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Donna looked sickened. “Yes.”

“And didn’t she get accused of beating someone up?”

Donna nodded.

“And after being accused by that girl over and over, didn’t she finally kick her ass for real?”

Donna nodded.

“Maybe think about human nature before you go throwing stones,” Hopps ordered.

With that, he left them to it.

I went out to the bar and retook my seat with the club.

We were having a meeting, and it was important. So, no matter how much I wanted to go to Jessamy at the bar as she waited for her food, I didn’t.

I did, however, watch her like a hawk until the meeting concluded.

“Where you headed out so fast?” Odin asked with a laugh.

He may not know exactly how I felt about Jessamy Darling, but he could guess.

“No comment,” I murmured as I walked out the door, hoping to catch her.

Thank God I did.

I rounded the corner of Hopps, heading for the parking lot that was around the side of the building, and came to a stop as I saw Jessamy’s face over the top of a shrub covered in a thick layer of snow.

“Leo.” Jessamy looked angry, as well as a little bit scared. “I’m not doing this right now. Go home.”

“I don’t want to,” Leo said, absolutely zero inflection in his voice. He sounded robotic to the point of disconcerting. No emotion leached into his voice at all. “I’m right where I want to be.” He tilted his head. “Why are you spending time with Milo?”

Jessamy ignored his question about Milo, but I didn’t.

It struck me as odd that he would ask about Milo.

They hadn’t spent any time together other than those few hours they were talking about building the town. Had he been watching her that closely? Or was it Milo that Leo was watching that closely?

“What did you do to my car?” Jessamy demanded.

“What makes you think that I did something to your car?”

“Because you were standing across the street watching me, waiting for me to find out what it was that you did,” she said. “How’d you even get to Sawtooth, anyway? I thought you didn’t have a car.”

“I don’t,” Leo continued with his monotonous tone of voice.

Twenty-Two

Sure, I can behave. But mischief suits me better.

—Jessamy upon her second arrest

Jessamy

I was angry as hell, menstruating, and I just wanted a damn cuddle.

Was a hug too much to ask?