I am so screwed, Alex thought, as he followed Tate out into the hallway.
“WHO the hell is this?” Alex growled as he looked out the window. Tish winced at his tone and came to stand alongside him. Tate joined them both a second later.
“No idea,” Tate said as they watched the gold minivan pull to a halt in the driveway.
“Oh, dear,” Tish said, as they watched a young blonde step out of the van and shut the door, looking around curiously. “I think that might be Peter’s sister.”
“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Duncan said, rising from the couch to come over to the window as well.
“Fuck,” Alex said vehemently, heading for the door. He opened it before the blonde had time to mount the stairs and knock.
“Hello,” the blonde said on seeing Alex and the others stream out onto the porch. She lifted her chin determinedly. She had guts; he’d give her that much. “I’m Julie Mabry. I’m looking for Peter.”
“He’s not here.” Alex was abrupt, already turning and shouldering his way back through the others when Julie spoke again.
“I happen to know for a fact he is.”
Alex turned to face her again. She waggled a cell phone in her hand. “Google Latitude,” she said as she climbed the stairs. “He activated it two hours ago.”
“I will kill him,” Alex said to no one in particular. Tish shot him an uneasy look.
“Peter’s sister, eh?” Tate stepped forward, all welcoming smiles. “Sorry. Alex here was just trying to help me out. I’m Peter’s doctor and I’ve given strict orders that he not be disturbed.”
Duncan’s snort was so quiet that Julie’s exclamation nearly drowned it out. “Peter’s doctor! What’s wrong with him? Is he all right? I just knew this would happen.” She gave everyone on the porch a hard glare.
Julie Mabry was certainly Peter’s sister, all right; the resemblance was clear. They both had strikingly blue eyes and similar features, though in Julie’s case, her hair was suspiciously lighter in color. Whereas Peter resembled a high school football player, Julie was softer and rounder. She was obviously homecoming queen material. She faced them squarely as they formed a little barricade to the entrance of the house and she placed the hand holding the cell phone on her hip and looked defiantly at them all.
“I want to see my brother.”
“I’m afraid that will depend a lot on you,” Tate said smoothly. “You see, while Peter’s injuries are not life threatening, it’s important that he’s not unduly stressed right now. Therefore, whatever it is that drove you up here to confront Peter, now is not the time for it. Unless you can promise to wait until Peter is better to say your piece, then I think it would be best that you not see him right now.”
“Wait a minute….” Julie swung her head around to look at the cars parked in the drive, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the Subaru’s personalized plates. She turned back to glare at Tate. “Just what kind of doctor are you?”
“Veterinarian.” Duncan was succinct, as usual.
“A veterinarian. That figures,” Julie sniffed. “You can’t keep me from seeing him. Not unless you want me to come back with the authorities. I’m not afraid of you.” She glanced around at the others, a slight curl to her lip. “It’s not nightfall.”
“Exactly who are you gonna call?” Duncan asked with a grin.
Alex’s brain supplied the word “Ghostbusters!” and he had to hide his snort. He took a step forward and smiled nastily. “You are incredibly naive if you think that after dark is the only time you are not safe.”
A little silence descended at his words. Julie’s mouth gaped open and then she shut it determinedly. “Why don’t we let Peter decide?” she asked stiffly.
Alex glanced at the others. He remembered Nick’s words from the night that Tate had cooked them dinner. “It’s your funeral.” He stepped back and indicated the door with a flourish.
After a moment’s hesitation, Julie swept past them and into the house.
Duncan chuckled as everyone else trailed in behind her. Inside, Julie paused uncertainly in the foyer as Alex moved past her up the stairs. “He’s up here,” Alex said, not looking back to see if she followed.
Outside the bedroom door, Tish stepped up and knocked briefly. At Nick’s invitation to enter, she turned to the others and said firmly, “Wait here.” She entered the room and partially closed the door behind her. They could hear the low murmur of Tish’s voice as she spoke.
