“He’s just being friendly,” I say. “What else is on your list?”
She pulls it out of her pocket and begins rattling off all the items she needs.
I don’t split off from her again as we make our way through the store, but I sense eyes on me the entire time. Every once in a while, I’ll look back and catch sight of the guy or a glimpse of his black leather jacket.
As we go into the check out, he’s in the one next to us.
“Am I crazy to think he’s following us?” I say quickly to Emma.
She turns away from the belt and follows my gaze. She gives him a polite smile and then me a pointed look.
“He’s just shopping, but maybe he’d like to ask you on a date.” She winks.
I sigh and help her load the rest of the food on the belt.
After paying, we head out to her car and begin pulling the bags into her trunk.
“Want me to take that?”
I look up and see the guy again. I recoil away from him.
He gestures to our now empty cart.
“Oh, yes. Thank you,” Emma says.
“Happy to help.” He grabs it from Emma, and I watch him as he pushes it into a spot.
“Do you know him?” I ask.
Emma closes the trunk. “I’ve seen him around sometimes when I come here. I believe he lives in a different town, though.”
“Is he always this…friendly?”
She looks over at him. “Not usually. But I’ve never had a young, pretty girl with me before.”
I frown. I have serious doubts that’s the reason he’s following us.
We get back in her car and drive to the holiday store, which is only about five minutes away. The inside reminds me of a dollar store, but instead of a variety of things, everything is themed for Halloween.
Emma grabs a basket and I follow her to the decoration aisle. We go through them slowly and Emma picks out a few items. One is a snow globe with a haunted house inside and gravestones. Afterwards we walk over to the other side of the store where there are rows and rows of costumes.
“How about we split up? Divide and conquer,” she says.
“Sounds good to me.”
She walks over to the next aisle as I begin browsing. I find a fairy costume in my size that’s pretty cute and not too revealing. The less skin I show, the more comfortable I’ll be. I see a pirate costume that I like even more, so I look through them to find my size.
“Funny seeing you here.”
I jump and find the guy from the grocery store standing close—too close. I take a step away from him. He may be attractive, but I’m getting serious creeper vibes from him. Did he follow us here? Why is he here? It’s one thing to need a costume, but he’s in the women’s section.
“Yeah, funny.” I take another step back.
He grabs my arms, inhibiting my departure.
I recoil from his touch but can’t pry my arm out of my hands.
“Let go,” I cry.
“Why do you smell like Ash?” he says in an even tone.
My body stiffens. “Wha—”
“Hey, Ellie, I found—what’s going on here?” Emma comes down the aisle.
The guy eases his grip and I snatch my arm back.
“Just having a friendly discussion. Ellie asked for my help in picking out a costume.”
“No, I—” My words die out of my mouth at the look he gives me. It has a warning in them. But I don’t think he’d hurt me, despite his rough grip and strange, stalking behaviors.
“How nice of you.” Emma side-eyes him. She looks at the pirate costumes we’re in front of. “That would be cute on you, Ellie. Let’s take that one. I forgot I have a few guests coming tonight, so we need to go.” She grabs one in my size and we book it to the cash register.
“Are you okay?” she asks quietly.
I nod, but my hands are shaking, and I can’t get them to stop. “Are we really having guests tonight?”
“No,” she says as she gives me a cheeky grin. “It was just an excuse to get away.”
I sigh. “Thanks.”
She glances behind us, but the man isn’t there anymore.
“He knows Ash,” I say.
Her brows go up as her gaze meets mine. “Huh, not that surprising since he’s lived here for a long time.”
“I guess you’re right.” But something tells me that this is more important than I realize.
I’m crazy. Absolutely crazy. I miss my wolf. I miss the comfort he brought me. I haven’t been able to sleep, and since the incident in town, I can’t function during the day. I need him. But I should not be back at this barn. I also definitely shouldn’t be crouched down behind some bushes watching the barn, as if the wolf will just happen to walk out the door. I roll my eyes at myself. I seriously doubt the wolf is actually inside or anywhere near this place anymore, but since this is where I met him—inside the barn, to be exact—here I am, watching the barn.
I gnaw on my bottom lip, thinking of who else could walk out of the barn. Ash. Maybe that’s the real reason I’m here. I haven’t seen him since our movie night.
But what if Ash is home and he sees me loitering around his property?
I shift my weight to my other leg, continuing my watch of the barn.
Why am I even scouting the barn? Shouldn’t I be looking for the wolf in the forest?
“What are you doing here?”
I jump up and spin around, coming face-to-face with Ash. He’s leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a brow quirked.
“I, uh.” I glance at the bush I was hiding behind. “I lost something.” I cringe.
Great lie, Ellie.
Mirth dances in his gaze. “Is that so? And what, pray tell, did you lose?”
“My earring.” My hands jump to my ears, making sure I don’t actually have any in.
“Both of them?”
“Yes,” I answer since both holes are empty.
“Mmhmm. So, earrings.” He smirks. “Would you like some help?”
“No! I mean, no, I’m okay.”
