His Wolf (Wolf of My Heart) (9 page)

Though he didn't say anything, I could see he was surprised by my choices, which were admittedly a little extravagant. But I was really saving money by staying with him, and I wanted to sweeten our deal to increase its long-term chances.

For some reason, I felt safe living in a cabin in the woods. It could've been a wolf thing, but I honestly thought it had something to do with Erik. His quick moves during our snowball fight had been a surprise. Clearly he wasn't as geeky as I'd assumed. Not that I had a problem with geeks. I didn't. I was one, after all, except under a full moon. I guessed his wiry build had deceived me. The boy clearly had solid muscles as opposed to bulk, and he was much stronger than I could've guessed. That explained him being able to carry
wolfy
me so far, once I thought about it.

I paid for the groceries with some of my stolen cash, being careful to hide how much I had in my pocket since I didn't want to explain it. We loaded the groceries in the back of the Jeep. As Erik shut the door, he caught my eye. "Let's grab a bite to eat before we go home."

Of course I laughed. We'd just grabbed several if memory served. But I knew what he meant. "Will the frozen stuff
be
okay?"

"Yeah.
We'll go to Head for the Hills. They're fast, and I get a discount there." He grinned. "Never hurts, right?"

"Right.
Where is it?"

"Close enough to walk to. Come on." Erik motioned for me to join him.

We walked down the sidewalk together, me with my hands in my pockets. I really needed a coat, which is why I braked in front of a department store I'd never heard of. I guessed it was locally owned and turned to Erik. "I'll just be a sec."

Ducking inside, I found the clerk counting the money in a cash drawer. "Are you about to close?"

"Not for another ten minutes." She smiled. "We get out of here early in the off season. What can I help you with?"

I scanned the store. "I need a jacket. This hoodie is not doing it for me."

Commenting on the recent blizzard, she led me to a rack. I picked out a denim one with a fleece lining. I also splurged on some
UGG
knock-offs in my size, for which my frozen toes thanked me. Total cost: fifty-eight dollars. Not too bad, I thought, mentally counting my remaining cash, but I'd need to stick to necessities from now on.

"Put them on. I'll take your other stuff to the car."

I hadn't realized Erik had followed me into the store and wondered how long he'd been watching. I'd tried to hurry, but making decisions had always been stressful for me, so I suspected I'd taken longer than I meant to. A quick glance at my watch proved it. I sputtered an apology to the clerk as I left with Erik. She waved me on with a smile and a don't-worry-about-it laugh.

Standing just outside the door, I let Erik pull a tag off the sleeve of my new coat. He then ran my old Nikes and abandoned hoodie to the Jeep. In no time we were walking side-by-side en route to "The Hills," as he called it.

The café had the look of a hillbilly shack, with weathered wooden shingles and a rustic décor. It was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked from the street, and I saw plenty of booths and tables, as well as a fenced off area at one end. Judging by the speaker boxes, that was probably where Erik and others did their live shows. There was also a bar on one side.

Everyone greeted Erik by name, from the hostess to the barkeep. I got some curious looks, but no one asked any questions as we slid into a booth. We ordered drinks--me, a coke; Erik, iced tea.

"What's good here?" I asked once the waitress left. I mean, why bother with a menu when an expert sat across the table from me?

"Everything, actually."

"Then what are you getting?"

"A chicken tender salad."

So he was a salad kind of guy. I wrinkled my nose a little. The wolf in me wanted beef. "How are the cheeseburgers?"

"Awesome.
Especially the one with the barbecue sauce on it."
He peered over the edge of my menu and then touched the item he meant.

So that's what I ordered as well as onion tangles. He went with the salad, but also asked for
chili con
queso
and chips, which cancelled out any nutritional points he'd earned. It came to us in a miniature skillet with savory steam rising from it. We both tucked in. I was pretty sure my eyes rolled back in my head as I relished the first bite. It was that good.

We talked about nothing in particular as we ate. I asked about the other places where he worked. He told me Hills was his favorite. I'll admit my gaze darted around the room every few seconds. I had the feeling we were being watched, and not just by Erik's friends or the other customers. It was the old hair-standing-on-end kind of sensation, and more than once I surreptitiously sniffed to be sure there wasn't a
Were
around. But everything seemed to check out.

"Erik?
That you,
cuz-
zin
?"

My dinner companion tensed at the sound of his name and softly groaned. Curious, I glanced toward the door, where four enormous guys stood stomping snow off their boots. I looked back at Erik just in time to see him mouth the F word to himself.

What the heck?

He turned with visible reluctance and half smiled.
"Hey, Uncle
Greger
.
Marten,
Isak
, Bo--what are you guys up to?"

"Six-four, two-twenty," said a guy with sandy blond hair and sky blue eyes. Chuckling at his little joke, he sauntered over to the table with his dad and siblings right behind. "Who's this?" He nodded toward me.

