifter brothers, and they generally stared at him and whispered behind his back. It was just the way it was.
Lorenzo held his breath as Diego finally started trying to take a shot, only to stop at the very last second and stand up to take a swig of his beer.
“For the love of…”
“Looking forward to this mating thing?” asked Diego jovially.
“Yeah, I guess.”
His inner jaguar huffed. He was and he wasn’t. Their jaguar leap had a tradition. Every year when the males came of age, they would travel down to Los Lobos, find their mates and then bring them back to their home on Honey Blossom Mountain to live happily ever after. It was supposed to be romantic and harked back to a time when shifters hid their true natures. His leap had always struggled to conceive girls, and so that their leap wouldn’t die out it was essential they find females. Hence the kidnapping tradition.
Things were slightly different now. Shifters were known to humans. But they continued with the tradition. Mostly because shifters clung to traditions so fiercely.
So now it was Diego and Lorenzo’s turns to go and find their mates. They would have a few days in Los Lobos, and then they were expected to bring their females home. It was not something Lorenzo was especially looking forward to – most women didn’t really look past his scars. Not that he was exactly Mr. Sunshine underneath. But, he was getting to an age where he would like to have a mate.
He just wasn’t sure he was going to find her in the space of a few days. He had no problem talking to women – he could flirt when he needed to, with effort he could charm women into ignoring his looks, but he wasn’t just looking for a random female – he was looking for a woman to be the mother of his cubs. It would take a strong woman to see past his looks and somewhat gruff nature. He wouldn’t begin to know where to find her.