The Boy and His Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page B

burgers.” Jacey squeezed my arm and I chuckled.
    Sylvia walked past Jacey and I, throwing me a suspicious glance, before giving Dash a fake half hug and a kiss on the cheek.
    “ Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Howell.” Her voice was a rich velvet, both smooth and bold. She sounded exactly like an Alpha would, with confidence and power.
    “ You’re always a guest here, Sylvia.” Dash made things more casual and despite knowing he’s a gay man, jealousy still scratched at my gut.
    You’re always a guest, I repeated in my head. Ugh.
    “ Please come eat.” Marco brought a plate of burgers over to the picnic table and motioned with his hand for Sylvia to sit at the patio table with Dash.
    It wasn’t a secret that Dash was the obvious choice for Alpha. Richton would have picked him, I was certain of that. He would probably be talking Alpha business with Sylvia and I was fine with that, because it meant I could catch up with old friends.
    We ate and talked, laughed and retold old stories. Marco was in tears, slapping the table, as he tried to tell the story of the time a spirit latched onto me.
    “ That was not funny, dude.” I laughed, remembering how terrified I had been. “That was scary.”
    Marco waved his hand in front of his face. “No, no…oh man, you wouldn’t even look in a mirror. Like, you were a mess for a week.”
    “ I had a ghost following me around.” I looked to Jacey for backup.
    She held her hand over her mouth, but I could see she was stifling a laugh. “The ghost just had a little crush on you.”
    Grady snickered and nearly spit out his beer.
    “ It was a female ghost who tried to watch me shower. She would appear out of nowhere. It freaked me out.”
    Everybody broke into laughter again.
    “ I don’t know if you guys know this or not.” Marco gave me an apologetic look. “But Tanner had me stand in the bathroom with him so he could shower.”
    “ Marco.” I let the end of his name drag out.
    “ I’m sorry, bro.”
    I took another swig of my beer and glanced around the table. Pride and lightheartedness filled me up as much as the food did. I had missed this, truly missed this. Marco’s jokes, Grady’s acceptance, and Jacey’s gentle ability to make anyone feel special. Being back, right now, made me realize how different my life was in California. Sure, I had friends and a job, but this was rooted much deeper. This was natural to me. I could truly be myself.
    I smiled on the outside, listening to another of Marco’s stories, but a piece of me questioned how I would be able to leave. How I would walk away from these guys again.
    “ Anyone need a refill?” I asked, needing a moment to feel the guilt out of sight.
    “ I’ll take another.” Grady raised his bottle.
    “ Same.” Jacey winked.
    I grabbed the empty bottles and headed for the house. “Be right back.”
    The kitchen fridge was empty of beer and I headed into the garage for the second one. No sooner than the door closed behind me did it open. Dash stood in the doorframe, lips pressed and one hand in pocket.
    “ Something wrong?” His head leaned in with his words.
    “ No.” The word cracked as it came out.
    He took a few steps closer.
 
     
    “ You won’t even look at me.”
    I still couldn’t. My eyes wouldn’t look away from a shelf full of power tools. He would be able to smell the mixture of emotions on me, so there was no point in trying to fail at hiding my hurt any longer.
    “ I heard about your recent flings.” I barely got the words out.
    He was silent for a moment and I could see his body stiffen. He hadn’t wanted me to figure that out. Go figure.
    “ Yeah…don’t deny it or anything.” I flicked my eyes up at him, my own face scrunching in disgust.
    Dash licked his lower lip slowly and his heavy gaze dropped. “I won’t lie to you.”
    “ Sooo, that’s it?” I shook my head. He had nothing else to say?
    He tossed his hands up. “What do you want me to say? No, I didn’t have sex