Six Months (27 page)

He smirked hard and walked around to the right side of the bed as she closed the door. Reno kicked off his boots and unlatched his belt. I giggled a little when I heard it hit the floor.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, not expecting an answer as he scooted next to me on my right.

“I can’t believe you put that poster on the wall. Why did you decorate this room? Was your secret plan to kidnap me and hold me captive?”

He leaned back and situated himself so that his left arm slipped beneath my neck while his right hand stroked my stomach. “I wanted you to feel at home when you came to stay the night here. You wouldn’t like my room.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s plain.”

“So is vanilla ice cream, but it’s my favorite flavor.”

Reno deepened his voice. “Why did Sanchez call you Vanilla in that note?”

I bit my lip. “He was inside the store asking for vanilla candy and that’s how it started.”

His eyes became brutally sharp. “Austin hooked up surveillance outside the building months ago. Tell me what day and time he came in, and I’ll get the footage. I want to know what that animal looks like.”

“I have his phone number. You can always call him.”

“Maybe I don’t want him expecting company,” Reno suggested in a way that sent a shiver up my spine. He stroked my stomach possessively. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you, April. Sanchez is mine. He put his hands on you, and he tried to set you on fire. That officially earned him top billing on my hit list. Do you want to tell me what he looks like or what kind of car he drives?”

Reno’s touch was soft, but his face was granite. He looked down at me with cold eyes and a tight mouth. Those bullwhips of electricity were snapping in the room again.

“I think he drives a silver BMW. He’s got black hair that’s spiky, and one of those chin patches,” I said, pointing below my lip. “He’s a little taller than me, but not much.”

“Any tattoos or scars?”

“A teardrop by his eye and a scorpion tattoo on his… I can’t talk about this right now. I’m sorry—I’m still shaken up.”

I relished the feel of Reno’s powerful body, the sound of his breath, and the smell of his skin. It felt comforting to lie next to a man like him. Safe. I stroked his stubbly chin and he kissed my fingertips as we listened to the rain falling outside.

“Is there anything you lost that can’t be replaced?” he finally asked.

Hope? It’s what I wanted to say. Reno’s family might have brought me in, but I’d never felt so lost. “Just the snow globes and my fish, Hermie. The snow globes were sentimental, you know? I love what you gave me, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the same.”

“Why not?”

“Because my dad gave them to me. They were special because he chose each one for a reason, and he actually made them himself.”

“Talented.”

“He was. Are your parents still alive?”

Reno’s mouth pressed against my temple, and then he resumed staring at the ceiling. “They move around a lot. Last I heard, they found a pack up in South Dakota that might take them in. It’s harder the older you get to be taken in by a Packmaster. They carefully consider every candidate’s worth and what they can offer the pack. Most will turn down an aging couple. But our parents have wisdom and experience that would be an asset to any damn pack.”

“Why is it so important for you to have packs instead of living alone?”

“There’s safety in numbers for wolves—we have family to look after. It’s instinctual; I don’t know how to explain it. Some of our animal traits bleed into our human ones, I guess.”

“How come you guys don’t let them live with you?”

“It’s not our way. The parents can’t live under the same roof if the Packmaster is their son. I’ve only seen it happen once and the entire pack was dismantled. When our children become adults and go through the change, they have to leave the pack. They’re not allowed to mate within the pack and stay.”

“Why not?”

“More than one male might have feelings for a female and if she chooses one over another, it becomes problematic. It’s also how new blood is maintained so that inbreeding never occurs. The men want to go out and find their own family, just as the women do.”

“Do your parents visit?”

I felt his smile stretch across my temple. “Are you asking to meet my parents?”

“No,” I blurted out.

Kind of lying. Kind of not.

He turned on his side and his voice softened around the edges. “Sounds like you are. You sure you don’t want to meet my mom? You’d love her. She can shoot a bow and arrow and cook a mean chili. I can call her to fly down on a moment’s notice.”

“Don’t you dare,” I whispered, looking up at his amused eyes.

“You’re right. I don’t know what she’d think about her son dating a woman with a poster of another man at the foot of her bed.”

A laugh pealed out of me and Reno perched up on his elbow, smiling wide. A rumbling laugh rolled through his chest and he looked at me in a way that gave me second thoughts about decisions that were rattling around in my head.

Then his hand smoothed down the cotton sweats Ivy had lent me, and I released a shallow breath.

“Is your foot bothering you?” he asked, lightly stroking his finger between my legs.

“Not anymore.”

Over the course of the next month, Reno’s visits to the house had become more infrequent
. He’d moved to their second home so he could focus on hunting down Sanchez. That’s how long I’d been living in the Weston house. Weston was the name of Lexi’s brother who’d died years ago, someone she had never spoken of before, but Lexi opened up to me about her life during my stay. Since she wanted to spend more time with me, she offered the part-timers at the store a few extra shifts, which they eagerly accepted.

Lexi began pursuing her vision for Sweet Treats and Austin loaned her the money to expand. I told her I didn’t feel right going back after what I’d done, but she adamantly refused to let me go. I helped her review inventory to determine what wasn’t moving, and we reevaluated her strategy as a business owner.