“No. Tell her to go away!” Peter sounded querulous and sharp, his voice bleeding through the door and into the hall.
Julie’s mouth tightened as she pushed past the others and into the room. Tate reached for her arm in passing but Duncan stopped him. “Better let them have it out now. She’ll only be back later.”
With a sigh, Tate nodded. His mouth twitched as Tish rejoined them. “I guess we should go back downstairs, huh?”
“Whatever.” Alex felt suddenly weary. He remembered with fondness the hours he’d spent in solitude, working on the house. Why had he ever thought of himself as lonely?
“I want you to give up this foolishness and come home!” Julie’s raised voice was clearly audible to all.
“Foolishness!” Alex could hear the sputtering rage in Peter’s voice, and he traded a look with Tate. Maybe they should intervene.
Nick said something too quiet to make out, causing Julie to say sharply, “You stay out of this. You’ve done enough harm as it is.”
“It’s not something I can just wave a wand and undo, Julie.” Peter’s words rattled out like a hail of bullets. “It’s who I am. It’s what I’ve always been. I’m sorry if you can’t accept that, but that’s the way it is.”
“What do you mean, this is who you’ve always been? How is that even possible?” Julie’s voice was shrill. Tate frowned and started forward again. This time, it was Tish’s fingers closing on his arm that prevented him from entering the bedroom. He looked at her silently and relented once more.
“I’m with Nick and that’s all there is to it.” Peter still sounded angry, but tired as well.
There was a pause. When Julie spoke again, her voice was incredulous. “You think this is about you being gay? Peter, I don’t give a rat’s ass that you’re gay. It’s the werewolf part that’s freaking me out!”
“Oh.” Peter sounded disconcerted. “Well, I can’t change that either.”
Tate let out a sudden yelp of laughter, which caused silence to descend within the bedroom.
“Okeydokey,” Tate said into the stillness that followed. “I’m thinking now would be a good time for us all to leave.” He started briskly for the stairs, picking up his pace when everyone began to follow. Within seconds, they were all pounding down the stairs, racing each other to the bottom, breathless with laughter.
“So,” Duncan said when they all arranged themselves around the kitchen table. “What the fuck’s ‘Google Latitude’ and why would Peter activate it?”
IT WAS early afternoon before Tate brought up the mattress idea again. He’d rechecked Peter’s bandages and had decided to remove the IV catheter while Julie looked on in disapproval. Tate had taken one look at Peter’s face and sent him back to bed.
“You too,” he ordered Nick. He turned to Julie. “You. Out. Everyone needs some rest now.”
“I’m leaving the room, but not the house. Peter and I aren’t finished here.”
“You’re finished if I say you’re finished.” Tate was polite but firm. “Peter’s been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours and if you aren’t part of the solution, then you know what that makes you.”
Julie glared at him as she stomped out of the room in a huff.
“Tough guy for a human, isn’t he?” Nick said to Alex, following them into the hallway. He looked unhappy himself. “Alex, I’m really sorry about all this.”
“Don’t worry about that for now.” Tate glanced back in the room at Peter, whose eyes were already drifting closed. “Alex and I will take th
e others up to my place to pick up a few things. We’ll work out the sleeping arrangements later. Go lie down with Peter. He’s more likely to stay put and not pick at his sutures if you’re with him.”
Nick passed a hand over the back of his neck, looking distinctly uncomfortable, before giving his little smile and turning away.
“Nice bod,” Tate said, tilting his head to take in Nick’s lean, muscular back and the way his jeans threatened to slide off his hips. He pitched his voice a little louder as Nick walked away. “But Peter’s ass is better.”
Nick went rigid for a second before his shoulders slumped with silent laughter. He raised an index finger over his shoulder, shaking it slowly a few times as though to suggest that the point had gone to Tate. He entered the bedroom without looking back, quietly shutting the door.
“Are you attracted to Nick?” Alex asked. He thought about the excitement Tate had shown during the overheard conversation between Nick and Peter, and he wondered now how much of that had to do with Nick himself.
