He couldn’t go any longer without telling her. It was wrong of him to bed Avery without admitting the truth about himself. He had to tell her.
Winston swung his legs out of bed, and Avery tried to pull him back.
“Where are you going?” she cooed.
She ran her hand up and down his back. Oh, this was torture, but he couldn’t delay this. Idiot snorted his wolf.
“Avery, I have something to show you.”
She stared at him sleepily. Winston took a deep breath and pulled off his mask. He gave her a tortured look.
“Can you live with this?”
“Live with what?” she murmured.
Oh, this was so hard to admit. “Who I really am.”
“Winston, what are you babbling about?”
“Ah… that I’m, you know, who I am.”
Avery frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“That under this mask I’m just Winston Strong – comic book guy.”
Her confusion didn’t ebb. “I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Winston let out an impatient sigh.
“Are you saying,” she said slowly, waking up a little, “that you honestly believed I had no idea that was you under that mask?”
Winston and his wolf gaped. “You knew?”
Avery rubbed her eyes and leaned up on her elbow. “Of course I knew.”
“But… but…” he spluttered.
Avery blinked at him for a moment before throwing her head back and howling with laughter. It took her a while to calm down, and even then she was still hiccupping with mirth.
“How did you know?” he asked, and she looked at him in disbelief.
“Well, to start with, I don’t care how much deodorant you sprayed on your body, you and Wolfman still smelled the same.” She tapped her perfect nose. “I am a lioness you know.”
He shrugged and his wolf felt slightly mollified at that.
“Plus, you have the same body, and posture and perhaps most importantly, you have the same face.”
“But I was wearing a mask!”
“Honey, you were wearing material over your forehead and nose. I could still see your eyes, mouth, and chin – it was obviously you!”
Winston shook his head. “But I never thought you would equate the confident, suave Wolfman with the geeky Winston?”
Avery bit her lip. “Honey, don’t take this the wrong way, but I wouldn’t exactly say you were suave as Wolfman. Adorable, sexy, badass and totally my hero, but not suave.”
“Well, I…”
“You got trapped in my window.”
“True but…”
“You fell down my fire escape.”
“Yes, however…”
“I adore you honey, but you’re hardly James Bond.”
Winston stood up and started pacing while his wolf huffed and puffed. She watched him in amusement – yeah, it was all hilarious, wasn’t it?
“How long have you known?” he grumbled.
“Since I first saw you in your store.”
“So it wasn’t just a coincidence you were there?”
“No, you dropped this card when you were here as Wolfman.”
She dipped into her bedside drawer and pulled out one of his store cards, giving the address. Ah. He really shouldn’t have been carrying any of those around. But he had just picked them up from the printer and… yeah, he shouldn’t have been carrying it.
“I was curious, so I went there and, well, there you were.”
She beamed at him.
Winston shook his head in confusion. “So, it was lucky you needed a gift for your nephew, and while you kept coming back to find something for him, you enjoyed talking to me.”
Avery gave him a ‘you’re an idiot’ look. She confirmed this when she said, “You’re an idiot. I don’t have a nephew. I kept coming back to flirt with you. I thought that’s why you dropped the card – because you wanted me to find you. I thought we were doing this sexy, mystery thing where I pretended not to know so you could woo me.”
“You weren’t coming back to see Howie, right?” he asked slowly.
She snorted. “No offense but Howie needs professional help. Did you see his most recent gift?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s in the kitchen. It’s pink, and twelve inches long and vibrates on seven different settings.”
“Yeesh.”
“Yeah, and it’s not even half as offensive as the card he sent me.” She shivered.
Winston stared at her for a few beats. “So, you actually came to the comic book store to see me?”
“You okay, champ? You seem to be having trouble grasping that.”
“But, why would you,” he gestured up and down her body, “want to spend time with me?” He gestured up and down his.
Avery looked affronted. “Why on earth not?”
“Well, let me put it this way. You are a unicorn. While I am a donkey. What would a unicorn be doing with a donkey?”
Avery slipped out of bed, the covers falling away from her lovely body. Goodness, she was spellbinding. Was it him or did she move in slow motion? She walked over to him in a sultry way, all shimmering naked flesh, perfect breasts and pouty lips, and then she slapped him. Not hard, but hard enough.
“What was that for?” he cried, rubbing his cheek.
His wolf whined like a pup.
“What do you think? You’re being ridiculous! Winston, I liked you the moment I met you both as Wolfman, and your mild-mannered alter ego – I just like you. Why on earth wouldn’t I?”
“Well, I’m a nerd.”
“So am I!” she scoffed. “What’s wrong with that? I love nerdy things.”
Winston shook his head. “Guys like me don’t get girls like you. Girls like you are not nerds – you’re… you’re quirky.”
Avery narrowed her eyes. “You saying I don’t deserve a cute, sexy guy who loves all the same stuff I do and who heroically saved me from getting mugged? Do I not deserve an awesome guy like that?”
“Well, I, ah… When you put it like that…” He hadn’t considered it in that way before, and his wolf preened a little at that.
Avery leaned in and kissed him. His hands settled on her butt, and this time he intended for them to go straight to the butt. Was this really happening? Was Avery actually interested in him?! Should he look out the window for flying pigs?
She beamed at him. “I have to admit; I was kind of worried you’d think I was too old for you.”
“Why, how old are you?” he asked, honestly interested. He hadn’t considered her age at all. Avery was probably perfect the day she was born and would be perfect until the day she died.
“Well… thirty.” She gave him an awkward look.
“I could care less if you were sixty,” he said with feeling.
She frowned.
“You definitely don’t look sixty,” he added hurriedly, “I’m just saying…”
“I get it, but I am older than you. Plus I just lied, I’m actually thirty-two.”
“Bah, that’s nothing.”
“I just worried a little when I met that young girl, Tara. Did you not wonder why I was so pissed last night? It’s because I thought you were marrying her.”
Winston groaned and buried his head in Avery’s soft hair. “Oh, don’t remind me – I still need to get rid of her. My mom actually booked a wedding venue.”
“Wow, and I thought mine was crazy.”
Avery shook against him, and for a moment, he thought she was crying, but no, she was definitely laughing.
“I can’t believe you didn’t realize I knew,” she giggled.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
He toppled them into bed, and they enjoyed themselves again – mask-less this time.