Page 22 of Operation: Ogre

Before Aaron even had a moment to respond, there was shouting, and just as I turned, Chris rammed into me. His arms wrapped around mine, and he was glaring at Aaron. The musky, sweet scent of dried sweat clung to him, and his clothes were rumpled. Both of his siblings were yelling at him about jumping out of a moving car. Carter was mainly focused on the safety aspect, while Samantha was just calling him a reckless idiot.

“Did you just leap out of your brother’s moving car?” I asked.

Chris’s grip tightened, and something possessive curled in my gut. If I took his actions at face value, he didn’t want me talking to Aaron any more than I wanted Chris talking to random people. He said, his eyes never leaving Aaron, “It doesn’t matter.”

“It sure as hell does,” Carter yelled from the car. “I could’ve killed you.”

Chris finally broke his one-sided staring contest with Aaron and rolled his eyes. “You were creeping along like a granny. No. I take that back. Our grandmother drives faster than you do.”

“You could’ve broken something, asshole,” Carter shouted. “I am not bothering Dr. Lee because you felt like being reckless.”

He didn’t bother responding, just flipped his brother off. Carter left, swearing, which Chris didn’t react to. He looked up at me, his chin on my arm. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for you.” I rested my hand on the arm that was encircling mine. “I thought we could get coffee and breakfast.”

“You are speaking my language, big guy.”

I chuckled.

“You two are very adorable, you know? Almost sickening,” Aaron teased with a wide grin.

Chris laughed, but it wasn’t his real one, and his hands gripped my arm painfully. “We are.”

Aaron shook his head. “Go be gross elsewhere.”

“Aye aye, captain.” This time, when Chris laughed, it was his true breezy one, which made me relax. He was okay.

Aaron just rolled his eyes. I grabbed Chris’s hand and started to lead him into the library, so we could get coffee.

“Hey,” Chris said, stopping me. “Can I shower first? I’m kinda gross.”

“Never,” I muttered, my cheeks burning. I honestly found his smell so attractive, though it did put the image of licking the beads of sweat off his body while we did other things, non-work out things.

He snorted. “Right.”

“I’m serious. You don’t smell bad.” I paused in my step to look at him and was rewarded with seeing color sweep across his cheeks.

“Well, then we don’t have to wait for me to shower.”

“Coffee and werebear claws?”

“Ugh, you know I have to eat clean,” he groaned dramatically.

“Fine egg white bites for you and a vegan werebear claw for me.”

“Then Bro-tein shakes?”

“Seriously?” I shook my head. “Don’t call it that.”

Chris broke into peals of laughter. “Why? Don’t you want to give me a shot of your Bro-tein? Fill me full of your vitality?”

Heat slammed into his face at the same time it did mine. I most certainly wanted to, but I didn’t think I was ready to tell him that any more than he was ready to hear that.

“C-coffee,” Chris announced, dragging me toward the library, and I nodded, unable to say a single word.

Chapter Eleven

Christopher