Rin shook her head, but was pretty sure the question had been rhetorical. “I always felt guilty,” Ginny confided. “Like if I left, something would happen and I’d leave the town in a lurch.”
Rin felt her eyes widen in astonishment at what Ginny was implying. “You do all of the accounting for every business year round?”
Ginny let out an incredulous laugh. “Oh, no, no, not at all. Most of the businesses have bookkeepers that do the numbers, but they know I’m available if they run into a snag. But this year…” Ginny let the thought trail off with a wistful smile before perking up. “Just before you came to town we had some females visiting from another pack. They told me about this trip they had planned. It sounded like so much fun. Now maybe with you here – if you’re feeling comfortable that is,” Ginny said, holding out the hand that wasn’t gripping the files in a gesture of reassurance.
It was only her first day, so Rin wasn’t yet confident enough to give Ginny a definite answer, but the older female’s excitement was contagious. “So what’s this trip?”
Ginny let out a little squeal that was so unexpected from someone her age that Rin couldn’t hold back a laugh as her new boss launched excitedly into the details. “It’s an Alaskan cruise. Almost the entire Montana pack is going, and once they arrive, they’re going to meet up with one of the packs in Alaska.” Another squeal. “And there’ll be single males!”
That last bit had Rin frowning in confusion. Ginny wasn’t wearing a wedding band, true, but that wasn’t so unusual for shifters when rings or other jewelry could be easily lost if a quick shift to fur became necessary. After hearing the stories about Malsum Pass and its lack of females, Rin had just assumed that someone as attractive as Ginny would have been scooped up as soon as she’d come of age. “How are you not mated?”
Rin blushed, hoping Ginny wasn’t offended. The words had come out of her mouth before she’d actually considered how impertinent they may sound. Before she could backtrack and apologize, Ginny was answering, her eyes sad, yet unfazed by what most would deem an inappropriate question. “My mate passed away some years ago. A heart problem.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
Ginny nodded. “He was a good male. And if you had asked me when he passed if I would ever want to be with another male, I would have flat out said no chance.” She grimaced and shook her head. “But now,” she sighed and then squared her shoulders with determination. “The males here in Malsum Pass are either mated, too young for me or too old. I have a lot of good years ahead of me still and I don’t want to spend them alone.”
Rin smiled kindly. “You shouldn’t have to. I hope I’m ready and able to hold down the fort when the time comes so that you can take that trip. Maybe meet the male of your dreams.”
Ginny grinned and stood. “You’ll be ready. I just know it.” The older female gave the files she was still clutching to her chest a squeeze. “Exciting times, Rin Hayashi. Exciting times. Call me if you need me.” Ginny said with a little hop before she left Rin to her work.
Call me if you need me. The words reminded Rin of Mike. She felt badly that she had run away from him without a word. The male had been nothing but sweet and accommodating. She owed him some sort of explanation. As soon as she left work this evening, she’d go see him.
When Rin arrived at the garage with her workout bag slung over her shoulder, she didn’t see Mike but she could hear music coming from the gym. Heading back that way, she pushed open the door, her ears prepped and ready to be assaulted by the loud heavy metal booming through the large space. She hadn’t prepared her eyes, however, for the sight of Mike, shirtless, sweaty; moving effortlessly around the heavy bag and throwing punches.
Rin’s mouth went dry. Mike may not have been a big male, but he was definitely muscular, and Rin was purely fascinated watching all that muscle as it flexed and moved under his skin with every feint and punch.
Sensing her presence, Mike steadied the heavy bag with his wrapped hands and shot her a smile of greeting before jogging over to turn down the volume of the music. “Hey,” he said, picking up a towel and wiping his face. “How was your first day with Ginny?”
That’s when Rin finally noticed his face. “Oh, my god, Mike. What happened?” Her feet were moving before she even realized her intention and her hand was reaching up to touch the bruised and swollen area around his left eye. At closer range, she could now also see that his jaw looked slightly swollen despite the camouflage his whiskers afforded, and his bottom lip was scabbed.
