“You would? I know Hayes needs you.”
And then Talon shuffles around so he takes the place of the door I was pointlessly staring at. “Well, the way we see it, you need us, so you get me. He’s fine, I spoke to him the whole time I was driving here. He’s going to have an early night. I won’t be staying with you too long, just long enough.”
“Long enough for what?”
“Well, let’s say Koz isn’t the only one that can do special things for you,” he winks at me.
“What did you do?” I ask, kind of shocked. I mean, Talon is a bit of a goody two-shoes when it comes to life. I can’t imagine him doing anything that would stretch past the outline of his two-toned way of life.
“You’ve got this look in your eyes, Lolli, that’s kind of emasculating.”
It’s hard not to smile at him, and he runs with it.
“You can thank me later, maybe with a sneaky…”
My eyes flare.
“Too soon after your heat to be talking about a repeat?”
“Too soon? Who are you right now?”
“Yeah, I’ve been asking myself that since I left you this morning. Without a goodbye kiss, thank you very much. You had to know that would have stung.”
“I kissed Hayes,” blurts out of my mouth.
“Yeah, I know.” He grins. “And he loved it.”
He starts walking us out of the underground maze of the Wolverines stadium. It seriously feels like we’re going in the wrong direction, but he seems to know which way we need to go.
“I know you’ve got a lot going on, Lolli, but if we could arrange to catch up with you once you know Puck’s better and Koz is by your side again. Both Hayes and I would be super keen on your meeting and showing you photos of our little princess.”
“What about Reid?”
“No thanks. I’d lose my badge if I was in the same room as him,” Talon hisses, but he keeps the tone light.
“I’m packing with Koz, Tal. You know that, right?” I stop walking and pull him to a stop too.
He nods his head. “I knew that. Hayes also just informed me it’s not my business. I’m a little shocked about your choice of alpha, but I don’t really get a say anymore, do I?”
I shake my head, agreeing he doesn’t get a say.
“Are you really going to stay packed to Reid?”
“Not by choice, Lolli. But I won’t risk Hayes’s daughter until I have everything I need set up.”
“Like what?”
He looks off in the distance. “So you know how Sharlene fucked Hayes over, you also know we have something we need to protect now. But even before that happened, I guess Sharlene got lucky and got Hayes and me exactly where she wanted us.”
“What could she possibly have on you, Talon?”
Shrugging, he tips his head to one side. “I was desperate. Young and stupid. On so many levels.”
“What did you do?”
“I flunked trying to get into the Academy.” He holds my gaze, and I think he’s waiting for me to fill in the gaps.
“Own your shit, Talon. Don’t make me be the person to judge what you did. You did something crappy, you did something crappy. Get over it. What am I going to do?”
