“I didn’t want you to worry. I didn’t want you to think that it…” he said, trailing off.
“Think what? That it’s all my fault?” I asked as I sank down onto the edge of the bed, tears already tracking a hot path down my cheeks.
Setting the pizza and soda down on the dresser, Holbrook crouched in front of me and said, “It’s not your fault.” Cradling my chin, he turned my face to look at him, his own full of conviction.
“Yeah, it is,” I argued, pulling my chin out of his grasp and turning my face away. “Everyone knows that Chrismer’s right. He’s looking for me, and he won’t stop until he finds me.”
“Chrismer’s an idiot. She wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit her in the ass.”
I couldn’t help snorting at that and gracing Holbrook with a smile.
“But it’s true,” I said, sobering.
“Riley, stop torturing yourself,” he sighed.
“I can’t,” I confessed in a whisper, focusing on a small scar on the underside of his chin, unable to meet his gaze.
“What can I do to make you believe me?”
I had no answer for him and could only shrug in reply while fighting the sob that had risen in the back of my throat. Squeezing my eyes shut, tears streamed down my cheeks, falling on the hands clasped in my lap.
The brush of his lips against my forehead was unexpected, but welcome. My breath hitched in my throat at the brief spark passing between our skin, and then it was as if cool water was spreading out from where his lips pressed against my forehead. A shudder rippled down my spine as a wave of calm moved through me, flowing down into my fingers and toes.
His hands moved down from my shoulders, gliding along the length of my arms and I felt a deep pull inside my body, akin to the sensation that rose through me as the wolf emerged, and yet wholly different. Where the wolf was full of heat and fur, the sensations rippling through me now were cool and liquid, gentle in its exploration of me like fingers tracing an unfamiliar path. The scent of hot caramel swelled around me, sweeping over and through me, touching the most intimate parts inside me.
As the feeling drained away, so did my fear and tension. It was as though it had swept through me, pulling my fear along in its powerful undertow, leaving me feeling light and drowsy in its wake.
My eyelashes fluttered against my cheeks as I opened my eyes and looked up, startled by what I saw. Holbrook’s face was flushed as if he’d just come back from a run, and a thin sheen of sweat clung to his brow. Dropping his hands, he stepped back and swayed for a moment as his eyes appeared to lose focus. Blinking a few times, he shook off whatever had affected him, though his gaze stilled seemed a little unfocused.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my hands hovering in the air between us, ready to catch him if he fell.
“I—I’m fine,” he stammered, his voice thick as if he was fighting against exhaustion.
“What was that?” I asked, certain that I should be concerned but unable to muster any emotion other than a deep sense of calm.
“We…ah…should eat before the pizza gets cold,” he said, choosing to ignore my question.
“Sure.”
Something had happened, but I had no clue what, and Holbrook didn’t seem to be in a sharing mood.
Situating myself near the headboard, I arranged the blankets over my feet as I muddled over what had just happened. I watched through the haze of my eyelashes as Holbrook toed off his shoes, setting the pizza box in the middle of bed like a barrier, as if it could hold back the questions that hung on the tip of my tongue. Tentatively climbing onto the bed, he mirrored my position on the other side of the pizza box.
“I hope sausage and bacon is okay,” he said, breaking the silence.
“You can never go wrong with bacon. It’s like meat candy,” I said, snagging a piece. My grandmother would have scolded me for just shoving it in my mouth, but I was suddenly ravenous and eager for anything that would distract us from the lingering awkwardness. “Oh man, that’s better than sex,” I moaned around a mouthful of pizza, savoring the hot cheese and tomato sauce.
“Does that mean I have to try harder next time?” Holbrook asked.
Snapping my eyes open, I somehow managed to keep my jaw from falling open in surprise. A single dark brow was quirked in mischievous amusement, his lips curving into a smile that would give the devil himself a run for his money. It was an expression that sent a spear of ferocious arousal straight into my core and left me breathless.
Next time? There’s going to be a next time? Where do I sign up?
Echoing my thoughts, I swallowed the chunk of pizza in my mouth and replied, “Where do I sign up?”