Chapter 14

Paul kept one hand at the small of Felicia’s back as they stepped out of the theater into the cool night air. The movie had been okay, some romantic foreign film about two people meeting after years apart and finally getting together. She’d laughed and cried in all the right places. They had shared a large buttered popcorn, and she’d leaned against him during the love scenes.

They strolled down the sidewalk, passing from one pool of lamplight into the next. Couples drifted past, talking and laughing. Next door, the diner’s neon sign read Billy’s, promising coffee and the best pecan pie in the city.

“And Paul, it was so romantic when they built the sandcastle, and then the sex scene. I wish I had a body like that...”

He smiled and listened to her talk. He thought about dinners shared, late nights working in the lab, quiet walks, the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention, like she was waiting for something. The way her long ears twitched when she was excited. The scent of her shampoo.

Three people were walking toward them, blocking the sidewalk. Young, maybe seventeen or eighteen. A tigerkin on the left, a lionkin on the right, and a bearkin bringing up the rear. The lionkin was talking loudly. Their tails swung with exaggerated confidence.