Racing Home (Dirt Track Dogs Book 3) (Paranormal Wolf-Shifter Romance) (7 page)

“Damn it, that’s not what I meant,” he snapped, jerking his hand away. “I meant your hands are useful. You need them, you know, to work, and I didn’t want to screw that up for you. So. I’m glad they’re okay.”

And like that, the thread of happiness turned sour.

“Yep. Me too.” Annie’s smile faded but she spun away, grabbing the towel she’d left on the counter and wiping the area around the plates she’d set out. “Breakfast is ready. Can you tell the others? I’m going to shower and get dressed. You guys can help yourselves.”

She didn’t wait for his answer. Instead, she took a note from his playbook and escaped as quickly as she could.

Chapter Eight

The crew had finished breakfast, but Blister waited for Annie to return. He needed to talk to her. He wanted to learn about her family. He’d been trying to figure out a way to broach the subject ever since his conversation with Drake, but things kept getting in the way.

He opened the dishwasher and began loading the breakfast plates.

“You didn’t need to do the dishes.” Annie’s voice came from behind him, and he turned to look at her.

Her curls were still damp from her shower. She was barefoot, in a pair of worn jeans, and a t-shirt that read
Dirt is a Girl’s Best Friend
. She was out of those tiny, hot as fuck shorts she’d probably worn to bed, but she was still kick-in-the-gut gorgeous.

“I don’t mind,” he muttered, forcing his eyes away from her.

“Okay.” He caught her shrug. “I’ll get started on lunch then.”

While he finished loading, she began gathering ingredients. He had to figure out what to say to her. Now, before something else came up.

“Why are you alone?” he blurted.

Her body froze mid-action, and then she shook her head and continued her task. “Is there really a good answer to a question like that? If I knew why, I’d remedy it.” For the first time, he noticed the edge in her tone. She didn’t like talking about this, but he needed answers.

“Where is your family? Friends?”

“My family is gone. My friends are at DTD. Why are you asking?”

“Because I want to know.”

She grew quiet.

“What happened to your parents?”

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Did Ella tell you something?”

“No.”

“I don’t really talk about it.”

“I get that. I do.”

She went back to her work, but he wasn’t finished pushing. He had to know if his mate needed something from him as Drake had suggested. Because if she did…

“What would it take to make you talk?”

Facing him, she crossed her arms over her chest, drawing his attention momentarily to her breasts.

“You want to know that badly? That you would bargain with me over the information?” She raised one eyebrow. “Why?”

Why? Why, why, why. What could he tell her?

He shrugged as casually as he could. “You said you had scars. I was curious.”

Blister shut the dishwasher and turned the faucet off before looking at her again. She’d pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, contemplating.

With a sigh, the words tumbled out quickly. “They drowned. In a flash flood five years ago. They went to cross a low bridge and the current was too much. It swept them into the creek and they didn’t make it out alive.”

Blister remembered that year. Cedar Valley had a record rainfall of more than twenty inches in the span of a month. The many creeks and rivers had swollen to twice or three times their size. Heavy continuous rain was dangerous in areas like Cedar Valley because flash floods were so uncommon, people didn’t know to be careful.

Annie picked up a towel, wringing it nervously. “There. Now you know.”

“I’m sorry you’ve lost people you love.”

He was overcome with a fierce need to protect her. From her past and whatever pain it might have caused her. Up until this moment, he’d only been concerned with protecting her from the future, from any pain a relationship with him would bring. Now there was another side to the coin.

She gave him a sad grin. “You know exactly what that’s like, yeah?”

The irony wasn’t lost on either of them. His family had died by fire, hers by flood. Flame and water. It was oddly serendipitous. He was horror and she was beauty. He was rough and she was soft.

But they were both scarred in their own ways.

He leaned back, bracing his hands against the counter and focusing on the tiny vase of flowers that sat on the bar. Yellow. Something wild that she’d clearly picked on a whim.

