The werewolf looked surprised. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” His smile was a flash of sharp teeth that looked cool and realistically wolfy. I found myself admiring them for a few beats before flushing at just how handsome he was—wild brown hair and cute little wolf ears poking out, large paws, and a tail. Unlike me, he’d actually put some effort into his costume, and it showed.

How much does a getup like that cost? It looks custom made. And he’s really tall, too.

I found myself checking out his feet to see if he was wearing platforms or something, and then I felt silly for thinking that when he was obviously just a tall guy—and broad. There was a lot of fur to consider, but he looked like he was muscular under the costume.

“I bet you can bite a lot of prey with those teeth,” I said nervously, then mentally kicked myself for saying something so weird.

He arched a furry eyebrow at me before smiling and saying, “Yeah, guess so. Haven’t had a chance to try ’em out, though.”

“Right. Of course not. You can’t go around biting people these days…or any days. That was never a thing you could do… Probably illegal.”

My face was hot with embarrassment. This was maybe the most attractive guy I’d seen—maybe ever—and here I was making stupid comments about him biting people. Was I really this out of practice at talking to attractive guys?

“Yes, no biting, though the night is young.”

He winked at me, and I erupted with a nervous laugh, wondering if he was flirting and then deciding that he was probably just chatting me up so that he could use the bathroom.

Oh no, the bathroom!

I glanced behind me, suddenly panicked. If he did want to use the bathroom and went in after me, would he think I was the reason it smelled like vomit and beer and cheap air freshener?

Can this night get any worse? Not only does he probably think I’m a dork, but he’s going to think I’ve been in here stinking up the place all night.

“I’m sorry if my costume is creepily realistic. Halloween is my favorite holiday,” he said after a lengthy silence.

I groaned. “Really? I think Halloween is just an excuse for adults to act like kids.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but is there something wrong with that?”

His smile was disarming, made me forget for a second that I was talking to a grown man dressed as a werewolf. A guy who looked forward to putting on fake teeth and fur and scaring the shit out of people because of how authentic he looked.

But wow is he hot. Who cares if he’s a fan of this silly holiday?

He was looking at me so attentively, and his eyes seemed to flash with golden sparkles. Was he wearing contact lenses? His eyes couldn’t be that beautiful for real, could they? I’d never seen anything like them before.

“But anyway, your costume is, um…good,” I said. “Lots of detail.”

“Thanks.” He stretched out a hand. “I’m Harley.”

“Hi, Harley. I’m Aliyah.” I took his hand and shook it, noting the brush of his claws along my palm as we let go. He’d apparently gone all out and even attached claws to his fingers. He wasn’t kidding about loving Halloween.

“Nice to meet you, Aliyah. Can I get you a drink? To make up for startling you?” He smiled. “I hear that Simone’s party punch is good enough to make you forget almost anything, even a scary encounter with a werewolf.”

Before I could respond, some douchey guy who looked like an abominable cross between a dog and a bear interrupted us with a drawn-out, too-loud attempt at a wolf howl.

“Looks like all the animals are out tonight, and I’m loving it,” said the bear-dog. He leaned on the doorframe and looked right at me. “So, what’re you supposed to be, a hot otter or something? Emphasis on the hot part.” He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. “An otter? Really? No, I’m a cat. And are you a werewolf, too or…?”

He howled again and pounded his chest, causing a clump of his “fur” to tear off and float to the ground. Harley and I exchanged a look.

“Hell, yes, I’m a werewolf. The Alpha kind. And you know what Alpha werewolves love to do, right?”

I said nothing, afraid of what was coming.

“They chase cats.”

I rolled my eyes so hard they hurt, and Harley leaned close to the guy and whispered something in his ear that I couldn’t hear. The Alpha’s eyes went wide, and he backed up apologetically, then rushed off without another word.

As soon as the guy was gone, Harley focused his strange, sparkling eyes on me and said, “So, how about that drink?”