“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Lexi began, propping her feet on an ottoman while fishing around in a bag of Doritos. “Austin wants me to move my business to the Breed side of town, but I’m concerned about the risk. We have regular customers and the store is in a prime location. What if we relocate and nothing sells? I’m going to scout the area and check out some of our competition to see what’s going on. Seventy percent of our sales come from children, and not all Breeds can have children. I’m just not sure if there will be enough to keep the business afloat.”

I reached down and scratched the bandage on my foot. After the last X-ray, the doctor had said it was healing remarkably well and told me to keep using the crutches.

“So your plan is to check out the local businesses?” I asked from the beanbag chair. I’d grown to love the cozy feel and ambiance of hanging out in the game room.

She crunched on another chip. “I’m going to open up a bakery.”

I clapped. “Woo-hoo! It’s about time.”

“I want you to run the candy store and I’m going to run the bakery.”

My jaw dropped. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“You know that store inside out, April. I want to give it over to you. Charlie left me the business and money, but maybe it was just because I’d been there the longest.”

“You can’t do that.”

She laughed and crunched on another chip, licking the orange dust from her finger. “Oh, can’t I? Look, I’m the one taking the risk with the bakery. I have no idea if these immortals are going to want cookies, and I plan to keep it open twenty-four hours a day, which means I’ll have to hire someone who can bake. I’m thinking about a Vampire because they don’t need to sleep. Austin says ‘hell no,’ but he’s not the boss of me.”

A throat cleared in the doorway and Austin leaned against the doorjamb. I caught Lexi biting her lip as he gave her a loaded glance.

“No Vampires,” he said firmly.

“Austin, I need someone I can depend on who doesn’t have a family to go home to, who can work all hours and—”

“Ladybug, I’m not having my woman working in the middle of the night with a Vampire. They may not require blood to survive, but it’s too much temptation for them to work in close proximity to someone as tasty as you,” he said with a dark laugh.

There was that chemistry, quietly zinging back and forth between those two like Ping-Pong balls.

“Who’s up for horseshoes?” Denver yelled out from the hall.

Austin moved aside when Denver appeared in the doorway and reached for the top of the doorframe while cocking his eyebrow. His dark blond hair looked messy, like he’d just woken up. He gripped the frame and it punctuated the muscles in his biceps.

“It’s too cold to play outside,” Lexi complained.

“I smell bullshit,” he said. “Sounds like you’re afraid of losing.”

Her face tightened.

“C’mon, Lexi. Put on your big-girl panties and see if you can swing with the men.”

She angrily rolled up her bag of chips and Denver sauntered off with a wide grin.

“Lexi, you’re just going to get yourself worked up,” Austin said. “Last time you gave me the silent treatment for two days.”

“That’s because you took his side,” she said sharply, walking toward him as I rolled over to stand up.

Austin grabbed her ass and kissed her hard. While they swapped tongue, I gathered my crutches and managed to climb to my feet.

“I took his side because you were cheating.” He lightly patted her backside.

“How do you cheat at horseshoes?” she said gruffly, wiggling out of his arms and vacating the room.

Austin shook his head and centered his eyes on mine. “By screaming every time it was his turn to throw. Denver bought a bag of earplugs this morning, so I have a feeling this is going to get ugly real quick. Want to join?”

“Sure.”

When I made it to the hall, Austin took the crutches from me and handed them to Wheeler, who headed downstairs. Then he threw me over his shoulder, and with a squeak, I held on to his back.

It was weird, but that’s how they moved me around the house—like a sack of potatoes. I could walk on the crutches just fine, but anytime I got near the stairs, one of them would appear and end up carrying me up or down. I accepted their kindness without question. It was evident that Shifters respected women, looked after them, and had healthy relationships with the girls in their pack. They heeded their advice and treated them as equals. The only hierarchy going on had to do with the Packmaster, but Lexi said she was an alpha female and had some pull.

Over the past few weeks, I’d been growing out my platinum hair. I’d decided to change some things and give myself a fresh start. On the night of the fire, Trevor had found my purse in the back seat of his car when he arrived at the restaurant. It had slid beneath the passenger seat and only the strap was poking out. So he sent it over to the house along with my phone.

Yeah.
Sent.

As much as I pleaded with him, Trevor refused to visit me at the house. So Lexi drove me into town quite frequently and I’d meet up with him for coffee at the bookstore or lunch. No matter how many times I kissed him and told him how much he meant to me, he’d pull away as if I’d rejected him by choosing to stay with Reno’s family.

I couldn’t talk to Trevor about Shifters, even knowing that he
was
one, because I’d given Reno my word and wanted to earn back his trust. Trevor must have sensed Reno and his family were Shifters too, and that’s why he’d never liked them. I started to recall things he had brought up in conversation that hadn’t made sense then but did now.

Austin carried me downstairs and out the front door, setting me down at the foot of the porch steps. I followed behind him on my crutches, frowning at the mud that began to stain the rubber bottoms. Now I knew why they always piled their shoes by the door.