He rolls his lips in as he tries to hold back a laugh. I don’t know why he lets me go on when he knows I’m lying. But he continues to lean against the tree, so I crouch back down and pretend to search for my non-existent earrings.
“You know what—” I stand back up and put my hands on my hips. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my place.”
“This is the forest.”
He chuckles with a shake of his head. “The barn, Ellie.”
My cheeks heat. “Right.”
He laughs. “Come on.” He straightens and gestures with his head to the barn then walks past me, and because I’m curious, I follow him.
“Why did you renovate a barn?”
He slightly tilts his head as he glances at me. “How did you know I renovated it?”
“I-uh—it was brought up at dinner.”
I catch a small smile on his face before he turns away and opens the door. “Right. I almost forgot. I just needed a place to escape.”
I sigh in relief.
We walk in and I find that it’s the same as how I left it, except there’s a loaf of bread on the table and shoes by the door.
“To escape? From what?” It seems we’re more alike than I thought. When I squatted here, I had wished this was my safe haven.
“Just from…problems,” he says as he closes the door behind us. “Take a seat. Do you want some hot chocolate?”
What is up with everyone drinking hot chocolate here? Not that I particularly mind. “Sure.” He walks over to the kitchen as I shrug off my coat before sitting at the table.
“When did you move here?” I ask, watching Ash take out a pot and pour milk into it.
“I bought and renovated this place a few years ago, but I just recently started using it more.”
“Oh, why is that?”
He glances at me. “I like it better here.”
“Does that mean you
have another house somewhere?”
“Yes. About an hour’s drive away.” He pauses, his body tensing. “I actually was planning on stopping by Emma’s later today.”
“Oh? Why?”
He turns to me. “I have to leave for a couple of weeks.”
“What?” I blink, trying to stifle the disappointment that sinks my stomach.
He averts his gaze. “I have some things I need to take care of.”
“Will you…will you be around for Halloween?” Seriously, Halloween is what you care about, Ellie?
His brows pull in as he looks at me. “I’ll try…but I can’t make any promises.”
My gaze drops to my lap. “Okay. I understand,” I say, but I really don’t. I want to ask him what he needs to take care of, but I’m not sure I can.
“Why don’t you come over and help me?”
“Huh?” I ask. Help him with what?
He smiles. “The hot chocolate.”
“Right. Okay.” I stand and walk over.
Ash trails a hand down my arm, and I try not to flinch. But instead of anxiety rolling through me, it soothes and excites me. Why is that?
“Have you ever made homemade hot chocolate before?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Emma uses the packets.”
“I figured.” His hand caresses my inner wrist before twinning his fingers with mine. “Ellie darling.”
I try to keep my body still while my insides swirl in a jumbled mess of emotions. Desire, disappointment, fear, hope. “Hmm?”
He chuckles lightly. “Look at me.”
His eyes bore in mine as I met his gaze. “I’ll be back.” He tucks an errant strand of hair behind my ear. “I can’t stay away from you for long.”
My breath hitches. “You barely know me.”
He leans closer, his breath a whisper away. “But I want to. I want to know everything about you.”
Ash tugs me by our joined hands as he walks over to a cabinet. He grabs a handful of chocolate bars and places them on a cutting board that’s already on his small island.
There’s tangible loss when he lets go of my hand to unravel one of the bars and grab a knife. With a tilt of his head, he gestures for me to get closer. He takes my right hand and gently places the knife’s handle into my palm.
He lightly grips my hips and adjusts me in front of the cutting board, but stays behind me, his heat seeping into mine. He leans his head down above my shoulder, his warm breath on my ear. “All you have to do is cut the bars into small pieces.”
“Okay.” My voice comes out breathy.
I chop the chocolate, not paying a whole lot of attention to how I’m cutting it because of the distraction at my back.
Ash chuckles softly and places his hand on mine, stilling my motions. “Like this.” He takes hold of my hand, and in smoother motions helps me cut the bar into smaller pieces. “Good.” He takes a deep breath, then moves away from me.
Did he just smell me?
I glance over my shoulder, but his back is already turned to me as he heats the milk on the stove.
“Now what?” I ask once finished.
He glances at me as he reaches over to remove a bowl from a cabinet. He slides the cut chocolate into the bowl and places it in the microwave.
“Now we melt it before adding it into the milk.”
In intervals, he heats it and stirs until he deems it just right.
“The mugs are in the cabinet on the right of the microwave, mind grabbing two?” he asks as he mixes the chocolate into the milk.
“Sure.” I open the cabinet, but realize they’re on the top shelf, out of reach.
Without turning, I feel a presence at my back. Ash reaches over me, his body lightly pressing into me. He grabs two mugs with one hand, clinking them together. “Sorry, I didn’t realize they were up that high.”
He closes the cabinet then places his hand on my lower back. “Would you like anything to eat?” He’s so close, my senses are overloading.
“I’m okay,” I answer softly.
Humming in thought, his hand slides around my waist. His fingers gently grip my hip. “I’ll lay something out just in case.”
I swallow and give a small nod.
His hand trails my back as he moves away. “Marshmallows?”