“We knew the fire was coming. Knew it was going to be bad. We’d already heard of people on the other side of the valley dying. Bridgette, my sister… Ella’s mom… she was furious with my father for choosing to keep us all there. It was dangerous and she had a brand new family to think of. But he…”

Blister shook his head at the memories. He dredged them up plenty in the privacy of his own mind. Telling someone else was a whole new kind of pain.

“He wouldn’t listen. And he wasn’t the only one. No one in the family wanted to leave except Bridgette and Ella’s father. But see, getting down the mountain was dangerous too. The base was already taken by the fire. We were damn near trapped at that point. There was a fight. Between my father and Ella’s. It was brutal, but Charles was taking Ella and Bridgette down the mountain whether my father liked it or not. They were going to leave in the morning.” He hardened his jaw. “But no one made it that far.”

Blister ran a rough hand over his destroyed face. He needed to finish this fast. If she said a word to him, he’d be done. He couldn’t listen to any hint of pity or disgust that would come with whatever platitude she’d give him.

“In the night, the fire spread so rapidly, none of us had time to act. Our homes were engulfed before we could wake. I was young, and my first thought was to escape, save myself. I didn’t scream or alert anyone. I didn’t think of it. I just ran. But outside, I woke up. Realized what I’d done, and I… I went back in. Over and over, trying to save them. Found my mother first. Dragged her halfway to the door before I couldn’t breathe. I was afraid I’d pass out, so I ran outside for air. I… I… came back in to find her under a fallen beam. Burning. She was burning. I left her there to burn.” His voice rasped to a stop. He couldn’t make anymore words come. This had to be enough. It had to be.

He stared at those damn flowers, shaking like all hell, embarrassment and shame making him weak. He needed to go. Needed to be a wolf. To feel the wind through his fur. To let the animal deal with the pain for a while.

A soft hand landed on his shoulder and he jerked away.

“Don’t. Don’t touch me.”

“Okay.”

He couldn’t look at her. Wouldn’t. But her voice was careful, patient. More than he deserved.

He told her about his family because he’d thought it might help in some way. The idea seemed absurd now. How could any of his shit help her? He had fucking nothing to offer her. So maybe she needed him. Maybe Drake was right. But he couldn’t help her or be what she needed or whatever the fuck fate thought.

“Blister.”

He squeezed his eyes closed.

He was no good for her, yet the mere sound of his name on her lips was a balm for his soul. He needed her so fucking bad. More than he’d ever needed anybody. Even his pack.

He had to go. Just for a little bit. Until he could level out.

“I’ll be back later,” he rasped, marching straight for the front door.

***

In his wolf form, Blister wandered the woods of DTD’s property until the sun began to set. The turmoil within him had calmed some, leaving only instinct to deal with. And the strongest at the moment, was his desire to claim his mate. He was edgy because the entire day had passed and he hadn’t been there to watch over her. By this time, she’d shared two meals with the crew without Blister there to make sure everyone kept their hands to themselves.

It was time. He needed to get back to her.

He shifted to human and collected his jeans and t-shirt from the nearby tree where he’d left them. He dressed but didn’t bother with his shoes, and then walked the path that would lead him to the practice track.

The boys were there, and he didn’t want to face them, but fuck if he could avoid them forever.

“Duuuuuude,” Surge murmured as he approached. He lay on the lowered tailgate of Drake’s truck, chewing on a long piece of grass. “Where you been?”

Blister gave him a shrug.

“Well damn, son. If
you
don’t even know then it must be bad.”

“He knows where he’s been,” Diz muttered.

Surge raised an eyebrow.

“With the cats, right?” Diz asked.

Surge sat up, brow furrowed. “With the cats?”

Blister nodded.

Surge eyed him. “At Annie’s?”

Blister glared. Fucking Surge had been so friendly with her. Had his hands on her, and she’d touched him too.

Surge’s shoulders lost their tension. “Wait, so… Annie. You were with Annie, not the cats.”

“What does it matter to you?”

