“Nothing,” I replied. “Your normalcy is refreshing.”
“Okay… Anyway, speaking of Klimt, I hated that guy. Just so you know,” Nero added.
I smiled. “Me too.”
Nero examined my face for a moment longer than normal. Then he cleared his throat and glared back in the direction Klimt had skulked off in. “Well, I don’t want him to crawl back here and bother you again, so why don’t you come with me? Besides, it’d be nice to have a teacher for all things shifter related.”
I hesitated. Wasn’t my whole reason for running away to have some time alone with my thoughts? To find new purpose in my life? Would tagging along with Nero as a friend-slash-bodyguard be accomplishing that?
But then again, what if this was what I needed? It was a new adventure with someone I knew and trusted well enough but didn’t have a deep past connection with. He wasn’t like anyone else in my life. He was a new start.
And if I was being totally honest, I didn’t want to part ways with him yet. There was something deeply compelling about him. Maybe it was the way he respectfully gave me my space, or how he saved me from Klimt without getting all hyper-possessive alphahole about it.
Or maybe it was the way he looked at me with his dark eyes, deeper than the ocean’s depths, like I was the only thing in the world.
Okay, now I’m getting ahead of myself,I thought irritably.He doesn’t think of me that way. My heat’s messing with my brain…
But I did know that if I refused Nero’s offer now, I’d never forgive myself. Nero needed me, and I needed him. This was the opportunity fate had given me. I needed to stop running away and just grasp it.
“Okay,” I said with a soft exhale. “I’d like that.”
Nero grinned lopsidedly. “Great. Then, first thing’s first… do you know where the hell we’re going?”
6
Nero
Turnsout Remington was just as lost as I was. The wildlife reserve was huge, stretching on and on endlessly, and there were tons of places he hadn’t explored either. We were just two guys who only sort of knew each other on an epic journey together.
“You know, it kinda feels like we’re on a road trip,” I said as we followed a small stream into the unknown.
“Except sans car and road. But I guess it does have that feeling.”
“All we need now is crappy gas station snacks and Spotify.”
“Spot-a-what?” Remington asked.
I laughed. “Spotify’s not that old. How long have you been a wild shifter again?”
I knew I might’ve said the wrong thing when Remington looked away and rubbed his arm. “Years now,” he mumbled.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” I said casually. “We can replace it with CDs then. Youdoremember CDs?”
That seemed to bring Remington’s mood back around. “Yes. I’m notthatout of touch.”
“Hey, there’s no shame in that. You and all those shifters know a ton of stuff that I don’t,” I admitted. “Hell, even my Mom knows more than me about shifter culture, and she’s a human.”
At the mention of my mom, Remington’s face lit up with a soft, genuine smile. “Dr. Pine is a special lady.”
“That’s right. You two have some kinda history, right?”
Once again we’d veered into a topic that seemed sore for Remington. It wasn’t that Ididn’twant to learn more about him, but I’d never push him into anything. I wanted him to go at his own pace. When he went quiet, I decided to change the subject.
“Hey,” I said. “There’s no saltwater around here, right? Like at all?”
“Um,” Remington said, blinking at the sudden question. “I don’t think so. Sorry. But I can’t say for certain. Itisa big wildlife reserve.” His cheeks turned pink, like he was embarrassed. “I know it’s stupid that I don’t know much about my own property…”
“That’s not stupid at all. Back when I had an apartment, I didn’t know much about it except how to live in it,” I said with a laugh. “Ask me about the electrical issues, how the stove that was always on the fritz, et cetera and I got nothing. Idoknow how to solve any microwave-related problems, though. A good whack’s usually all you need.”