Mike stepped back to avoid her touch with a shrug and wouldn’t meet her eyes. “My sparring partner got a bit carried away.” Moving even further away from her, Mike grabbed up a shirt and yanked it over his head. “I’m done here if you want to use the space to work out.”
Rin felt the sting of rejection as blood rushed into her cheeks. It made no sense, she knew she had no right to touch him without permission, they barely knew each other. But his avoidance still hurt, especially when he continued to keep his eyes trained on anything but her. She had thought they were friends.
Rin swallowed to clear the lump that had risen in her throat and reached for the comforting familiarity of her locket. She grimaced when her hand came away empty and shoved her hands into her coat pockets. “I, ah, I actually came to apologize.” More heat filled her cheeks, this time from embarrassment. “For yesterday. I didn’t mean to run away like that.”
Finally, she had the full impact of those hazel eyes, and now she wished he’d go back to avoiding her gaze. She knew what was coming next, had known that she wouldn’t be able to issue an apology and that would be the end of it. He would ask what had happened. And though she had spent the last hour, prepping what she would say, now that the moment of truth was here, she faltered. Could she actually say the words, could she talk about what happened without breaking down? It was so important to her that he not see her as broken. She was gathering every ounce of courage in her body to actually push the words past her dry throat, when Mike surprised her.
“You don’t need to apologize to me.” He said with a small smile before he walked away.
He walked away. Wait… what? She should just be thankful he didn’t want to hear the details and let the matter drop, but his reaction was in such opposition to her expectations that Rin found it almost impossible to let it go. He wasn’t even curious? With an exasperated growl, she followed him.
Chapter Ten
Mike beat a hasty retreat from the gym planning to come back down once Rin was gone to lock up. He had been so stupid last night. Soon after Tim had left him, anger had taken hold from imagining all the horrors Rin had suffered that the simple act of walking into a diner would somehow trigger that level of fear. So, he’d gone looking for a fight. Well, he’d found one, and suffered a spectacular beat down as a result.
“So that’s it? You don’t even want to know why?”
Mike groaned as Rin caught up to him and gripped his arm. Yes, he wanted to know why. He wanted to know everything about her, but he was afraid of what he would do with that knowledge. His imagination had already sent him into a rage, he couldn’t imagine what the truth would do. He didn’t want her seeing him like that. If he couldn’t conceal his anger on her behalf, she may run from him this time, and that would not only ruin all of his plans to make Rin fall in love with him, but it would flat out break his heart.
“I’m sure you had your reasons,” he shot her a weak smile, “I don’t want to pry.” Running his fingers through his hair in agitation, Mike realized they were still wrapped, and busied himself with undoing the strips so that she couldn’t see the lie on his face. His mother had always told him that he was a terrible liar.
“Your knuckles are swollen.” Rin said, her voice laced with sympathy as she took one of his hands into her own. Her thumb traced lightly back and forth over his knuckles and he couldn’t avoid her gaze any longer. He had to see.
Her eyes were so expressive.
Sympathy for his pain, longing for connection – it was all there. But no fear. They may not have known each other long, but she trusted him and that knowledge was a punch straight to the gut. If she was willing to open up to him he would keep a stranglehold on his anger, even if it killed him. Hesitantly, he asked, “Do you, ah, want to tell me what happened?”
She was still holding his hand, still running her thumb over his bruised knuckles, when her other hand came up to grip his wrist in a surprisingly strong hold. She swallowed hard, her eyes filling with fear at the memory, “I smelled bears.”
Mike nodded, and carefully explained, “The Black family is here for a visit. Sebastian used to live here up until last year. He, and his mate, and his brother are here for a visit. His mate, Susan has a thing for snow.”
