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“What? And leave the kids with their asshole father?” she scoffed, but I knew it was a sore spot for Ruby. She felt chained to those kids because their father was so neglectful, but she hadn’t signed up to be a mom at her age. Jared had definitely done a bait and switch when they got together and had made it impossible for Ruby to leave him, because his kids were so dependent on her. “Jared’s sister and fam are on a mini cruise, so there’s no vacation time for me for another week.”
I bit my tongue over the ‘asshole father’ comment. We’d talked at length about her leaving that guy. Jared, the low-life, do-nothing, who, at thirty-five, somehow managed to be more of a drain on Ruby than her quasi-adopted kids who were under five. I’d even offered to front her the cash she needed to get her settled somewhere else, but she was too proud to accept that, and I could appreciate the reluctance to rely on anyone else. Plus, she really did love those kids, as much as she hadn’t wanted them or even known they existed when she’d met Jared.
“Take care of yourself out there, Chuck,” she said, compassion, empathy and love soaking her words and pulling me out of my thoughts. “I need you back here to save me from my life.” She barked a laugh that sounded a little forced—but only because it was true. We saved each other from insanity. “And I guess also from knife-wielding, crazy, would-be robbers.”
I cringed. “I’m sorry I left without telling you in person.” I’d been so caught up in my own family issues that I hadn’t given much thought to the exceptionally traumatizing experience we’d just been through. I could shake it off because my whole life had been steeped in the threat of violence, but Ruby couldn’t. I’d abandoned her. I was such a shit.
“Hey, it’s all forgiven. You needed to go. I get that. Family emergency.” She sounded dismissive, but I knew she had an eye on the kids and she was probably already anticipating the next catastrophe from one of them. “When you get back, we’re going for drinks so we can talk about how amazing you are. I had no idea you could kick ass like that. You’re obviously holding back on some killer stories.”
She had no idea.
“It’s a date,” I lied, my mind spinning through plausible stories that would downplay my martial arts knowledge. Fuck that scuzzy thief. If he hadn’t targeted us, things would be so much easier right now.
My head pounded with stress like a hammer. It felt like a vise was tightening around my temples. Covering up for what happened with that thug just added another complication to my already complicated life. “I’ll be home soon, Rubes, and I promise to keep in touch.” At least part of that was true. I wouldn’t leave her in the dark while I was away. I just didn’t know how soon I’d be able to go back to Toronto.
I hung up, letting my phone hit the mattress with a soft thud before rubbing the sides of my head like that would somehow release the pain.
Fuck.This was why it was better to have no connections, no friends outside of the clan. Humans were only meant to be minions, nothing more. That was the philosophy of most alphas, and it had kept us invisible for an eternity. It wasn’t good enough for me, though. I’d craved normalcy, and the only way I’d figured I could achieve that was by pretending to be human.
What a joke!
Who the fuck was I to want more than my kind? All the lies I had to tell Ruby, the life I’d built around her like a stack of cards—flimsy paper that couldn’t withstand any pressure.
How would I explain to her what was going on here in a way that wouldn’t send her running? Would I even get back to Toronto, ever? Or was I being delusional about that, too? It was probably safer for her to have never met me, and maybe I should ghost her and be done with it.
No.She deserved better than that.
Fuck me.What a mess.
“Hey, you okay?” Johnny had his face poking around the door of my room, his fist raised as if he was about to knock, which seemed pointless since he already had my door open wide enough for his big head to fit in.
I dropped my hands and tried to go for mildly annoyed at his intrusion. “You don’t seem to understand personal space much, do you?” But there was no fight in my tone. My headache was raging, stab wounds digging through my skull.
“Ouch, you’ve got another headache, don’t you?” He opened the door wider but hesitated before stepping into my room. “You want some help?”
Two headaches in the time I’d known him. Not good. It made me seem vulnerable.
I didn’t like being weak.
“What? With your secret weapon?” I rolled my eyes—or tried to, anyway. My throbbing eyeballs felt like they were stuck midway between sarcasm and agony. “Yeah, maybe a migraine is coming.” Although I hadn’t had one of those for three years… Headaches, all the time, yes, but the killer, head pounding, nausea-inducing migraines had been absent since my dad had died.
I let my shoulders sag, an invitation for Johnny to quickly move to my side.
Even though he slid onto my bed next to me and it should have felt awkward as all hell, given my dream, it didn’t. That was how much pain I was in.
“Scoot around and put your feet on my lap.” He had his hands on my shoulders, guiding me to turn, and I gave in because I was at the point where I’d take the promise of any kind of relief, even from Johnny. Besides, I already knew what he could do with his hands.
Or so I thought, because as I was settling onto my elbows, staring down my body at him, he’d rearranged himself so my feet were in his lap and he had crossed his gigantic and thick legs, somehow. He was facing me, his hands on my left foot, one thumb pressed into the ball.
“I hope you’re not ticklish.” He winked.
“I am, and you know I bite, so tread carefully.” We both glanced at his hand, which was no longer injured from my wolf bite.
Gotta love werewolf healing.
The pressure he had on my foot kept me from yanking away from him. He used his other hand to work on my big toe, paying so much attention to that digit that he wasn’t looking at me. His focus was intent, zeroed in on my foot, and before I could laugh or make some smart-ass comment, he slowly, deeply, dug his thumb and finger down the sides of my toe, like he was climbing a ladder down, millimeter by millimeter. I didn’t know why, I didn’t know how, but his movement along my skin jolted from my toe to my brain, easing the worst of the throbbing immediately. A moan slipped out, and I tensed up. Johnny didn’t stop. But he did smirk, and that was almost worse than if he’d started teasing me.
His fingers worked more magic, and I let my neck relax so my head fell. I couldn’t stop another soft moan from escaping.
I heard the rumble of a chuckle but otherwise couldn’t sense anything beyond the skilled pressure he was applying all the way down, over and along the side of my foot. I lost myself to his touch.
My brain tingled, the pain receding with each second, my body slowly turning to mush. I collapsed softly to the bed, my head cushioned by my pillow, my elbows no longer coordinating with my brain to hold me up. Johnny kept his massage going, moving from toe to toe, giving enough pressure to make me groan, and I didn’t care anymore, because it felt so damn good.
I swore I was drooling. My brain was definitely floating away.
When he’d said he had a secret weapon, I hadn’t imagined a hulking man like Johnny could use his meaty fingers to work so carefully. It was intimate in a way, how he was massaging my foot, knowing just where to put pressure. There was a tenderness to it that should have bothered me, but it felt like good medicine, and I couldn’t muster the energy to put an end to it.
He moved over to my other foot and dug his knuckles into my big toe. A fresh wave of bliss caressed up my spine. I had to stifle the urge to tell him I loved him, if only for what his fingers could do.
