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“Are you going to carry me through the halls at school, too?” I ask.
Of course, I already know the answer. He can’t. He won’t.
I’m the lowly human he can’t be associated with. He says it’s for my protection, and maybe it is, but I don’t like being anyone’s dirty little secret. Abe and I are in a no-man’s-land. A forbidden relationship with stolen moments.
He sets me on the seat. I see regret in his eyes. “Listen. About us–I told my dad you were out for a hike, and I heard you calling for help, but considering your dad said you were supposed to be at the library, it was obvious I was lying.”
“Well, just because he knows we were meeting doesn’t mean I know anything about what you are, right?”
Abe stands in the car doorway, his palms lightly stroking up and down my thighs.“That’s probably true.” His brows are low. “I won’t let anything else happen to you, Lauren. I promise.”
I believe him. There’s no doubt in my mind he cares for me. He may pretend I mean nothing to him in public, but I saw how afraid he was when I got bit by the snake. He would’ve done anything to save me.
I wrap my fist in his t-shirt and pull him in close, smashing my lips against his. The moment we start kissing, I flush with a feverish heat, tingles igniting all across my skin. My foot gives a painful throb.
I don’t care. I’m the opposite of numb right now. I’m full of power, full of life, and falling hard for this wolf-jock who seems to be an integral part of my new identity.
Abe
“What’s going on with you and the human?” My dad hurls the question at me the moment I walk through the door after dropping Lauren at home. I guess he was waiting up for me. He flicks the television off.
I knew this conversation was coming, but I still don’t have a good answer.
Shifters can smell lies. No part of me thinks my dad believed my story about happening across Lauren while she was hiking. Especially considering I ditched practice today to go straight to the hospital after school.
This is back to sticking close to the truth, even though my dad will hate it.
“I don’t know.” I shrug, trying to look casual. Like my entire life doesn’t revolve around that beautiful human. “We hooked up at Homecoming. I was going to hook up with her again yesterday, but she got bit by the snake on her way to meet me. I had to make sure she was all right.” I spin my keyring around my index finger like it’s no big deal. Like my heart didn’t almost stop beating when I found her there in agony.
My dad frowns. He won’t detect any lie because it’s all true.
“Coach Jamison called to say you missed practice. You don’t miss practice without getting his prior approval. You know that.”
Yeah, but I wasn’t thinking rationally.
“I felt an episode coming on, and I thought it would be better to stay away from the team. Plus, I had to bring Lauren her phone.”
Also not a lie. The stress and worry over Lauren is killing me. Today, the lack of her scent at school brought on a headache that didn’t leave until she got into my vehicle tonight.
My dad gets up off the couch and pulls a penlight out of his pocket, shining it in my eyes. I stand stiffly for the examination.
“You look fine now,” my dad observes, turning the light off and putting it back in his pocket. “There are scouts from three different schools coming to your game Thursday night, and you decide it’s better to skip practice? Are you trying to ruin your future?”
Lauren is my future, my wolf snarls.
“I don’t even know if I can get through college at this rate, Dad,” I explode.
He jerks back, like I punched him, his mouth opening in shock.
“I can’t read papers that get handed out, I can’t focus on the words on the board. It’s all fine and dandy if I get a football scholarship to ASU, but I don’t know how I’ll pass my classes.”
My mom emerges from their bedroom at the sound of my raised voice. “Honey, I didn’t know it was getting that bad.”
“Neither did I,” my dad says.
The scent of my mom’s distress reaches both of us, and my dad’s instinct to soothe her apparently overrides his need to grill me. He reaches for my mom and pulls her against his side, wrapping one arm protectively around her waist.
“We can run more tests,” my dad says. “There has to be a way to identify your triggers and reduce their incidences.”