Rin seemed to need a moment to digest that information. She stared at his hand, at her thumb still moving over the bruises and swelling. When she spoke, it was barely a whisper, but Mike heard, and he forcefully swallowed the growl that had risen in his throat. “It was a bear that took me. Grabbed me right off the street. I still dream about him – that scent.”
She took a shuddering breath, her head lifted and those stricken eyes met his. He couldn’t help himself. He pulled her gently closer and when she came willingly, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair.
They stood like that for several minutes, and while Mike enjoyed the feel of Rin in his arms, he felt like he needed to do more than offer this small bit of comfort. “Do you want to go kick the crap out of the heavy bag?”
Rin let out a little chuckle against his chest and Mike smiled, happy he’d been able to lighten the mood.
She pulled back slightly and grinned up at him. “I think I’d like that.”
Mike took her hand and walked back toward the gym. “If I wasn’t so bruised, I’d let you beat me up.”
Rin let out a delighted laugh. “Rain check?”
He grinned. “As soon as I’m healed, you can have at me.” His relief was immense. He’d managed to keep the aggression of his protective nature leashed during the telling. Rin trusted him, had opened up to him, and was once again laughing with him. Things were progressing in exactly the right direction.
Rin may have asked him for boxing lessons, but she had more skill than she realized, Mike observed as he watched her on the mats. She had given a pretty good workout to the heavy bag, but now she was practicing some kicks that she must have learned in her early years of Karate and kept practicing despite her mother’s wishes.
“Keep that up and you’ll be ready for the UFC.”
Rin stopped, her breath coming in pants as she raised one of her wrapped hands to push some sweat-soaked strands of hair off of her face. “What’s the UFC?”
“Ultimate Fighting Championship,” Mike said with a grin. “Mixed martial arts. I think it’d be right up your alley.” Then he frowned and glanced over to one of the speakers. “What is that noise you’re listening to? Is that Taylor Swift? In my gym?”
Rin laughed. “I’ll have you know that Taylor Swift is an award winning artist. She’s an inspiration, and so much easier on the ears then that noise you call music.”
Mike’s lip twitched. “My music gets the blood pumping.” He growled with a flex of his muscles. “This is liable to put me to sleep.”
Rin let out a short bark of a laugh at his strongman routine. “Okay, this one is maybe a bit low key, but just listen-“
“Nope, na-ah, not going to happen.” He said, shaking his head, his arms crossing and uncrossing in front of him in adamant refusal. “There’s no way you’re going to convince me to start liking Taylor. Corey Taylor, sure, give me some Slipknot, but the Swift has to go.”
Rin’s expression was priceless, as if she’d just tasted something horrible. “We have got to work on your taste in music.”
Mike shook his head with a snort. “Come on, let’s cool it down with some stretches. You hungry? We can grab a bite to eat after.”
He held his breath waiting for her answer. Sure, the request had been casual, slipped into the conversation nice and easy, but he was feeling anything but. The last time he’d tried to take her out for food had ended in disaster before they’d even gotten into the diner. He wanted another chance.
Rin didn’t look opposed to the idea, but she did look down at herself and frowned. “I’m a bit gross to go out.”
Mike had to force himself to keep his tone neutral as he went through his cool down routine. Rin looked far from gross. With strands of hair clinging to her glistening skin, her workout clothes enticingly damp and stuck to her body… definitely not gross. “I’ve got a frozen pizza up at my place if you want to join me.”
Now he really held his breath. Inviting her up to his apartment was a big step for both of them: A big move forward in the plan for him, and a huge step for her considering her past trauma.
Rin, surprisingly, didn’t even hesitate as she nodded. “Sounds good.”
Mike wanted to shout his joy, jump up and down, maybe even high-five the air, but then his brain cut his enthusiasm short with one simple question: was her acquiescence too easy? The logjam of thoughts that followed left him reeling. Had his plan to take it slow and easy been a huge mistake? Had he inadvertently tossed himself into the dreaded abyss from which there was no return? Was he now, and possibly forevermore, friend zoned? With the horror of that notion riding him hard, Mike knew he needed to step up his plan.
