Her left hand abruptly squeezed his thigh. “I think you’re really sexy.” Then she slid off the stool and intruded in his space, inching her hand even higher as her voice became sweet like honey. “If you want to know how sexy, show me your room. If you’re not up for sex, I’ll just give you head.”
How juvenile was this conversation? he thought. Not a seductress by any means. And yet Isabelle could make him rock hard from a single glance with her mesmerizing green eyes. They both shared the same eye color, but hers were so vibrant and full of shine whereas his were dull and often compared to a dark jade. Isabelle had always been the better version of him.
“I’m not on the menu tonight, honey. But if you sit back in your seat and have a drink, I can hook you up with Ren. None of you has a shot at Trevor; he’s a virgin and saving himself.”
Trevor was either going to kill him or thank him for that later.
Gina glared at her friends and then evaluated Joker. She slyly hopped off her stool and poured herself a glass of brandy from the bottle sitting on the bar. Her eyes remained watchful of Jericho, and it made him uncomfortable enough to polish off his drink. While she refilled his glass, he went to help Trevor adjust the level on the amplifier to a volume that wouldn’t piss off Austin.
Tina lifted up her shirt in front of Ren and stroked her ample breasts, quickly lowering the hem again and sitting in the beanbag next to him. It was obvious by his hard-on that Ren wasn’t going to last long in this session.
All Jericho could think about was Isabelle. The way her wolf had taken care of that human to protect April filled him with pride. He admired her strength and resilience, despite the fact he would have preferred if she took it easy for a few more days.
The diamond ring he’d bought her was sitting inside his dresser drawer on top of her Pink Floyd shirt. Jericho wrote heartfelt lyrics for a living, but he didn’t have the right words to give her with that ring. Nor did he know where and when to ask her to be his mate. It had to be right. Didn’t all women want hearts and flowers? Shit, his palms were sweating just thinking about it.
When he returned to his seat, Gina had a cunning grin on her face as he took a sip of his drink.
“I think I’ve changed my mind about your friend,” she said. “Why settle for the consolation prize when the trophy is in front of me?”
“Because the trophy isn’t up for grabs,” he reminded her.
She crossed her legs and licked the edge of her glass, speaking quietly. “We’ll see about that.”
***
I could hardly sit still in Wheeler’s Camaro as we headed back to the Weston house. He had stuffed Hawk’s money and narcotics in the trunk of the car, although I didn’t see the point. If a human cop had pulled us over, Wheeler’s scary ass would have initiated an automatic search regardless.
I rolled the window up as the trees thickened, and we took a left turn that led up their private road.
“So, what are your feelings for Jericho?” Wheeler asked unexpectedly.
The headlamps shone eerily across the dirt road, illuminating a set of eyes in the brush that belonged to a wild animal.
“He’s my best friend.”
“That all?”
“I can’t tell you.”
He glared over his shoulder with his light eyes. “And why’s that?”
I flipped some of my tousled hair back and unbuckled my seat belt. “Because I haven’t told him how I feel. Not in all the right words.”
“He told you, but you didn’t tell him. That’s the deal?”
Who is this asshole? He wants to sit here and judge me when he probably hasn’t been laid since the early nineteen hundreds?
“I can’t talk about this with you, Wheeler. It’s personal and… just know that I care more about Jericho than anyone else in this world. But if I’m going to say the words, I’m not going to say them to you.”
“Just don’t hurt him,” he said under his breath.
Wheeler pressed down on the brake, and I jumped out of the car, excited to tell Jericho the good news about finding Hawk’s stash. Once all this craziness was behind me, I planned to find a cute apartment near work. Living with the Weston pack was temporary, and while I would be forever grateful, I couldn’t continue taking advantage of their hospitality.
I lightly rapped on the door and heard live music playing, but it was jarring and uncoordinated.
Ben opened the door with an irritated look on his face, which quickly brightened when he set eyes on me. How strange for two men to be so similar and different all at once. Ben’s smile threw me off because Wheeler never cracked one.
“Well, if luck don’t be a lady,” he said admiringly, his eyes roaming down to the damp dress that clung to my thighs.
“Is Jericho here? I need to speak with him.”
“Come on in,” he said, holding the door with his arm so it left me with a tiny opening to squeeze through.
Before I could walk under his arm, Wheeler forcefully shoved him back and spat curses in low words I couldn’t hear.