From day one, Rían had taken pains to let me make my own choices. Even when it meant he ground his jaw until his teeth cried for mercy or clenched his fingers until his knuckles popped, he let me choose. As soon as the thought surfaced, I was reminded how he told me he didn’tletme do anything. I was my own person with a right to my own decisions. But that wasn’t the only thing he told me that stuck.
He warned me it was getting harder for him not to protect me at all costs.
This was proof his control was slipping, that his primal urges were harder to dismiss. I read apology in his eyes, and his lips had sealed shut with regret for ever having opened. The evidence of his remorse was more than enough to soothe any sting from his rebuke. It was nice. Him caring about me. I didn’t hate it.
“Fine.” I bent so that he wouldn’t have to break. “I’ll guard the entry point while you two go in.”
Because I had no doubt that was Rían’s plan. He would want to see for himself if he had been betrayed.
“Nice try.” Liam chuckled behind us. “Neither of you are going anywhere near a potential hot spot.”
Eyebrows rising, I faced him. “Does that meanyou’regoing in?”
“Obviously.” He jabbed a finger at Rían and then me. “You two can stand on the sidewalk in front of GSG and watch from there.”
“Wow.” I widened my eyes. “You mean we don’t have to cross the street and wait there instead?”
“You’re right.” He appeared to consider it. “That’s a much wiser course of action.”
“We need to verify Jess’s whereabouts first.” Sloane rubbed her hands together. “I’ll shift and hunt her down.” She smiled at Liam, with teeth. “Since Lizard Lips here is too big and slow to be of any real use.”
A growl rumbled through his chest as she swooped in to hug me.
Surprise radiating through me, I withdrew to stare down at her. “What was that for?”
“For not telling you about the enforcer gig sooner. You looked as surprised as I felt when Seamus met up with me this morning. He’s the one who told me about the appointment. I figured you and me could talk about it over dinner, but it didn’t work out that way.” She hesitated. “We good?”
Yanking her in for another hug, I squeezed her hard. “Always.”
With a grin at me, she slipped from my arms and into the house to find a room to change in.
Goldie, noticing her frequent partner in crime, waved Liam over to join her on the slide.
Rían and I stood with our arms brushing, tempting me to accidentally bump the back of my hand into his and test his response. As cozy as we had been this morning, I didn’t think he would mind the touch, but I sucked at reading people. We were about to enter a tricky situation, and I couldn’t afford to make things awkward if he rejected me.
“Do you think…?” Rían forced his fingers to uncurl. “Would you mind if I held your hand?”
Afraid to show how much I wanted it, I turned it into a joke. “Protective urges getting the best of you?”
“Depends.” He extended his arm toward me. “If I say yes, will you?”
Time for a smidge of honesty. “I would have either way.”
A blinding smile stretched his cheeks, tugging on his scarred lip, and he wasted no time linking our fingers. His hand was so much larger than mine. Warmer too. I couldn’t remember ever doing this with a guy. This was a thing you did when you wanted to get closer to someone. When you cared about them.
All of a sudden, my palms went damp, and I wished I hadn’t been quite so eager.
Click, click, click.
Nails on tile drew my attention to the kitchen where a light gray wolf with a white blaze over one eye padded toward us. Sloane wagged her tail, jerking her head to indicate she was on her way out.
A heartbeat later, an ear-shattering squeal ripped through the yard as Goldie set eyes on Sloane.
Faster than a blink, the little girl stood between Rían and me, an arm around each of our legs, gripping us to hold herself back from flinging her small body against the amused wolf for a cuddle session.
Trembling with eagerness, she searched our faces. “Can I pet her?”
“You’ll have to ask her.” I wiped the sweaty hairs off her forehead. “She can understand you.”
