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SEVENTEEN
I waitedon the porch while Rocco hiked into the forest a bit. My wolf tugged at me, not liking having him so far away, but I could still see flashes of his hair through the trees. The hair flashes kept her calm, luckily enough for me.
Rocco came back a few minutes later, with a scowling Ryder at his side. Rocco’s hands were in his pockets, and he wore a guilty grimace.
I felt a bit bad for forcing him to do it. I mean, I hadn’t really forced him, but I kind of had. It was the right thing to do, though.
As the guys approached, Rocco stepped between me and his brother. His hands remained in his pockets, but I could tell he was stressed. I wanted to take his hand or something, but felt too awkward about it, so I didn’t. Instead, I walked beside him.
Rocco tugged the drivers’ door open of his truck. Expecting Ryder to take the passenger seat, I stood awkwardly next to the back door, planning to sit in the back seat.
Rocco reached down and grabbed me by the waist in one smooth motion. I squeaked as he hauled me over his lap and set me in the truck’s middle seat, while Ryder climbed into the back.
Though Rocco let me go after he put me down, I could still feel his hands on my waist as if the touch had been burned into my skin.
Damn, I liked him.
Platonically.
So platonically.
Maybe if I kept telling myself that...
We drove in silence, and it was both tense and awkward. Luckily, the drive wasn’t too long.
“Do you want me to tell them, or do you want to tell them yourself?” Rocco asked, staring straight ahead.
Something told me things were not all well between them.
“I’m not a damned pussy,” Ryder snarled at his brother, flinging the truck’s door open and striding toward the house. The door slammed behind him, and I tried not to flinch.
Rocco sighed as his brother rapped on the door.
“This is the right thing,” I whispered to him.
“I know. I’ve known for a long time,” he admitted. “I tried to respect Oscar’s wishes, but…”
The door opened, and I saw the immediate shock on Rocco’s mother’s face.
There was a moment of hesitation, and then she flung her arms around Ryder, and hugged him fiercely. Even from the truck, I could see tears dripping down her cheeks.
Ozzy appeared in the doorway beside her, and an equal measure of shock and emotion flooded him too as he hugged both his son and wife fiercely.
Rocco backed the truck up out of the driveway.
“What are you doing?” I asked him, my gaze locked on the emotional reunion.
“Oscar wanted to explain himself alone. He wasn’t going at all if I didn’t agree to let him tell his story without his baby brother there.”
I scowled at Rocco as he drove off down the street. “He damn well better not have called you his ‘baby brother’. You kept him alive for months, right? Gave him a place to stay, and talked him down from the edge when his wolf tried to take over permanently, repeatedly?”
“Yes,” he admitted grudgingly.
“Then drive us back so I can punch him in his obnoxious face.”
Rocco snorted, still driving straight. “It’s cute that you think you’re stronger than him.”
“I don’t think I’m stronger than him; I think he’s an asshole, and I should teach him a lesson.” I held up a fist toward Rocco. “That bastard won’t know what hit him.”
Rocco fought hard to keep his expression serious as he nodded. I did too.
We both bust up laughing a moment later, as Rocco turned into the parking lot of a fast-food place.
