“Jesus Christ!”
A small smile curls my lip and I shove the swimsuit down over my hips, letting it pool at my feet. I swallow hard, but refuse to be embarrassed as I raise my eyes to his. “Happy now?” My voice is surprisingly even, giving none of my nerves away.
Need flashes in Desmond’s eyes as he drinks me in. Then, without saying a word, he turns, jerks my bedroom door open, and leaves, slamming it shut behind him.
My shoulders drop as a sharp ache spears into my chest. Rejected. Awesome.
My phone rings, but it takes me a minute to collect myself. I pick up Desmond’s shirt from the floor and slip it on. Not because I want to wear anything that belongs to him, but because it’s there. So what if he left. So what if seeing me naked made him run for the hills.
I dig my phone out of my bag. It’s no longer ringing, but I can see it was my mom who called. I’ll call her back later. I’m not really in the mood for one of her chats.
I consider going back to the party, but that doesn’t sound appealing either, so instead, I drop down on my bed and crack open a textbook, telling myself that my decision to stay inside has nothing to do with Desmond. I just need to catch up on some homework.
95
Desmond
There are only a few blocks between the Kappa Eagle house and my place, so I walk, needing some time to clear my head and calm down my wolf. If I hadn’t gotten out of there when I did, I would’ve done something I couldn’t take back, not that the bastard living beneath my skin was bothered by it. And truthfully, I wouldn’t regret it. I know that much. Taking Meiying and laying her down on her bed, sliding into her wet heat, yeah, that isn’t something man or beast could ever regret. But it is something that will make shit complicated, and I can’t do complicated right now. Almost to my street, I change course and head for the field instead. I need to run. My body and beast are wound up tight. I need to tire myself out and get Meiying out of my head before I find myself turning around and going back to her to finish what’s been started.
Seven miles in and I still can’t get the image of her naked body out of my mind. Sweat drips down my back, my calves burn, but I keep up the pace. Two more miles and my chest is heaving, but I still see her perfect tits. Her tiny waist. Her bare pussy. Running isn’t going to cut it. My wolf is buzzing, the urge to claim the girl who isn’t mine, could never be mine, thrums through me.
I jog off the track and head for my place. Maybe a cold shower will help.
When I reach my door, I notice Zheng’s ride in the driveway, which means he’s home.Good.
“Hey, man. You good?” I ask as soon as I see him.
He looks up, eyes bloodshot and unfocused.
I curse. “What happened?”
He shakes his head.
I grab a water bottle from the fridge, uncap it, and bring it back to him. He accepts it but doesn’t take a drink. “Bro, you’re freaking me out. What happened?”
His hands flex. “I freaked out, alright.”
“I’m gonna need you to give me a little more information.”
He hangs his head, no longer meeting my eyes. “A car pulled up to me while I was driving. They had music going. I—” He swallows hard. “There were gunshots in the song. I didn’t think. Just fucking panicked.”
Shit. “But you came home? You’re good? Nothing else happened? You didn’t shift while driving?”
He exhales a harsh breath. “Yeah. I’m good. Just freaked the fuck out, but I maintained control of my beast.” Okay. Good.
“Why didn’t you call? I would have come back sooner.” I rub the back of my neck. He can’t keep going like this. He needs help. Like real, professional help from Pack healers and our Alpha. More help than I can give him. “I think you should see someone—”
“I’m not talking to a fucking shrink.”
I open my mouth to argue with him. Our Pack therapists aren't regular shrinks. They can help him with the trauma and his beast, but a phone buzzing halts my response. Zheng frowns down at his phone, the thing still buzzing.
“Who is it?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No clue.” He lifts the phone to his ear and answers. “Hello?”
“I’m gonna grab a quick shower,” I tell him and head down the hall. I make it quick and cold. Enough time to wash the sweat from my body and erase the images of Meiying from my head so my dick calms the fuck down and my wolf stops clawing beneath my skin to get to her.
That finished, I throw on a clean pair of clothes and head back to check on Zheng.
