“Challenge,” I growl.
“Fine.”He throws his hands up, pretending exasperation when I can tell I’ve rattled him.“Tonight.In the woods behind The Rabbit Hole.”With that, he stalks off to the other end of the worksite.
For the rest of my shift, I keep my distance.Not that it does anything to lessen my anger.I’m hefting double the load any human man could handle when a voice cuts through my angry haze.
“Maybe we should get you mad more often.Never seen you work so hard,” my uncle says, appearing behind me without a sound.
He’s good at that.Has the unexpectedly-creeping-up-on-people skill down perfect.
Luckily, I’m used to it, so I don’t do more than flinch.
“If you think insulting Zoey is going to get you a better worker, you’ll find yourself a man short in the future.”
I know my ease at mingling with the human population in the town is not the norm for most members of the pack, but you’d think they could at least be civil.
“You like her.The Gunner girl.”
I turn to give Mason my full attention.Something in his voice gave away that this might not be a casual conversation.
“Yeah, I do.She’s …” I trail off.But not because I don’t have any words to describe her.
I have too many.
Strong, funny, sweet, creative, odd, beautiful, brave, sexy?—
The list goes on, but I think my uncle would wander off after a certain amount of adjectives.Before I can figure out how to end the sentence, Mason is already nodding in a distracted way.He stares over my shoulder.
“I knew her mother, Selena.She was”—he waves his hand to indicate all the descriptors I didn’t list, but acts as though he read them in my pause—“too.”
It shouldn’t surprise me that my family knew Zoey’s.Pine Falls isn’t big, and apparently, Selena Gunner spent eighteen years of her life here.
But from what Mason just said, I’m not sureknewis a strong enough word to describe whatever relationship they had.
“Did you two … date?”
Hell, this is weird.My father died when I was young, so Mason took on that role.We don’t really talk about women.Especially not the mother of the girl I’m falling for.
He offers me a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.“She left.”He shrugs and walks away.
Fuck.
I think Selena Gunner broke my uncle’s heart.
35
ZOEY
“Maybe a sexy demon lady …”I murmur to myself, pencil poised over my sketch pad.
Sunlight spills in from the window above the kitchen sink, bathing the cabin in a warm afternoon glow.Good light for my current project.
Different ideas flip through my mind.I’m imagining a pinup girl from hell.Maybe lounging on a bed of fire.Just need to make sure it has a nice curved shape that’ll sit evenly on the surface of a motorcycle helmet.
I want my design to be perfect.Badass.Something the wearer will be proud to show off.Because the only way to put this art on display will be if the guy actually wears his helmet.
Some people might think I’m overly cautious, harping on this helmet thing.But I know I’m right.
Mom doesn’t talk about her childhood much.She lost her dad at a pretty young age, so I guess there wasn’t a lot she could tell me about my grandfather.But there is one thing I know.
