“Yes,” he sighs. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“My car,” I blurt, quickly jumping into action. “Yeah, that’s it. I can drive you—”
“Sav.” He stops me with a look. “I have about three minutes until I won’t be able to keep my eyes open. I’m staying here.”
He pounds the edges of my pillow to fluff it up. My pillow.
“Are you . . .” I trail off, prompting him to look at me. I point to the towel around his waist. “Is there anything under that?”
Exhaustion and pain fill his eyes, but not enough to keep an ornery grin off his lips. “Well, there is . . . something. Do you need to see proof?”
“I don’t mean . . .” I stammer. “You know what I mean.”
“If what you want to ask is if I’m naked under this towel, then yes. I am.” He shrugs. “It’s a shifter thing. You’ll get used to it.”
I cross my arms. “Not likely.”
He groans. “Can I go to sleep now?”
“You really have to sleep here, in my room?”
“I could take the couch,” he offers hesitantly before adding, “but I don’t want to. Not with that window busted out.”
I glance at the gaping hole left behind by the monstrous bird and shiver at the memory.
“Fine,” I relent, “but not in that stupid towel.”
I dart into the bathroom and snatch a navy blue and white towel from my cupboard. I toss it to him. “Use this one.”
He looks at the new towel in his hand before giving me a quizzical look. “I real man isn’t afraid to wear pink. I don’t really care.”
“I do. The pink one belongs to my stepsister. Wear mine instead so she doesn’t flip out about the blood you’re getting all over it.”
The truth is that the sight of Luca in Jill’s towel is doing weird things to my stomach. He may not reciprocate my feelings, but I don’t want to see him wearing something that belongs to another girl—least of all my stepsister.
“Fine.” Luca shrugs.
He doesn’t hesitate. He drops the towel without waiting for me to divert my gaze or turn around. I do turn, but not before I catch a glimpse of more flesh. I’m not exactly sure what I see. It happens too quickly to process.
It seems that Luca enjoys torturing me now.
I grind my teeth at the sound of him chuckling behind me. Buried beneath the light-hearted sound is fatigue. He’s hurting. He needs rest. Apparently, in my room. In my bed.
“You can look now,” he tells me. “Not that I cared if you looked before.”
I spin around. “I care.”
He smooths out the sheets on my bed, sending my stomach into somersaults. He’s a sight to behold, blood and injuries included. Just the view of so much skin, and the muscle moving beneath it, is enough to make me feel lightheaded. It should be a sin to look that good. I’ll never be able to concentrate, let alone sleep, knowing Luca is in my bed like this.
“Oh!” I jump when an idea occurs to me. “My dad. He’s . . .” I eye Luca when he turns toward me with a hint of annoyance. “He’s sort of your size. You can wear something of his. Hold on. I’ll get it.”
I don’t wait for a response before I run from the room and race down the hallway, where I gather a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt from Dad’s dresser. I return to my room to find Luca in my bed, the towel lying in a heap on the floor.
The sheets are pulled up barely to Luca’s waist. He lies on his back, one arm tucked under his head and the other folded across his battered chest. His eyes are closed and his breathing is deep and rhythmic.
I poke him with one finger, but he doesn’t flinch. I quietly place the clothes on the table beside him. Of course, he’s passed out on my side of the bed. I glance at the discarded towel at my feet and gulp.
Before I risk a heat stroke thinking about that, I turn away. I pace the room slowly, careful to avoid the glass on the floor. At some point, I start picking it up—as much as I can find in the dark without cutting myself. Then I arrange the curtains to give me the illusion that the window isn’t busted out. Through it all, I keep a watchful eye on Luca.
Two hours later, he hasn’t moved. The steady sound of his breaths fill the silence in my room, filling me with envy.
I’m exhausted and I want my bed. Even with him in it.
Even if everything I thought impossible is true.
He’s a shifter. He is the silver wolf. My wolf. As difficult as it is for me to accept, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I can’t deny it.
I’m tired enough to not care who, or what, I’m lying beside when I finally slip into my bed. I cling to the edge of the mattress, careful to avoid the middle where there is a chance of some leg-on-leg contact. I scarcely breathe out of fear of waking him.
He doesn’t wake, but for the first time since he took over my bed, Luca moves. His head turns toward me, and he mumbles something I can’t understand. I glance over my shoulder just to make sure his eyes are still closed.
The words are nothing more than incoherent whispers from a sleeping guy. There is no reason for my stomach to flip-flop and my chest to ache. None.
It happens anyway.
Sleep does not come quickly enough.
Chapter 13
“Royal” blares from my phone. I throw my arm out to silence it. Instead of the hardened surface of my nightstand, my hand connects with something a little softer and warmer than I expect. I pry one eye open, then the other. The phone stops making noise as I slowly lift my head to peer over the wall of muscle stretched out beside me.
The phone is where it’s supposed to be. I am not. Luca is in my spot, sleeping on my pillow. Apparently, neither the phone nor my smack is enough to wake a healing wolf shifter.
