He settled on the stool next to mine, gaze roaming over my arms. “You got a serious thrashing out there. All thoserocks.”
Had he beenthere?
Before Matt left to play, he tossed out, “If Liam annoys you, call out my name. Or Hulk. I’ll respond toboth.”
Ismiled.
“Did Ness Clark just crack a real-ass smile?” Matt winked at me, which had me shaking my head. He scooped up the three beers and then returned to theothers.
“I heard I had you to thank for getting back to the inn.” I twirled a chip in the air, twisting the string of cheese glued to it until it snappedoff.
Liam didn’t sayanything.
Without taking my eyes off the chip, I said, “Tell me I wasn’t naked.” Some people could sweep things under rugs; I was the type who’d rather vacuumthem.
“Youweren’t.”
I exhaled a longbreath.
“They covered you up the second youchanged.”
Another breath rushed out of me. “I wonder how the other packs—the ones with females in them—I wonder how they…operate.”
“You mean does everyone get nakedtogether?”
Heat curled up mythroat.
“I would imagine nudity isn’t such a big deal forthem.”
I finally dared look away from my chip. Liam raised his beer to his lips and tipped it, his Adam’s apple bobbing sharply under his darkstubble.
“At least I don’t have to worry about thatanymore.”
He laid a long, muscled forearm on the bar. “What do youmean?”
“Now that I’m out of the pack.”Out ofBoulder…
“You’re notout.”
“They said that if I failed, I couldn’t get into thepack.”
“But you didn’tfail.”
“I did. I changed during thetrial.”
“Ness, you’re still in the running. Matt’s the one who’sout.”
I knocked my beer over, and it spilled onto Liam’sjeans.
“Shoot.” I grabbed a handful of napkins and dabbed histhigh.
He wrapped his hand around my wrist and stilled my fingers. I froze as something pulsed against myknuckles.
I snatched my arm back. “Sorry,” I mumbled, ogling the row of backlit liquor bottles and wondering how many of those I should ingest to forget that my hand had just connected to a very private part of Liam Kolane’s anatomy. I wiped my shaky fingers on a napkin. “I broke the rules…” My disloyal voice was wobbling. I prayed Liam would think it was the emotion of not being disqualified that was affecting my larynx andnot—
“To save his hand,” Liam saidhuskily.
I feigned great interest in the baseball game on the TV hanging from an articulated arm over the liquor shelf. “He wouldn’t have gnawed itoff.”