Jericho was sitting on the hood of Denver’s faded yellow truck on the left side of the yard. Denver and Lexi were milling around, preparing to throw. Austin snuck up behind Lexi, turned her around, and zipped her jacket all the way up to her neck.

It was a crisp sixty-two degrees, but with the breeze and no sun, it felt a lot cooler. Lexi had been lending me her clothes, so I wore a beige knit shirt with quarter-length sleeves. It didn’t really go with my grey sweats and sneakers, but I didn’t want to impose by getting picky about fashion.

Lexi threw the horseshoe and spun around, letting out a holler.

“Doesn’t count,” Denver said.

“The hell it doesn’t!” she protested.

He threw out his left arm and pointed at the pin. “That was a woody. It doesn’t count.”

“What’s a woody?” I asked Jericho.

He arched his brows suggestively and I shook my head.

“Austin, tell him it counts,” she said, hands on her hips.

“Sorry, Ladybug. He’s right.”

She glowered and began to retreat. “I’ve changed my mind.”

Austin snatched her wrist and spun her around. “Since when is Lexi Knight a quitter?”

“He takes it too seriously. I just want to have fun.”

Jericho leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “This happens every time. Lexi hates losing. Austin said when they were kids she used to cheat her ass off at checkers by distracting him and moving the chips around.”

“So why did Denver invite her to play?”

He reached around and tied his long hair back, but a loose strand slipped in front of his face. Jericho smiled with his jade eyes. “Denver likes to ruffle feathers; it’s his hobby, in case you hadn’t noticed. He has a way of getting under your skin because of how casual he is about things. Most of us can kick his ass at horseshoes, but he’s a sport about losing, so this is actually fun for me to watch.”

“You should let her win,” I whispered.

“April thinks we should
let
Lexi win!” Jericho shouted and laughed all at once.

Oh yeah, these men were pure evil, trying to stage a catfight. I hit him in the shoulder with my crutch and Lexi turned around as if I had betrayed her.

“Sorry, Lexi,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe it’s just not your game.”

“I’d like to see
you
try it,” she dared.

“Fine.” Challenge accepted.

Denver gave me a brief rundown of the rules and how to score points. Then he threw his horseshoe and it spun around the peg.

I handed my crutches over to Lexi. “Okay, go easy on me because I have a disability here,” I said with a wide smile. All eyes were on me
. Careful not to smack someone in the head with that thing
, my inner voice teased.

When I swung my arm forward, the horseshoe hit the ground and rolled off to the right.

Austin whistled with his fingers and Jericho clapped. I had to laugh because that was a truly embarrassing first attempt.

Ben leaned against the truck and I caught him staring at my ass. It made me uncomfortable, and I flushed as Denver handed me a heavy horseshoe.

“I’ll let you practice and throw a few,” he said.

“Swing low,” Ben suggested. “You need to bend over a little.” He was drunk by the glazed look in his eyes, and it was only three in the afternoon. I didn’t care for Ben, and even though Wheeler had a sharp tongue, I felt like I could trust him. The rest of the house favored Ben because of his light humor, but underneath, I don’t know. I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Jericho smacked him in the back of the head, a look of annoyance on his face. Ben instantly shifted into his wolf and growled before trotting off. Wheeler leaned against the house, watching Ben’s wolf from the corner of his eye.

I swallowed hard and tossed another one. This one cut short and hit the ground with a thud.

“Do you guys want to play laser tag tonight?” Denver suggested, stuffing his hands in his pockets and glancing toward Jericho.

“Sounds like fun,” Lexi piped in, her voice mysteriously cloaked with politeness. “Can I be on the opposite team as you?”

“Yeah, but dickhead’s on
my
team.”

Dickhead was Denver’s nickname for Jericho. It didn’t seem to bother him.

“Well, I’m
not
having Ben on my team,” Jericho announced. “He’ll be tanked by then.”

While they rattled on about their plans, I threw another horseshoe. This one landed on one of the wood planks that bordered the pit and I frowned.

“What about Mom and Maizy?” Lexi asked.

“Bring ’em along. Your mom can go in the arcade with Maizy while we mature adults are left to our devices,” Denver said, tucking his hands beneath his armpits.

“What about…” Lexi didn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t have to.

Austin’s eyes skidded over to mine.

“I’m fine,” I said. “If they have a place to sit, then I’m good.”

Reno’s badass motorcycle roared up the driveway, the engine throttling, but I couldn’t see around the cars. The blue truck belonged to everyone, but the gunmetal-grey Chevy Camaro belonged to Wheeler. It was a classic beauty and he’d spent many mornings washing mud off the tires.

A thrill moved through me every time Reno drove up on his Triumph. We hadn’t been intimate outside of a little friendly touching since my arrival. Lexi said Shifters respected privacy and, if asked, would travel to the other end of the house when they were doing the deed. I wasn’t about to announce to anyone we were doing anything. I was a guest in their home—what kind of impression would that make on a family I was trying to make amends with?