Page 9 of Wolf

“What are you saying?” His voice starts to rise. “Look around you. This place is a pigsty. It ain’t your fault and it ain’t even really your mom’s fault either, but it’s a fact. I’m here offerin’ to help make it better, for free.”

“Out of the goodness of your heart too, I bet,” I fire back. “I’m sure that you weren’t planning on using this to…”

“Mommy?” Artie huddles up against my legs. “Why are you mad?”

My heart cracks, knowing I’ve frightened my own child. I bend down to hug him tightly, every apology I know rising to my lips.

“She’s not mad, kiddo. Just upset and tired.” Wolf abruptly steps away. His piercing blue gaze holds steadily on me even as he backs off. “If you don’t want me here, I’m not gonna overstay my welcome. I’ll see myself out.”

“Wolf…”

He walks away through the house with his back stiff and his chin up. It’s so similar to the way that he walked when he broke up with me that, against all logic, I can’t allow it to happen again.

I stroke Artie’s hair and speak quickly in his ear. “Go find Grammy in her room, okay, baby?”

He nods, eyes wide. I kiss his soft cheek, then give him a little push to get him started. He scurries off. Steeling myself, I hurry up and go after my ex-boyfriend, my heartbreaker, and catch him on the tiny, cracked front porch.

“You really mean it, don’t you?” He stares off down the street, though I can tell he isn’t looking at anything in particular.

“I do.” The porch is too small. We’re too close together. Thick, masculine heat pours off him, makes me dizzy. My body wants to lean closer to his, to give in to the gravitational pull of his presence. “The best thing you can do is stay away.”

He swings around to face me, his shoulders squared. His gaze darkens and the animal within surges to the surface, the frightening and alluring hunger that I never could resist.

“I don’t think that’s gonna be possible,” he growls. Then, suddenly, his face lowers to mine and I have no time at all to react before his lips are settling on mine.

Chapter 5

Wolf

The taste of her nearly brings me to my knees, like the sweetest, most delectable fruit. A forbidden fruit. I barely know what I’m doing or why, and it doesn’t matter. We were so near to each other, tension crackling in the air between us, and I had wanted to do it. That had seemed like a good enough reason.

Julia leans into me, her body straining toward mine. My beard rasps over her chin. She makes a small sound, a sigh or a moan, I can’t tell. Her fingertips skim over the back of my hand. The hairs all over my body stand on end, vibrating with static. My erection jams against the fabric restraining it. My breath comes in huge shuddering gasps.

I want to stay like this with her forever. Fuck.

My own hands lift up like they have a mind of their own, settling on her slender shoulders. I pull her more to me and she touches my heaving chest, over my heart.

Something snaps inside of me, and I push away from her, whirling around and stalking down off the porch, across the wasted yard.

Julia doesn’t follow me, not physically. Her eyes do. They cling to me the whole way to my bike. I don’t know what she wants. Should I listen to her words and leave? Should I listen to her body and the way she pressed closer?

Nothing feels right.

She’s clearly as messed up as I am about all this shit. Maybe I was right six years ago? She doesn’t need a loser like me in her life. I throw one leg over my bike and rip out of there with an eardrum-shattering shriek. I ride, not bothering with stop signs or speed limits. Let a cop pull me over. Let them dare.

Eventually, I realize there’s another sensation underneath the rumbling of the bike’s engine. It’s a vibration, but a different kind. Someone’s calling me, though seeing as Steel only gave me this burner yesterday, I don’t know who’s got my number. I don’t even know what my damn number is.

I swerve to the side of the road, my front tire bumping up the curb and onto the grass strip. I yank my phone out of my pocket. “What?” It comes out almost as a roar. Some people who were coming down the sidewalk in my direction suddenly decide they have somewhere else they need to be.

“Seems like this might have been a bad time.” Edge’s voice is wryly amused.

“Ya think so?”

Our VP barely seems to hear the threat.

Though I guess Edge has heard a lot worse in his time, a surprising amount of which has come from the Prez. They’re best friends, which means they can also be each other’s worst enemies. There was a time when they were exactly that. Edge had the smart idea to fall for Steel’s fucking daughter, Harley. Steel beat him up for it and Edge wound up taking off his cut. That all did eventually get resolved. Harley and Edge are even married now.

Sometimes, I’m glad for how much I’ve missed. It sounds like a whole hell of a lot of drama.