I shot Roscoe another glare.
“I know we talked about my junk food problem, but it’s just popcorn. Plus, you hide shit all the time. You think I don’t know about yer coffee?”
“What about all the cupcake snacks in your closet behind those old-people discs?” Adam asked.
“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.” Roscoe nervously cleared his throat. “And they’re called records. Why were you in our closet?”
“Because you have that weird sex stuff, and I was curious.”
“All right,” I said, clapping my hands together. “We’ll have barbeque, and all of Roscoe’s junk food to trade. That’ll save us a trip to the store.”
Roscoe let out a dog-like whine.
“And you’re no longer allowed to go grocery shopping without me.”
“I am four times yer age, young man!” Roscoe protested.
“We can’t be blowing our budget on food we don’t need. I know werewolves are pretty resilient, but eating all this stuff can’t be good for you.”
“I’m as healthy as a horse!”
“And you weigh about as much as one,” Adam chimed in, looking down at the lawn chair Roscoe sat in. “Every time you sit out here, those legs bow so much that Darryl and I were taking bets on when they’d give out.”
Lately, I hadn’t been noticing as much weight gain since I was around him all the time, but now that it was front and center, it was all I could see. It wasn’t like I was grossed out or anything—in fact, his extra girth was really nice to cuddle with at night.
Roscoe looked down at his gut and gave it a pat with both hands. “Almost ready for winter.”
“Do werewolves hibernate?” I asked.
“This one does,” Roscoe answered. “Mmm, I can’t wait. Hot chocolate. Turkey. Cookies. Oh!” He stood and gave a wide, toothy grin. “I just got an idea you might enjoy, Cody.”
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I’m feelin’ festive all of a sudden.”
He opened the door and disappeared inside.
“I guess that’s my cue,” I said, about to stand and follow Roscoe, but Adam put up his hands.
“Wait. Can we talk for a little bit?”
“Sure.” I lowered myself back into the seat.
“I haven’t been able to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I remember what I did to him. He was acting so sweet, and I don’t know what came over me.”
“What happened, exactly? How did you end up in the woods?”
Adam’s ears fell. “When Austin took off his costume, I got annoyed and left the party. I was already feeling like crap, but I’d just been wanting to go into the woods lately, like something was calling me. I think Austin knew I was about to turn. That’s why he followed. Have you ever had swollen gums?”
I nodded, remembering my first night as a half-turn.
“The only thing that helped ease the pain was sex. It was kind of weird the way he changed, like he was doing this stuff out of instinct. Our bodies were completely in sync with one another, and after I finished turning, I heard a woman. She asked if I wanted to do what you could do, and she told me how to do it. Everything after that was fuzzy except the moment I grabbed Austin’s dog tags and everything went white. He screamed, Cody. It was like I’d stabbed him or something, but the voice kept telling me this was what he wanted.”
Adam patted Austin’s head, and the larger werewolf’s tail swayed a bit. That was the first reaction I’d seen in a while.
“Do you remember anything after that?”
He shook his head. “Just fragments of what seemed like a dream. Fire. Crosses. Voices. Then when I was out of the woods, I realized it wasn’t a nightmare.” Adam looked up at me and wiped his eyes. “Darryl told me what you did. I never had a friend that would let me borrow his shirt, let alone risk his life for me.”
