Page 29 of Same One
“Did I meet you now so you could teach me to trust again, and bring me back to life? Or did I meet you too early when I’m not healed enough yet and this is just another character-building phase of my life.”
“That will be determined by how long you stick around.”
Her alarm went off on her phone, and she puffed air out of her cheeks as she turned it off. “I have to go back inside for work. I was on my lunch break.”
“Okay well send me a picture of you in your scrubs so I can jack off to it.”
“Tabian!” she squeaked, looking around fast to make sure none of her co-workers had sat down at the tables near her while she wasn’t paying attention.
“I’m not taking it back. Scrubs. Pull the neckline down low. I fucking miss you.”
Her smile stretched her face, and heat touched her cheeks. She looked around again, but she was alone out here. She held up her phone and snapped a quick picture and then sent it to him. “It doesn’t have a filter on it and the sunlight is really bright. Don’t judge it too hard.”
“Woman, I just made that my lock screen. Never use filters. You don’t need them. Go get all the blood out of all the people. What time do you get off?”
“Four.”
“Want to call me on your way home so Bay doesn’t hear?”
Her heart was wrapping around him a little more. He was very understanding of her not being ready for them to meet. “Yes, I would like that.”
“Okay, I’m going to go film until then. I’ll come back up here at four.”
“Hey Tabian?”
“Yeah?”
“I really like you.”
“I could tell. You got more jealous than a she-wolf.”
An accidental giggle escaped her. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I like you protective. You want to get all possessive and territorial?” he said in a low sultry voice. “Go on then. Apparently, I enjoy that shit. You just told me you like me and set boundaries on other females. I’m gonna get you, Tru. Just wait.”
Chills rippled up her forearms, and she drew her knees up to her chest as she squeezed the phone tighter to her ear. “Be safe.”
“Yep. Talk soon.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye. Tru?” he asked before she could hang up.
“Yeah?”
“You terrify me too.”
Chapter Eight
She was figuring this out.
Over the last three days, Tabian had set a routine with her. He texted and called on her lunch breaks and then found reception when she got off work and chatted with her the entire drive home, said their goodbyes before she went in to see Bay after school, and then at nights, he would drive back out for reception before she went to bed to text with her for a while.
This trip was a three-day one, but he didn’t spend all three days at one spot. He had tracked down three different campsites at three different places, and introduced, rated, and advertised new gear on each trip. He recorded the set-up, and menial things like hiking, wood preparation, cooking, and peaceful nights in a camp chair by a fire drinking a beer and answering fan questions. He spent hours a day editing the videos and would release all three campsites at different times throughout the next week and a half before he left to do it all over again.
And as she dove into the videos before bed, she started to understand the interest in what he was doing. For the average person, they were stuck in a job and a routine and a life where exploring different places was rare and at a premium, but with Tabian’s adventures, and the way he brought his audience along with him, it was as if they were all camping together.
And on top of that as well, she was noticing something really cool—Tabian was exposing parts of being a werewolf that made his people more relatable.