I slowly reel my hand back and tuck it under my head. My gaze wanders across Luca’s face and shoulders, and I’m surprised to find that he looks . . . okay. Gone are the red marks and deep scratches I saw last night. Nothing but a few light bruises mar his skin now.
I still can’t wrap my head around what happened last night. It had all started off so routine, so normal. Pizza and a book, the promise of a casual coffee date with my best friend in the morning . . .
Vienna!
I bolt up at the same time my phone starts ringing again. I jump out of bed and hurry to the nightstand to snatch it up.
“Hello?” I whisper, darting a glance at Luca when he murmurs. His eyes are still closed.
“Never mind,” Vienna says cheerily. “The door was unlocked. I let myself in. Did you just get up?”
“You’re here?” I squeak.
“Yeah. I’m coming up the stairs now,” she tells me. “It’s just me, so don’t get the bear spray out.”
“Wait!” I grimace when Luca stirs at my outburst. The sheet is dangerously close to slipping below his waist. Lowering my voice, I tell Vienna, “Give me a minute. I’ll be right down.”
I wait for a confirmation from her, but I don’t get it. The line is quiet, and I hear her footsteps on the stairs. She’s still coming.
“Vi?” I glance at the phone screen, only to see that she has already hung up on me.
She is on her way to my room.
Luca snores softly, oblivious to the drama about to go down. Unless I can manage to get rid of him.
I poke his bicep but get no reaction from him. I wrap my hand around his entire shoulder and give him a shake. Then again, harder.
Nothing. There is no waking him, and certainly no moving him. I can’t hide him.
I have to stop Vienna.
I dart into the hallway to intercept her when she reaches the landing.
“You did just get up.” She smirks. “Nice bed head.”
I run a self-conscious hand through my hair, snaring a few knots. “Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”
“No problem.” Vienna shrugs. “I hope Jill isn’t already hogging the bathroom because I have to pee.”
“Wait. I—”
Vienna skirts around my human blockade and waltzes into my room. I spin around with a grimace in anticipation of her reaction.
I get nothing. Not a squeal. Not a scream. Not a damn thing.
My friend must really have to pee because she walks right past a snoring Luca and into the bathroom. She leaves the door cracked so she can update me on everything I missed at the party last night.
“It was pretty boring. You didn’t miss much,” she prattles. “A few people asked where you were . . .”
I shake Luca again, harder. When that doesn’t work, I pull on his arm intending to drag him out of my bed. I tug him maybe an inch before I notice the sheet slipping below his waist. I drop his arm with a gasp and pull the sheet up to his shoulders.
The bathroom door bursts open behind me. “You’ll never guess who asked about you.”
I turn with a resigned shrug, knowing there is nothing left for me to do than to own it. There’s a naked guy in my bed. I know it, and now my best friend knows it.
“Jeremiah—oh.” Vienna’s gaze swings from Luca to me. Her eyes widen. “Oh.”
“Vi, it’s not . . .”
“Is that . . .” She inches closer, squinting at Luca. Then she jabs an accusatory finger at him. “That’s the café hottie!”
I nod. “Yeah, but—”
“You did listen to me.” She hops up and down with a squeal. “Finally!”
“Vi—”
“Are those . . . bruises?” She flashes me a grin. “I didn’t realize you had it in you.”
“That’s not—”
“He’s so hot.” Vienna wraps me up in an enthusiastic hug. “I’m so proud of you.”
I return her embrace with a sigh. “Umm . . . thank you?”
“I totally understand if you have to bail on our coffee date.” She pushes me back to arm’s length and shifts her gaze to Luca. “Trust me. I get it.”
“I should probably wait for him to wake up,” I reason.
“Then have some more fun before breakfast.” Vienna lets go of me and starts toward the door. “Text me later. I expect juicy details.”
I frown because I hoped to have more time to spend with her before she leaves for vacation. “When are you leaving?”
She groans. “They’re packing the RV now. They want to be on the road by lunchtime.”
“So this is it,” I conclude glumly. “I won’t see you again until the end of summer.”
“Yeah, but that’s okay. I want you to have the best time, even if it is without me.” She winks. “It looks like you’re off to a good start.”
“So it appears.” I shrug.
“Don’t forget to text me later,” Vienna orders before she walks out of my room. She grins as she pulls the door shut behind her. “We’ll have much to talk about.”
“So much.” I give her a small wave.
I stare at the door long after she is gone. I already miss her. What will I do with myself this summer? How many new books will I have to buy to pass the time?
Of course, I am spending a lot of time with Luca so it may not be as boring as I anticipated—even if I now know he’s not interested in me the same way I’m interested in him. That much was obvious last night.
Ugh. How embarrassing. I don’t know how I managed to show my face after that disaster of a kiss attempt. I don’t know how I will show my face today with the memory still fresh in my mind.
He must think I’m an idiot.
I glance down at him with a frown.
My feet come off the floor and a startled scream flies out of my mouth.
Luca’s eyes are wide open and there is an epic grin on his lips.
“How long have you been awake?” I demand.
“Long enough to know that I like your friend.” He jabs a finger at the door.
“So date her,” I snap before my filter can stop the words.