"Bronte, this is my cousin Marten Thorne. Marten, meet my new friend, Bronte
Hannigan
." He introduced the others, too. There was a strong family resemblance between the siblings--enough that I knew I'd get them mixed up if we ever met again.

"Nice to meet you," I lied. If they made Erik this nervous, they probably weren't nice at all. I hadn't seen him this flustered since he'd stumbled over
wolfy
me in the trap.

"Where's Aunt Marsha?" asked Erik.

"Had to work late, as usual.
Why is it
people
looking for houses only do it after hours?"
Greger
ruffled Erik's short hair, something I could tell his nephew hated. "Nose still stuck in that laptop twenty-four-seven?"

"It pays the bills."

Bo snorted his opinion of that. His gaze raked me. "Known him long?"

"Long enough."
I smiled.

"How'd you two meet?" This came from
Isak
, who seemed confused about something.

"I had a wreck. Erik rescued me." I didn't know how much more to say, so looked to him for guidance. His blank expression didn't give me a clue, though his heightened color probably should've. I remembered yesterday's parting message to these guys during my rescue back in the woods, when he thought I might attack.

"You don't say." The guys exchanged knowing looks and a couple of obvious elbow jabs. I heard a chortle that had a nasty ring to it.

Now I was confused, too.

"She's staying at the cabin for a while," Erik blurted for some reason, proving I was right about how rattled he was. Clearly these guys knew how to push his buttons.

Chapter Seven

"No shit?" Marten nearly fell over laughing. "That's rich."

Huh? I glanced at Erik in hopes he'd give me a clue what was so freaking funny to his cousins. But he was clearly not amused, which meant Marten was laughing
at
him. I wondered why Erik didn't take down the joker. I'd seen him in action that very day. I believed with all my heart he could do it.

But he didn't, so I spoke up. "Sorry. Did I miss something?"

"Shut up, son."
Greger
sounded stern, but I saw his lips twitch. What was going on? And why did I still feel watched, a distracting sensation when I really needed to focus on Erik's melodrama whatever it was?

Bo burst out laughing, so loud that other diners glanced our way. I felt my cheeks begin to burn. Erik and I
were
obviously the butt of some kind of joke, and I didn't understand or like it one bit. I also didn't get why Erik was taking their grief instead of fighting back. But all he did was eat his salad, the last bite of which had left a drop of ranch dressing on his upper lip.

"Too bad she's wasted on you," said
Isak
, actually waving his hand in that effeminate way some idiots do when they're making fun of homosexuals.

My jaw dropped. They thought Erik was gay! Well, maybe he was, and maybe he wasn't.
Didn't matter either way beyond me having to mark him off my possible-boyfriends list and adding him to my possible-best-friends one.
What mattered was that the jerks were so damn rude. Someone had to put them in their places, and the only way to do that was get down on their level by doing something they would understand.

Pushing my plastic cheeseburger basket aside, I leaned forward, slipped a hand behind Erik's neck, and licked that dressing right off his lip. Then I kissed him. I'd have given him tongue, but didn't feel right about it all things considered. When I ended the contact, I settled into my seat and gave his relatives a so-there smile.

They whooped and hollered. Bo pounded Erik's back.

"Dude, your woman's hot!" said Marten.

Isak
apparently agreed. "Don't waste your time on him, Brianna. Only
wusses
wear white pajamas when they fight. You need a guy in pads and a helmet." He flexed his right arm like a body builder.

I nearly hurled my dinner. Could they be more ridiculous?

Erik came to life. "It's
Bronte
, idiot. And she can think for herself."

Laughing, Uncle
Greger
began herding his sons toward a table.

I didn't relax until they were out of earshot and harassing someone else. "I am so sorry about that lip lock. I don't know why I did it. They were just being so rude, you know, and your sexual orientation is nobody's business but yours."

For several seconds, Erik just looked at me. I honestly had no idea what he could be thinking. Then he slipped out of the booth, slid back into it on my side, and swooped in for an open-mouthed, very wet, tongues-and-all kiss I felt all the way to my tingling toes, which were now toasty warm inside my brand new boots.

Wow. Just wow. I'd never, ever been kissed like that, and by the time he pulled back, I not only had him on the top of that first
possibles
list, I was ready to jump his bones and really give his cousins something to talk about.

"Bronte?"

Gulp. "Yes?"

"I am so not gay."

"I knew that."

"Sure you did." He looked at our food. "Are we done here?"

I quickly nodded.

Erik caught the eye of our waitress, who walked over, grinning mischievously. "I was going to ask if you guys wanted dessert, but I'm thinking you already had it."

"Ha, ha, ha."
He handed her the ticket she'd left earlier and some cash. "No change."

Still grinning, she nodded and left. So did
we
a few moments later. The crisp air cooled my cheeks, which felt sunburned for a number of reasons--anger, embarrassment, desire--all of which added up to me being very flustered. Erik seemed fine, though. Hoping our groceries had survived the meal, I sat in silence while he drove us back to the cabin.