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I hesitated but decided I’d pick my battles. Giving her a quick nod, I headed inside. I prayed I’d get more answers from her because no matter how hard she fought our connection, there was a connection, and I wanted more of it.
I wanted more ofher.
Chapter21
Tori
Running my fingers through my hair, I tried to straighten it as best I could without a mirror. I patted my clothes, hoping to get rid of as much of the loose dirt as possible. Rolling around on the ground behind the diner hadn’t been my finest moment, even though I’d ached for Ridge’s touch and wanted more.
I had to get away from him as soon as possible. I had no control over myself when I was near him. The temptation was too great. What if I couldn’t hold back, and we got carried away and had sex where someone could stumble upon us?
What in the world had I been thinking? I was losing too much control here in Blackwood Creek. It didn’t help that this place bolstered my inner monster and made it harder to keep her separate from the rest of me.
Straightening my clothes, I couldn’t stop shaking at the embarrassment of Margo finding me lip-locked and straddling Ridge. Everything I’d been doing with him had been so out of character, and for whatever crazy reason, I couldn’t stop.
Waiting to catch my breath, I watched Ridge enter the café while I tried to work out what had just happened, ignoring the deal he wanted to strike. I needed to distance myself from that proposal, because giving over that much of myself to him was a big ask. One I didn’t know if I was ready to share with anybody, ever, and most certainly not with another shifter.
I stepped toward the door to make my way inside. I still needed to talk to Margo about her relationship and supposedly bad breakup with Deputy Hill, but I faltered. I couldn’t approach guns blazing in public. She’d been crying only yesterday over his death, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I also didn’t want to sound accusatory toward her because I didn’t believe for one second that she’d killed him.
With everything we’d talked about since I met her, why hadn’t she mentioned her relationship with him? Especially after my first meeting with him and how he’d treated me.
Dropping my hand from the door handle, I figured Margo would have to wait. She’d be on shift right now, and I wanted her undivided attention when we talked. So, next on the agenda? I would poke around and ask questions about the Greenthornes. If anything, it would give me time to decide whether I could trust Ridge with my history.
I walked down the side street to get to the town square. Thankfully, when I appeared from the side of the building, nobody stood around gossiping about what they had seen between Zander, Ridge, and me. It was bad enough that the little show would probably be all people would ask me about over the next couple of days. Which meant I’d have to come up with yet another script for the inevitable questions.
Did everyone in small towns have to create scripts to keep nosy people at bay?
This town was thirsty for drama like I’d never seen before, but to be fair, I had generally avoided small towns. Maybe this was a common theme among them. I’d only recently ventured into smaller towns after a particularly close call with the hunters. It’d been harder to get back to the larger cities, where it was easier to be invisible. People didn’t pay you much mind and were concerned only about themselves in cities. Most of the time, they didn’t even look you in the eye.
My wolf hated cities because her senses were always overwhelmed, but it made it that much easier to keep her under lock and key. She hated being around that many people.
I studied the town as the sun started to escape in the west, painting the sky with deep reds and purples. The streetlights turned on. The dusky hue showed the town in a new light that still portrayed an elegant charm. I’d be surprised if this place wasn’t fodder for Hollywood types and romance authors.
Laughter eased its way down the street to my ears. I turned to my left, seeing the tavern doors open and close with the foot traffic. I figured Mateo would be the best person to question about the Greenthornes. He was the bartender, and bartenders always knew what was what. They counseled people and listened to every dramatic detail of their problems, whether they wanted to or not. I also didn’t want to ask the Greenthornes questions directly. The more I could avoid them, the better. Not that they’d actually answer any ofmyquestions.
I also happened to like Mateo. He’d been open to my questions before, so I couldn’t think of any reason he wouldn’t be open to them now.
When I entered The Tipsy Tavern, I couldn’t believe how busy it was. Mateo was behind the bar while a couple of waitresses I hadn’t seen before dashed to tables with trays piled high with drinks and typical bar foods.
My gut squeezed when I spotted Zander in the corner. No sooner had he noticed me than he started catcalling and summoning me over. I sneered at him, growing more disgusted when I saw he already had a scantily clad woman seated in his lap.
The female glared at Zander before turning her hostile gaze at me, but her face changed and softened when she got a look at me. I didn’t know who she was, but I got the impression she knew who I was and that I was engaged to Ridge; I wasn’t a threat to taking Zander from her. Like I’d ever want to.
I wanted to warn her to get as far away from him as possible, but I couldn’t help everybody. I’d had to instill that in myself in the early days of setting out on my own.
This place, this town…the longer I stayed here, the more I felt I was reverting to the girl who wanted to help. But becoming that girl again would only get me hurt or caught by hunters when I inevitably had to leave, so I had to shake it off pronto.
I ignored the pair and made it to the bar. Mateo was slammed, pouring drink after drink. He didn’t bother doing any of his fancy pours and dance moves; there was no time for that. He gave me the typical nod of acknowledgment that men seemed to pull off easily. After handing some drinks to a patron, he looked over at me.
“When you have a minute, can we talk?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He glanced back at Zander and huffed. “Why don’t you hang out in the back room until this dies down and I can leave the bar?”
I laughed, thanked him, and headed to the back room, grateful he gave me a place to get a reprieve from the creep.
People waved to me and said hello. I waved in return, but I didn’t want to sit and chat with anyone. This wasn’t a social visit, and I’d done enough socializing today to last at least a month. So, I zig-zagged around everybody.
Once in the back room, I noticed a staircase that led upstairs to a living area. After that horrible morning, I’d learned Mateo lived up there.