“You’re the one I’m attracted to,” Tate said. “Nick is simply gorgeous. Just because I’m into you doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a little eye candy.”
Alex had to snort at the idea of Nick’s reaction to being called eye candy.
“You’re thinking about this morning, aren’t you?” Tate asked. “Hearing Peter and Nick together was just hot, you know? Part of me would really like to ask them what it’s like when they’re in wolf form.” He looked wistfully at the door.
“Tate!” Alex exclaimed. He’d never thought about it before, but now that Tate had mentioned it….
“What?” Tate grinned, though there was a slight flush on his cheekbones. “I find sex, in general, fascinating. So tell me what you like,” he finished teasingly.
“I like you,” Alex said. He felt his face heat up immediately afterward.
Tate looked pleased, but embarrassed as well. “Good,” he said, giving his nose a little rub. “At least we’re on the same page here.”
We shouldn’t be, Alex thought. Not if you know what’s good for you. He felt his face close down. Tate caught his change of expression and pretended not to notice, heading down the stairs instead. Resigned, Alex followed him down the stairs.
In the living room, they discovered Tish and Duncan asleep on the couch. Tish lay curled up at one end, propped on a cushion. Duncan’s long length took up the remainder of the couch, his boots hanging off the edge, his head in Tish’s lap. He had one hand on his slightly distended belly. His mouth had fallen open and there was the faint sound of snoring in the room. Julie was nowhere in sight.
“So much for getting their help with the mattress.” Tate sighed. “I’m surprised they ate anything at all this morning; they looked stuffed already as it was.”
“Bacon and eggs has its appeal even when you’re not very hungry.” Alex shrugged.
Tate shot him an assessing look. “Well, no matter. I’m sure you and I can handle it by ourselves. Do you think Nick will mind if we borrow the van?”
Alex hesitated. He didn’t want to risk spending time alone with Tate in his house, but a part of him wanted to see where he lived and what his private space was like. Nick and the others were likely down for the count until much later in the afternoon. He didn’t want to go upstairs and try to fish keys out of Nick’s jeans’ pocket if he hadn’t left them in the van. He didn’t want Tate to go to all the trouble of moving the mattress set for such a short-term situation either, but he didn’t know how he could accommodate everyone for the time Peter needed to heal, particularly if everyone began sleeping nights in the house once the moon was on the wane. Just what the fuck was he supposed to do about Julie? He sighed. When did his life get so complicated?
“Let’s see if he left the keys in the van.” Alex indicated the driveway with a flick of his fingers.
“Okay, but if he did, I get to be Daphne.” Tate’s smile begged Alex to join in the game.
“Wait. That would make me Velma,” Alex said with a mock frown as they headed for the door. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Are you kidding?” Tate said. “Velma was the brains of the whole operation. She was the really cool one of the bunch. Velma’s my favorite.”
“So, why aren’t you Velma, then?” Alex winced as they stepped outside into the brilliant sunlight. He glanced up, shading his eyes. He could admire the perfect blue of the October sky, but he needed sunglasses just the same.
Tate waited patiently as they stopped by Alex’s Escape and he fished around for his shades in the glove compartment.
“With this hair? Yeah, I’m always Daphne.” Tate sounded a little put out by that fact.
Alex gave a little internal sigh of relief when he put on the sunglasses. He shut the car door, pausing to look at Tate. “Your hair is amazing,” he said. “It was one of the first things I noticed about you. Your hair and your eyes.”
Tate blushed, the color rising charmingly over his cheekbones. Alex was amused when he turned away and went over to the van to peer into the driver’s-side window. Alex filed the information away for future reference. Interesting that for all his boldness, Tate could be shy when complimented on his appearance.
Julie stepped out of her minivan and shut the sliding door. She was carrying a suitcase in one hand and a heavily laden canvas bag in the other. She marched past Alex and Tate without a word and re-entered the house.
“Yes, of course. Be my guest,” Alex said in her wake. “By all means, make yourself at home.”
