Page 48 of Big Bad Wolf

Rafe narrowed his eyes.

“No? It’s a classic!” Ruby bit down on a smile. If he could tease her by keeping his distance every night, she could tease him about his … affliction. “Okay, how about The Howling?”

Rafe sighed.

“You’re right, too scary.” Ruby kept scrolling through the movie options, her laptop balanced on her knees. “Oooo! Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man!”

The wolf beside her let out a low growl and goosebumps rose along her arms, but she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips. “You know you could have more of a say in the choices if you stayed in human form.”

Rafe laid his head on his front paws, his ears twitching. Ruby couldn’t help the thoughts that crept into her head about what it would be like to have a human Rafe in her bed. “Here, I know.” Ruby clicked on Teen Wolf and snuggled down into her pillows. “You can’t tell me you don’t love this one. Everyone loves this one.”

He moved his body closer to hers in acquiescence. Ruby smiled, thinking about what her pre-teen self would have done if she’d walked into the room right now to find Ruby snuggling in bed with a gigantic werewolf, her favorite movie playing on the screen. Ruby had the feeling that she was existing in some space in between, some dream that she would soon wake up from. She dug her fingers into Rafe’s fur. She didn’t want to wake up.

Rafe rested his head in her lap, and she scratched between his ears. A growl rumbled low in his throat, the one she’d come to equate with a cat’s purr. Maybe he was happy here, too. Maybe, after this werewolf attack situation was ironed out, he would stay. At the moment, it didn’t seem like too much to ask for.

Chapter Twenty

Ruby woke to find the bed next to her warm but empty and the smell of bacon wafting up the stairs. She stretched and glanced out the window. Dark clouds still filled the sky. Gusts of wind tore through the half-bare trees. There were no giant wolves in the yard, so she could only assume it was Rafe cooking breakfast. Lena would have burned the house down by now.

Ruby considered changing out of her pajamas before joining Rafe in the kitchen, but he’d already seen her butterfly-covered sleep shorts and the oversized David Bowie T-shirt she wore to bed every night. So why bother? Also, she was starving and breakfast smelled amazing. Besides, fake boyfriends/bizarre temporary roommates saw you in your PJs, right?

Tugging the T-shirt back up on her shoulder, Ruby wandered downstairs to eat. She found Rafe wearing her Wolf Man circa 1941 apron and scrambling eggs in her kitchen. He froze when she walked in like he could sense her without looking.

He cleared his throat. “Morning,” he rumbled, not turning away from the stove.

“Uh, morning.” Ruby sidled into the kitchen and grabbed her favorite mug from the cabinet and poured herself some coffee. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken up to fresh coffee someone else had made. Probably never.

Rafe continued pushing eggs around the pan and flipping sizzling bacon, so Ruby took a seat at the table. She folded her hands. And then unfolded them. Her T-shirt slid down her shoulder again, and she yanked it back up. Maybe she should have at least put on a bra. God, she was practically naked. Somehow this hadn’t seemed like a big deal when Rafe was a wolf but now, faced with a very human Rafe in her kitchen, Ruby was suddenly aware of every inch of exposed skin. On both of them.

She untied her hair and let it fall down her back but was immediately too hot and twisted it back up. She tapped her fingers on the table, sipped her coffee, stared out the window. What the hell was one supposed to do while someone else made breakfast?

She had no idea how to handle the current situation. So, she continued to fidget and sneak peeks at Rafe while he cooked. He had his hair tied back today in a knot at the base of his skull, revealing the strong lines of his face. He was freshly shaven and wearing nothing but the apron and a worn pair of jeans. He moved easily around the kitchen, scooping eggs onto plates, buttering toast, and plucking bacon from the grease. It was like he’d always been here. Ruby blinked and repositioned herself in her seat suddenly uncomfortable with just how comfortable she was around this man. She was shocked by how quickly it had happened.

Rafe grabbed a plate in each hand, set one down in front of Ruby and then slid into the chair across from her.

“Thanks for breakfast. You really didn’t have to.”

Rafe shrugged. “If we really were sleeping together, I would have.”

Ruby inhaled too quickly—the image of Rafe braced over her in bed tearing through her mind—and sucked a perfectly cooked piece of egg into the back of her throat. “Ack!” She coughed and sputtered. Rafe jumped up from his seat, rattling coffee mugs and patted her, hard, on the back.

Ruby waved him frantically away, his firm touch only adding to the panicked flutter of her heart and the very inconvenient constricting of her airway. Rafe backed away but continued to stare at her with a furrowed brow until she finally stopped coughing.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she said between gasps. “Really. I just swallowed wrong.”

Never taking his eyes off her, like she could suddenly die at any moment, Rafe lowered himself back into his seat.

“You sure you’re okay?”

She smiled reassuringly and scooped more eggs into her mouth. Damn, they were so fluffy. “Yep, totally fine.”

He quirked an eyebrow.

“Really. Fine.”

He nodded and tore into a piece of bacon, followed by a huge forkful of eggs, and a bite of toast that obliterated nearly half the slice. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he took a gulp of coffee. Ruby traced the column of his neck with her eyes down to the dark shadow of hair poking over the apron. Her fingers curled around the edge of her chair at the memory of Rafe hugging her at the laundromat. He’d been so big, so sturdy and safe. He hadn’t touched her since. Not as a human, anyway.

Rafe cleared his throat and Ruby tore her gaze up to find him smirking, his silver eyes flashing stormy in the morning light. Heat crept up Ruby’s neck. Busted.