Then I got it. Jericho thought I was going to push Austin over the edge again and tear apart the pack—that I’d hurt him the way Wes did by dying.
“We’re not tight like that, so you don’t have to worry.”
He glanced down at the floor. “My brother’s socks are lying on top of your lacey bra. That’s pretty fucking tight.”
A sudden knock rapped on the door and it cracked open. Jericho anchored his feet to the ground and pushed it closed with his back.
“Let me the fuck in,” Austin growled.
When the door opened, Austin looked between us. He gripped Jericho by the back of the neck and guided him out into the hall before shutting the door behind him.
“What’s this about you seeing Lorenzo?”
I stayed quiet. It seemed like the best way to avoid a fight and Austin had an agitated look on his face.
“Well?” he pressed, looming above me and closing the tiny gap of air between us.
I placed my hands behind me on the bed and gave him the “so what?” silent look.
“Always so difficult,” he finally said in a softened voice. “Even when you were a kid.”
“You were mean to me.”
He tilted his head, rubbing that thick jaw of his. “When I was eight or twelve I might have been a jerk, but after puberty…”
Austin actually blushed and when I smiled, he turned around and stared at a Led Zeppelin poster.
“Lorenzo is searching for my mom. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, Austin. I don’t have any reason not to go out with him, and no one else is calling on me.”
He rocked on his heels and I stood up, unzipping my bag and grabbing my purple hairbrush. I stood in front of a dirty mirror and combed my hair, which hung just past my breasts. Guys liked my straight hair and invariably commented on it, so I usually wore it down. Otherwise, I didn’t think there was anything remarkable about me. My eyes were the color of bourbon, my cheekbones high, and I had a few faded freckles on the bridge of my nose. My slim figure received a number of compliments, but I wasn’t ample in either department. I worked what I had (my legs being my best asset), but always wished I had larger breasts or curvier hips.
“You don’t trust that I can handle this and find your mom?”
“The more help I can get, the better, is all I’m saying, Austin.”
He spun around, arms folded. “I have to take a trip tonight and I want you to come with me.”
“I can’t leave Maze.”
“Denver and the boys got it taken care of. Shifters are protective of kids, even if they aren’t our own. It’s why Prince stopped his car for Maizy and didn’t keep driving. You can trust my pack. They’re older and have their wolves under control. They’ll fight to the death to protect her, if that gives you any comfort.”
And it kind of did. “Why do you want me to go with you?”
He flexed his jaw, staring at me in the mirror. Then his eyes slid down and I knew it was that heat word again. Austin didn’t want me in the house with his brothers.
“Okay, so where are we going?”
The “we” in my question satisfied him immensely. “Oklahoma. It’s about a six-hour drive and we’re staying overnight,” he said, looking at his watch. “We should be back tomorrow before dark.”
“What do you have to do?”
“Talk to someone” was all he’d tell me.
Chapter 15
The Challenger’s motor purred along I-35 until Austin turned off at the exit and changed direction. Maizy hadn’t revealed much about her adventure outside of what we already knew. What detailed information could I expect from a girl her age?
I had purchased all kinds of beef jerky from a gas station just outside Gainesville. Austin had merely watched as I piled the individually wrapped sticks on the counter. I’d never really liked jerky very much, but the long car trip was grueling and I was famished.
“Craving?” he asked with a twitch of his lip.
I ignored him, paid the cashier, and stuffed the bag in the back seat.
Austin played a few old songs that brought some forgotten memories to the surface. We laughed and shared stories, finding out little snippets about each other we had never revealed back in the day. When Aerosmith came on, it brought back memories of a camping trip we took to the lake one summer with a group of friends. I was stuffed in a tent with three girlfriends while Wes and his buddies camped closer to the wooded area. In the middle of the night, my friends decided to sneak over and raid their tent. What can I say? We were seventeen. I didn’t go because my favorite Fleetwood Mac slow song had come on my portable radio. I walked to the shore and sat down, watching the moonlight slide over the waves like icing.