Chapter Eleven
Mike was acting weird, Rin thought as she followed him up to his place above the garage. Actually, if she were being honest, he looked constipated. His invitation had probably been spontaneous and now he was regretting the spur of the moment idea. She should probably put him out of his misery and make an excuse to leave. After all, the need for a shower was a ready-made reason to head back to The Cedars and, at the moment, completely true.
The problem was, she didn’t want to leave. She was curious to see where he lived. Letting her see it, however, could account for his discomfort, she realized as soon as she walked through the door. Mike, it turned out, was a bit of a slob. The large loft-style space didn’t smell offensive, but it was definitely in need of tidying. The sink in the kitchen held dirty dishes, the floor had a trail of dirty clothes which Mike immediately started to gather in his arms. His large bed was unmade and the dresser had several open drawers with clothes hanging from them while the coffee table in front of the couch held three empty beer bottles.
Mike shot her a sheepish look. “Sorry. I wasn’t actually planning on company.”
Rin was about to assure him it was fine when her eyes were caught by what was hanging on the wall above his bed. She let out a gasp of delight. “Are those real?”
Mike turned away from his rushed clean-up job to see what she was talking about and chuckled. “If by real you mean do they light up, yes, but I don’t think they actually make real lightsabers.”
Rin blushed and let out a little chuckle. “Do they come down? I mean, can you play with them?”
Mike waved a hand toward the wall where the lightsabers were crossed over his bed and grinned. “Knock yourself out.”
With an excited little hop, Rin moved to the mounted display, doing her best to ignore the rumpled bed, and carefully lifted one of the lightsabers off its hooks. It was heavier than she had expected, and she needed both hands to lift it into position. Touching the button on the handle, she gasped with delight as the lightsaber lit with a bright green glow. “This is so cool.”
She heard Mike chuckle as he continued on his mission to neaten his place and a bit of devilry had Rin moving toward him as he scooped up the empty bottles from the coffee table. Lightsaber held before her, she lowered her voice as deeply as possible to imitate Darth Vader and quoted, “It is useless to resist. Don’t let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.”
The look on Mike’s face was priceless: a combination of shock and awe as the bottl
es clanked loudly back down on the table and he let out a loud burst of laughter. Then his face went remarkably tender and all thoughts of playing fled Rin’s mind as Mike reached out and cupped her cheek. “Has anyone ever told you how amazing you are?”
Rin’s breath hitched in her chest. The way he was looking at her, his eyes moving over her face and then focusing on her lips, she knew he was going to kiss her. She licked her lips in anticipation and the heat that entered his eyes sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine. Right at this moment, she couldn’t think of a single thing she wanted more than to taste Mike’s kiss.
It was not to be. The shrill ring of a phone startled Rin and had her jerking back from Mike as if she’d been caught misbehaving. The abrupt movement left her fumbling and she nearly dropped the lightsaber.
Mike ran a frustrated hand through his hair and blew out a breath. He shot her an apologetic look. “I need to get that.”
Rin nodded and turned away so that Mike wouldn’t see how bright her cheeks had become with embarrassment and no small amount of disappointment. Returning the lightsaber to its place on the wall, she listened with half an ear as Mike told whoever was on the other end of that call that he’d be right there. So much for dinner. Rin let out a disgruntled sigh.
“That was Triple A.” Mike said moving briskly to grab a coat and pull it on. “I have to go do a wrecker call.”
The look of longing on Mike’s face as his eyes collided with hers acted as a balm for Rin’s bruised ego, so she did her best to paste a smile on her face. He didn’t return it, instead he let out a little growl of frustration. “Listen, I don’t know how long I’ll be, but feel free to make yourself at home. The pizza is in the freezer, pan, plates,” he waved a hand haphazardly toward the kitchen area, “they’re all there, go ahead and use whatever you need.”
Small Moments: A Malsum Pass Novel Page 5