Surge’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t answer.

“I swear to fuck,” Drake muttered. “Every last one of you need your asses whooped. Blister, tell them what the fuck is going on with you.”

Blister scowled at his alpha.

“Fine.” Drake sighed. “Our boy’s found his intended.”

Surge stiffened, and even Diz looked uncomfortable.

“Looks like little miss Annie belongs to Blister,” Drake continued.

“That true?” Diz asked.

Well, shit. Yes, it was, but she didn’t
belong
to him.

Blister gave a quick nod.

Surge whistled low. “Wow.”

It wasn’t a judgmental sound, but Blister automatically felt judged. Like his pack was comparing the monster to the beauty and finding they were a horrible match. He didn’t want that from them even if it was true.

“That’s…” Surge shook his head, lost for words. “That’s fucking perfect,” he said, jumping down off the tailgate and crowding Blister’s personal space. His face lit with excitement, and Blister knew one of his trademark cackles was coming on. “You’ll take such good care of her, bro, I know it. And that woman can cook a mean fucking cheesecake, I swear. Ask her to make you one.” Surge clapped his hands together obnoxiously, oblivious to Blister’s squirming at the mention of cheesecake. “This is going to be fucking epic, man. Congrats.”

Blister raised an eyebrow at Drake as if to say,
now
you
let him down easy
. Because his decision to not claim Annie hadn’t changed no matter what his wolf wanted.

“I gotta go,” Blister mumbled, scooting around Surge to get to his own truck.

Surge laughed. “Alright then. Give your girl a kiss for me, yeah?” He laughed again, muttering under his breath, “Blister and Annie. I’ll be a hotdog in hell, that one blindsided me.”

The drive to Annie’s was short and didn’t give Blister much time to think. The crew was gone for the night, leaving him alone with her. He considered going straight to the cellar but couldn’t leave things the way he had earlier. He was solid now, and he needed to make sure she was too.

He walked around to the back and tapped lightly on the door. When she didn’t answer, he knocked harder. Still nothing, so he turned the knob and let himself in.

Annie sat at the bar, staring at a plate of food, using her fork to move pieces of it around. Her gaze snapped up when he entered the kitchen, and she looked almost… relieved.

“Hey,” he said.

There was a slight lift of her mouth. “I would ask if you want dinner but I’m sure you’d find a reason you don’t.”

So sure. As if he wouldn’t hesitate at all. Had he been that unkind to her? He’d only been trying to protect them both.

He came to a stop, as close to her as he dared, leaning over the bar.

“Annie.” His voice was soft, giving him away, and she looked at him, her blue eyes big and cautious.

There was no hiding the emotion he felt. And part of him didn’t want to hide anymore. He wanted to tell her everything. What he was, what she was. How he needed her, wanted her, fucking couldn’t stand the idea of them not together. That the reason he ran all the time was because caring for someone else scared the shit out of him. He was a coward, keeping his heart locked away so he could never lose anyone again. Never fail anyone again.

“You’ve been kind to me,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

She slid her hand across the counter slowly, warning him of her intent. He wouldn’t stop her this time. Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes as her skin made contact with his in a rush of sensation that threatened to take him under. She ran her fingers over the scars on his forearm until she reached his hand. He opened his eyes to watch the journey her touch would take, but she stopped there, her hand resting lightly on his. Waiting.

His move.

He turned his palm up, catching her slender fingers between his.

“See?” she said softly. “It’s not so bad, is it?”

Bad? Holding her hand? No, it was fucking wonderful. And he wanted more. He wanted to feel her lips, wanted to taste her mouth. Cradle her cheek as he explored her. Wanted to know the way her body would feel pressed against his, how her curves would give to his hard planes. Her scent. That sweet, sweet scent. He wanted it on his body, to reassure him she was his.

Shit. His control was close to snapping.

He brought her hand up to drop a kiss to her fingers, praying she wasn’t disgusted by his mouth.

“I’ll take that dinner now. If that’s alright.”