I’m better than this. I’m stronger than this.
I have to be.
“I can practically hear you beating yourself up,” Ryland jokes lightly. “Just let us take you home.”
Before I can reply, Rowan gently but firmly takes the keys from my hand.
“I’ll drive,” he says. “Ryland, you can follow.”
“I’m fine,” I croak out, shame threatening to eat me alive.
“Yeah, you are,” Rowan agrees wickedly, and it snaps me out of my embarrassment enough that I roll my eyes. Begrudgingly, I enter my passenger door, stripped raw and vulnerable with my fears.
The storm last night affected me more than I thought.
But once Rowan shuts my door for me and enters the driver’s side, I realize this may be worse than just a bruised ego.
Shut alone in my car, Rowan smells like a storm in the best way.
His scent fills the car, mixing with mine, and I dig my nails into my palms and shift in my seat.
This morning, I woke up aroused and wet with slick, but it was manageable.
But now, with just me and Rowan in an enclosed space?
I’m not so sure.
“Fuck,” he mumbles under his breath as he starts the car. I stare at his hand on my gearshift, my mouth watering as I imagine him touching me.
This close, Rowan is devastatingly handsome, and my inner Omega is desperate for him.
I left out a soft breath and dig my nails into my skin harder.
Even as he looks over his shoulder to back up out of the driveway, he’s breathtaking.
“I could get used to this,” he says, his voice rough.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Letting you be a passenger princess.”
I scoff. “I amnota passenger princess. This is a one-time thing only.”
But every second I breathe him in, the less that seems true.
“I don’t mind, babe.” He turns to me at a stoplight and grins, showing off his charming dimples. “I would be happy to take you anywhere you wanted. You want to drive around the city in the middle of the night to feed feral cat colonies? Let’s do it.”
I tilt my head in surprise. “Have you ever fed a colony before?”
“Nope. Read about it, though. Went down an internet rabbit hole at three in the morning when I was researching about fostering kittens.”
I smile back, my anxiety from earlier dissipating. “We’ve got a few around here. You ready to break some rules and trespass if needed to feed them?”
We haven’t had much drama in Luna County with feeding feral colonies, but there have been isolated instances of cats showing up on private property.
Those cats still need to be fed, though.
None of us at Furs or Purrs or our volunteers have gotten in too much troubleyet.