Tate snickered as he opened the driver’s-side door of the Mystery Machine. “Keys in the ignition!” he announced happily. “The mission is a go. You want to drive or shall I?”
“Better let me drive,” Alex said. “That way, if we wreck the van, Nick won’t eat you.”
“There are so many places I could go with that statement, but I won’t,” Tate said as the two of them took their seats in the front of the van. “Phew!” He wrinkled his nose. “Smells like wet dog in here.”
Alex couldn’t really smell anything noticeable. The interior of the van was surprisingly neat. Alex remembered that Nick had been a pilot and wondered if that had something to do with it.
“Wait a minute,” Alex said as he quirked an eyebrow at Tate. “You’re complaining about the doggy odor? I’ve seen clouds of hair tumble out of your car at your approach.”
Tate threw back his head and laughed. “I know. Dr. Pot meet Mr. Kettle. My car is filthy, but it’s my own dirt, see? You get used to it and then you don’t notice it anymore.”
They fell into a companionable silence as Alex pulled out of the driveway and turned up the road toward Tate’s place. He knew it was the last house on the road; he’d just never driven that way before. The state maintenance ended after nearly a mile and the road became dirt. A little storm of dust followed in their wake as Alex drove slowly up the steeper grade. No wonder Tate’s car was always covered in mud. The road was narrow; the dense stand of trees pressed in on either side.
“Do you get snowed in up here much in the winter?” Alex asked, navigating through a set of ruts in the road.
Tate shrugged. “Not often. We don’t get that much snow this far south. Usually, I have enough notice and I can plan for it if we do, so it’s no big deal. It’s not often I schedule any days off, so I have to admit, I like getting snowed in. I can read or watch a movie, have a glass of wine, just kick back and relax for a change. It’s never more than a couple of days anyway.”
Alex gave a quick glance in Tate’s direction. “You seem pretty relaxed to me. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who enjoys life so much as you.” It’s part of your appeal, Alex thought.
Tate smiled, but it was more somber than usual. He stared out of the window into the forest before speaking. “I guess I just spend a little too much time working. Partly to make ends meet but also because when it’s just you, it’s easy to get sucked into saying yes to everyone else before yourself.”
“Tate,” Alex said, gripping the wheel tightly. “You know you don’t have to be doing this. At my place, I mean. You’ve done so much for Peter as it is. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Tate reached out and briefly squeezed his arm. “I didn’t mean you. I like spending time with you and your friends.”
The road began to widen and opened out into a small bowl of land. Ahead, Alex could see a log house perched on the side of a hill where the mountainside dropped away to reveal a view of the valley below. He pulled up in front of the house and they got out of the van.
“Oh, wow,” Alex said, turning to take in the full measure of the scenery. The break in the trees allowed a view straight down into the valley. The fall foliage was at its peak; the trees were aflame with a riot of yellow, red, and orange. The nearer mountains looked as though a soft, patchwork quilt had been draped over them. In the distance, the mountains blurred into a hazy, blue smudge as far as the eye could see. “This is amazing.”
“Thanks,” Tate said with a small smile. “I love it up here.”
He led the way up the porch stairs into the house. Inside, the rooms were sparsely furnished. Alex’s first impression was one of open space, gleaming wood floors, and large windows that let in great beams of warm light. Alex kept on his shades as he looked around curiously. There were a few overstuffed couches, several of which still sported cat hair. The central room also had a large fireplace with a woodstove, the front of which was glassed in, which combined the best of a fire with heating comfort, as far as Alex could tell. The décor was in shades of tan and gray with splashes of blue accents here and there. A large, thick rug lay near the woodstove, and Alex had a sudden vision of the two of them curled up there, sharing a glass of wine in front of a crackling fire.
The windows faced the mountain range. Alex walked over to the balcony doors that led to a deck on the back of the house and stood staring out at the scenery. The room was warm and serene, and Alex felt an unaccustomed sense of peace.
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