“Nah. She’s not my type.” Luca folds both arms behind his head. When my gaze snaps to the sheet sliding down his abs, his grin grows. He’s having way too much fun teasing me.
I start to walk away before I realize I don’t have anywhere to go. My room isn’t tiny, but it doesn’t afford the space I need to stomp away either. I end up reclining against the dresser, arms crossed. “Are you planning to get out of my bed anytime soon?”
“I don’t know. It’s pretty comfortable in here.” Luca winks. “Want to get back in here with me?”
I glare at him.
It’s clear to me now. My initial opinion of Luca was accurate. He is one of those guys, and he loves knowing that he succeeded in hooking me. He knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is doing to me in the process. And he is enjoying it.
I can’t believe I let him trick me into thinking, however briefly, that he had a genuine bone in his body. I can’t believe I entertained the notion that he actually liked me.
He may have told me the truth about being a shifter, but I won’t give anything else he says any merit. Not now that I’ve figured him out. The joke is on him if he thinks I’m going to continue playing his games.
I shoot a pointed look at the clothes piled on the table beside him. “Get dressed so we can talk. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs.”
I don’t give him a chance to argue before I leave. I close the door behind me since I’m pretty sure I heard some movement from Jill’s room. I don’t expect her, or Steve, to get up anytime soon, but I don’t want to chance another awkward encounter.
In the kitchen, I start a pot of coffee, grab the milk from the fridge, a box of cereal from the pantry, and sit at the table with a big bowl. A few minutes later, Luca walks in, wearing my dad’s navy plaid pants and a white t-shirt.
He’s carrying the cast-iron skillet and plucks a feather from it before placing it in the sink with a grimace. “That should probably be cleaned before it’s used for cooking again.”
The sight of the bloody weapon brings it all back—not that I’ve forgotten. But instead of living in a bubble with the hope that I can go on pretending it never happened, I’m instantly thrust back into reality.
“I think I killed one of them last night,” I admit around a mouthful of Frosted Flakes. “That means I killed someone. They were in shifter form, but they were still someone, right?”
Luca opens a few cabinets before he finds what he’s looking for. He grabs a bowl and a spoon before joining me at the table. He pours a heaping pile of cereal, and covers it with milk, without answering me. He looks right at home in my kitchen, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
I watch him scoop a spoonful into his mouth. “Luca?”
He glances up. “Hmm?”
“What happened last night?” I ask.
“They tried to hurt you,” he answers simply. “You did what you had to do.”
I nod glumly. I understand the logic, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. Even if I did it in self-defense, I still took a life.
I could have easily lost my life . . . if not for Luca.
“How did you know they were here?” I ask him.
“We spent most of the day tracking their group,” he explains. “We suddenly lost their trail up in the mountains, and only then did we realize they were raptors. They led us up there, only to fly their way out.”
“So you came here?”
“I ran as fast as I could. I sent Ryder to that party just in case you went there, and Ryse went back to the campground to follow your trail. I took a gamble and came straight here.”
“Wait.” I shake my head. “You knew about the party? How?”
He points to an ear. “I listen.”
“Through a tap on my phone?” My tone is light, but I’m only half joking.
“Of course not.” He frowns at me. “People talk. You can learn a lot from listening to what they say.”
“I guess,” I grunt. “You were right though. About coming here.”
He shrugs. “I know you better than you think I do.”
I stare at him from across the
table, a spoonful of cereal held inches from my mouth. “How exactly did we know each other?”
“You want to do this now?” He gives me a look—a dare.
“We need to,” I reply as smoothly as I can in spite of the sudden galloping in my chest.
I fear what he may tell me, but I have to know the truth. I need to understand everything, no matter how difficult it may be to hear.
“Can I finish my breakfast first?” Luca asks. “Healing takes a lot of energy.”
“Fine.” I stand with my bowl and dump what is left of the soggy cereal in the trash. My appetite is shot, along with my patience.
He promised me answers this morning. So far, all I have gotten out of him are a handful of lopsided grins and suggestive propositions. I’m not in the mood for his games this morning.
I glance at the clock with a sigh. I have an hour before I need to leave for work. We are running out of time.
I should press the issue and make him talk now, but I’m momentarily distracted by the sight of him sitting at my kitchen table as he finishes his breakfast. The whole situation feels strangely familiar, like this isn’t the first box of cereal we have shared.
“This is normal for you, isn’t it?” I ask him softly.
He glances at me between bites. “What?”
“This.” I wave a hand to signal the setting. “You sitting at my table and eating my cereal.”
“Actually, no. We spent most of our time at the lake. I’ve only been in your house a handful of times, but . . .”
“What?”
He shrugs casually. “I always felt welcome here.”
“We were friends then?” I pause to swallow. “Good friends?”
Luca takes his last bite, then stands with a sigh. He says nothing as he washes out the bowl and sets it on the towel beside the sink. I watch him closely the entire time, waiting intently.
Finally, he turns to me, and says, “We were more than friends.”
Chapter 14
More than friends.
The long walk up to my bedroom is silent as I try to rationalize those three words.
Shifter Crown: Valley of Truth and Denial (The Shifter Crown Series Book 1) Page 11