The brand-new sequel to my first novel My Girlfriend Bites is coming out in almost two weeks! Here’s a sample for ya…
Aiden
That Saturday morning, Bree and I get up way too early. We take her 1967 Oldsmobile and drive south about 250 miles to an area known as the Ouachita National Forest. Oklahoma doesn’t have any mountains to speak of, but this area is the closest our state gets to having them. The hills rise to about 2,500 feet, and there’s this scenic two-lane road that snakes through the hills and forests.
The sun glares across the windshield as I guide the Oldsmobile into the gravel parking lot near the trail-head where the hiking club told Bree to meet at. The lot is filled with cars.
“Dude!” Josh greets us in the parking lot. He’s a senior with these large side-burns that make him kinda look like Wolverine from the comics. “So glad you came, Bruce.” Josh holds out his fist.
I fist-bump it, and he makes an explosion sound. He holds out his fist to Bree. She bumps it. Josh makes another explosion sound.
“Come meet the group.” Josh escorts us over to the trailhead, where at least forty-five kids have gathered with their backpacks and hiking poles. Many are seniors and juniors from our school. Some of them I’ve seen around, but don’t really know. There’s even a handful of sophomores brave enough to hang with the older kids.
After we say hello, Bree and I get out our hiking equipment from the trunk of the Oldsmobile.
“Why does Josh keep calling you Bruce?” Bree asks. “It’s weird.”
“It’s because I kicked Kirk Cummings’s butt.”
Bree throws me a smirk.
“Okay, when you kicked his butt.”
Nothing kills off your dude mojo faster than being reminded your girlfriend beat up your bullies for you. But that was the old me.
“After that happened, Josh started calling me Bruce Wayne because that’s who Batman is when he’s not Batman.”
“What’s a Batman?”
The question shocks me. I can’t believe she asked me that.
“And you want to be my girlfriend?”
“What?” Bree makes a face. “Is it important?”
“Yes. Batman is very important. Ooogle him online and learn,” I say. “Actually…no, we’ll have a Batman movie marathon. I can’t let my girlfriend not know about the caped crusader.”
A half hour later, the Wiley Post High School Hiking Club starts its trek across the Ouachita national recreation trail as it hugs the side of a ridge. The sun is still out and burns my skin. Bree did make me pack the sunscreen, but I forgot to put it on. I’m not worried about it though. Maybe I can get a great tan.
Bree loves being out here. Her nostrils flare as she sniffs the air. Her sense of smell is amazing. The girl can detect things a long way off, depending on which way the wind blows. The wind is strong today, so Bree must be in scent heaven.
“Smell anything interesting?” I say in a low voice. Not everyone needs to know my girlfriend is part wolf.
“There’s a mountain lion on that other ridge,” Bree says. “Protecting her territory. A pack of Canadian geese ahead of us. On their way north I bet.”
“Let’s steer clear of the mountain lion.”
“She wouldn’t last five seconds around me,” Bree says with that confidence of hers. The girl relaxes and drifts back into the group, talking to some of the other girls.
Bree’s confidence shines on her face. The way she carries herself. The way she talks to people. The super-quiet werewolf who had to stay clear of human contact was replaced by a confident girl who wants other kids to like her.
That’s not too important to me. Being liked, that is. I’ve lived in obscurity for sixteen years, and I’m okay if it lasted another twenty. I don’t know what I want to be when I “grow up.” But I do know one thing. I don’t want it to have anything to do with trying to make people like me.
“Dude, you really scored the hat trick. Am I right?” Josh catches up with me in the line of hikers. “I remember when your girlfriend had all that extra-long hair and acted all distant and weird. And then she came to my party that time and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s Cave Girl? She’s smokin’ hot.’ Gotta be honest, I was rubbing one out thinking about your girlfriend that night. I couldn’t help it. You’re so lucky.”
I think in Josh’s mind, that was an honest compliment, so I let his self-gratification use of my girlfriend slide.
“Yeah, she is smoking hot,” I say.
The hiking group follows the trail as it crests the top of the hill; there’s a clearing that boasts an excellent view of the wilderness area in all its green-leafed brilliance.
“We’re here!” Josh yells. “Let’s get this party started.”
Kids start unpacking and pitching their tents.
Bree shoots Josh a confused look. “Why are we camping already? There’s, like, six hours of daylight left, and we’ve only hiked one mile.”
A friend of Josh’s opens up a large portable cooler filled with ice. He digs up a can of beer and tosses it to Josh.
“We never go past two miles tops.” Josh pops open the beer. “This is our normal spot. Great view of nature. Am I right?”
Other kids unpack chips, salsa, and all kinds of other snacks. One senior lays down a small grill and prepares to fire it up. A girl breaks open another portable cooler and takes out packages of cold sausages, burger patties, and hot dogs.
Bree’s mouth twitches to the side as she folds her arms together. “Aiden,” she snaps.
I’ve learned that when your werewolf girlfriend says your name like that, you join her immediately.
Bree lowers her voice. “What’s going on? Is this some human thing I don’t understand?”
I glance over to the clearing. Smoke drifts off the small grill, and two tents are set up. A few kids are already drinking beer. Seems pretty clear to me.
“They’re going to party here. I think the hiking part of the trip is over.”
“That can’t be right,” Bree says. “I researched hiking clubs. They’re composed of groups of humans who love the outdoors and want to get away from civilization. They go on long hikes in the backcountry and camp responsibly, not hurting the environment. It sounded perfect to me. Humans I could relate to. This doesn’t make any sense.”
Bree calls out for Josh, and he eases over to her with not a care in the world. “What kind of hiking club is this? I thought you guys were into nature and all that.”
Josh raises his arms wide. “Dude, we’re surrounded by nature. What more do you want?”
“This isn’t a real hiking club. You hiked, like, two miles and now we’re all getting wasted?”
Josh runs Bree’s words through his mushy brain. “Oh sh*t, you thought we’re like the Boy Scouts or something, huh?”
I should step in here. “I think Bree expected ghost stories by the fire, smores, and using leaves as toilet paper.”
Josh grimaces. “Using leaves? Ouch. But wouldn’t they scratch your—”
“That’s not the point,” Bree says. “The point is I wanted to join a real hiking club.”
“Oh. Yeah. We don’t do that. We just come out here and party. But it’s a brilliant idea, am I right? No parents. No cops. No drunk driving. Just kids kicking it and having a good time.” Josh smiles. “Can I get you two a beer?”
Pre-Order the eBook of My Girlfriend Bites Again on Apple, Nook, Kobo, and, Google Play, and Amazon.
Doug Solter 
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