A puff of air rushes out as I turn to face him, letting my lower back dig into the counter. “Sure.” Is it just me, or has he gotten more touchy?
He plops some marshmallows in both mugs before handing me one. “Let’s sit on the couch.” He motions for us to move, and I follow him. Once I sit down, he grabs a blanket and offers it to me, then relaxes next to me. I pull my legs up onto the couch.
“So, where did you grow up?” he asks.
I blow on my cup. “Philadelphia.”
His eyes narrow as he takes a sip of his hot chocolate. I look down at the steam billowing from his mug.
“I’ve been there a few times. It’s pretty. Weather’s nice.”
“Yeah, it is.” I nod. “Is your mouth okay?”
His brows furrow as he licks his bottom lip, my eyes tracking the movement. “Yes, why?”
“It’s just…the drink. Isn’t it hot?”
“Oh, uh, yes. It’s hot.” He glances down at his mug as if it offended him. “I just have a high tolerance to the heat and the cold.”
“That must be nice.” Not being able to feel the cold? I could’ve really used that special ability recently. Or better yet, when I lived with Marcus.
He shrugs. “I don’t know any different.”
I turn more toward him, holding my mug in between us.
“Do you plan on moving back?” he asks.
“No,” I answer a little too quickly and clear my throat. “I don’t plan on moving back.”
“Why not?”
“There’s nothing left for me there.”
His eyes are full of understanding. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Contrasting emotions, dread and anticipation build up. Just the thought of thinking of everything that happened in Philly makes me sick to my stomach. I’ve only spoken about it once before and that was to Jane, but even she doesn’t know everything. So why do I find that I want to share everything with him?
“I think…I think I would like to. With you. But maybe not right now.” I need to work up to it. Prepare myself to relive it again, even though I do almost every night.
“You said you grew up here?” I ask before drinking. “Oh my gosh.” I wiggle. “This is delicious.”
He grins. “Way better than powder.”
“Definitely. This can’t just be melted chocolate.”
He chuckles. “It isn’t, I added a secret ingredient.” He winks. “But, yes. I grew up here since I was about twelve.”
“Where were you before?”
“London. It’s where I was born.”
“You don’t have an accent.”
“I don’t.” He pushes his ebony hair off his forehead as he shifts in his seat. “My accent gradually disappeared the longer I lived here. My friend, on the other hand, has a thick British accent. He spends most of his time there when he isn’t traveling.”
I nod, taking another sip. “You said you don’t mind it. Have you traveled a lot?”
“In the past.” He moves an arm to rest on the couch behind me. “It’s how I met Russell.”
“Russell?” I ask and take another long drink.
“Russell and Foster are like brothers to me. Foster is the one from London. Russell is from Ireland.”
“Is that where you met?”
He looks at his mug. “It is. But Russell is here. Maybe you could meet him sometime.”
Meeting a friend. That’s big, right? “I’d love to.”
“So.” He takes my empty mug from me and places them both on the coffee table. “What about you?”
“Friends-wise?” He nods. “Only one.” I avoid his eyes. “I don’t see her much.” Would Jane be considered a friend or a guardian
? Both?
“What about siblings?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Only child.” I wrap my arms around my legs, still sitting sideways on the couch.
“I see.” Does he, though? Does he realize how lonely I’ve been since my parents died? I tug the blanket tighter around myself.
“What about you?” I ask.
He stiffens. “I have one sibling.” Alright, touchy subject for him, too.
Ash stands, taking our mugs with him, and places them in the sink. He opens the fridge and grabs a small platter of fruit and veggies. “So, are you going to tell me the real reason you were snooping near my place?”
My eyes widen as I watch him stride over, placing the tray onto the coffee table. “I-I, I wasn’t.”
He arches a brow as he pops a tomato in his mouth. He lounges next to me again, closer than before as he places an arm on top of the couch behind me. I have trouble focusing as my legs press against his.
His eyes flicker to my chest. Can he tell how fast my heart is beating? “You’re not a very good liar, Ellie.”
I sigh. I’m really not. “I wasn’t snooping. Not really.”
“Then what were you doing?”
“You’ll think I’m crazy.”
He grins as he leans closer. “Maybe I like crazy.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Ash.”
He pulls away. “Just tell me.”
Fine. If he thinks I’m crazy, that’s the end of it. Besides, I feel crazy. “I was looking for a wolf.”
“Now, was that so hard?”
I eye him. “You don’t seem surprised.”
He shrugs. “There are lots of wolves in these parts.”
“But you don’t find it strange that I was looking for one?”
“Do you want me to?”
“No,” I say a little too fast.
He quirks a brow. “Then don’t worry about it.”
I bite my lip and look away. “Maybe you’re the strange one.”
He laughs. “Maybe I am.” He checks his watch, then curses under his breath. “Daylight is almost gone—how about I walk you back?”
“Oh.” I cringe at how sad my voice sounds. “It’s fine, I can go back on my own.”
“I insist.” He stands and offers me a hand up.
I take off the blanket and place my hand in his—calloused but soft.
His hands linger on mine before I turn and pick up my coat.
Saving Ellie (Lycans Book 1) Page 7