Page 11 of The Werewolf’s Study Date

I open my mouth to fire back something sarcastic, but nothing comes out. His voice is completely level, without any teasing or condescension.

We walk the rest of the way to my dorm in comfortable silence. When we hit the front steps, he swings my bag down and hands it over.

“Same time next week?” he asks.

“Yeah. Thanks, Boone. Really.”

“Study chapter four. Goodnight, Maisie.”

“Night.”

I head inside and take the stairs up to my room, my chest feeling lighter than it has all week.

The second I unlock the door, I announce, “Boone likes me.”

“I didn’t say a word,” Delilah says.

“Your face is doing plenty.” I drop my heavy bag on the floor. “Tutoring was fine. Productive. Academic.”

Delilah watches me kick off my shoes. “You’re smiling like an idiot.”

“I’m happy about biology.”

“Sure.” Delilah crosses her arms. “He carried your bag to the door, didn’t he? I saw him from the window.”

“My shoulder was sore. He was being polite.”

“Maisie.”

“What?”

“Nice guys don’t look at girls the way Boone looks at you,” she says bluntly. “And they definitely don’t memorize custom coffee orders after two days.”

I grab my pajamas and head for the bathroom without answering. “I’m taking a shower.”

“Run away all you want!” she calls after me.

I shut the bathroom door, turn on the light, and look at myself in the mirror.

Delilah is being ridiculous. Boone is an elite wolf from a famous family, and I’m a broke human girl trying not to flunk out of freshman year. It’s tutoring. It’s just friendly.

I lean against the sink, my pulse tripping over itself.

Finding Boone hot is simple. Any girl with working eyes would find him hot.

Wanting Delilah to be right is the terrifying part.

Because staring at my reflection in the bright bathroom light, I realize I really fucking hope she is.

CHAPTER 4

BOONE

Practice runs long on Tuesday because Coach makes us run the same red-zone package until Deacon throws his hands up and asks if we’re getting graded on this specific play.

“Kinkaid, you’re drifting,” Coach barks.

He’s right. I ran the route four times and thought about Maisie Pope at least three of those times, which is absolute shit focus for a starting receiver two weeks out from Homecoming. My wolf doesn’t give a damn about Homecoming. He has exactly one priority right now, and it isn’t football.