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CHAPTER ONE ¦ WOLF
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Austin
Iwas nine when my worldimploded.
The police had called it anunfortunateaccident. In my opinion, unfortunate is turning up at the grocery store, only to find they are out ofmilk.What happened to him had beentragic.Heartbreaking. AndI still harbor a crippling fear that I'd played a part init.To find a way to break out of the all-consuming thoughts, I’d turned to the water to face my demons headon.It turned out that rowing was as much part of me as the broken heart thatcontinuesto beat in my chest.
Eleven years later, and with the days starting to yawn into October, my world shifted again when she'd stumbled into the boathouse.The rising sun had highlighted her athletic silhouette, and what a silhouette it was.Her breath puffed in the cool air around her, and all she’d worn was black yoga pants and a black hoodie, leaving very little to the imagination, and her very much open to creeps.Why the hell had she been wearing dark clothing in the fuckingdark?Didn’t she have friends to tell it wasn’t a safe combination?
I'd held back from breaking the silence because I might have scared the shit out of her, and I’d had a feeling someone had already done that.The florescent gleam from the overhead lights accentuated the hard set of her jaw, the fine tremors as she rested her hand against the door.My feet had pushed forward to save her from whatever had put that look on her face, but my head halted my progress. What made me feel any safer to her?She might knowofme, but she didn’t know me.Regardless, restless pressure zigzagged through my body, the very same feeling I’d felt when I’d been unable to save him fromthatunfortunate incident.
Auburn hair, held back into a hair tie, hinted at every shade known to man.Her hands were held rigidly down by her sides, balled into fists.
My own mirrored hers.
And then green eyes, the color of grass on a summer's day, flicked to me, held on, flirting with my heart.
The grass swayed with fear.
Silence stretched between us as her eyes narrowed, her full lips, a shape Cupid would be jealous of, pushed together with indecision, and then she rushed outside.
Two weeks has passed since that moment between us, and that shift hasn't moved back into its rightful place.
It’s one woman, Austin.
Yeah.
One woman with very impactful green eyes.
Lucas matches my pace next to me as I blast the rowing machine.Her imprint on me is as clear as a fingerprint and there’s no way I’m revealing to the crew that I’m potentiallyalready whipped after one meet.A meet that had lasted less than one minute.
It is definitely some sort of poignant movie shit that Amy watches all the time, the stuff I scoff at.
And I’m also keeping her running route to myself.One that brings her right past the boathouse. 06:00. Sharp.
Every.
Single.
Morning.
And my whipped ass waits to see her.Her auburn hair is always hidden under a hat.Not one of ours, which I’ll have to rectify at some point.I have a feeling that she won’t let me correct it.The fact of the matter is, as soon as I see her, I suddenly go to putty.Austin Whitlock. Womanizer around campus… hardly.How have I never noticed her before?I don't live on campus. The four of us, Lucas, Kit, Sawyer, and myself rent an apartment, on the cheap because Kit's loaded parents pay for most of it, but still, I know almost everyone.I’m elite which means that everyone knows who I am.Right now, there’s just one person I want to get to know.
Elite means profile. Fame.Popularity. Fuck buddy calls at 2am.
Acquiring my number is as easy as ordering a double cheese at McDonald’s.I’d changed it twice the first semester, but now I don’t bother.Block is a handy function. Why the hell would she even want to talk to me when my rep does all the talking?If I’ve never seen her, it’s for a reason.
"Whitlock! Pace!"
Shit. I grunt my response to Coach, refusing to look his way.Hard blues will challenge my lazy ass, and I knowhe will demand another ten minutes.I push harder, the muscles in my arms and back burning with the effort.
"Woman issues?" Lucas quizzes between breaths.
Yep. I clearly have the best poker face.“Why?”
“I’ve never known you to lack focus,” he grunts.
