“I know about black ice,” I said, an edge in my voice. “I’ve lived here since I was a kid.”
“Mmm.” He kept his eyes on the road as he took another sip of coffee. The speedometer dropped to ten miles per hour.
I slid lower in my seat.
Jesse started humming.
Slowly, I turned and looked at him.
“You all right?” he asked, eyes on the road.
I glanced out the windshield. “Just wondering if we’ll get there before nightfall.”
He smiled. “I didn’t take you for a passenger princess.”
The fucking nerve. I folded my arms and looked at the road. “Someone’s been on the internet again.”
He laughed softly, and we continued crawling along. After a minute, he cleared his throat. “I checked the local news this morning. Your parents haven’t filed a missing persons report.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that tracks. Why report a missing person when you can just enjoy the peace and quiet?”
He said nothing, but his jaw tightened as he slowed for a rut in the road. His coffee tumbler clinked softly against the inside of the cup holder. Once we cleared the rut, he took another sip.
Hunger twisted in my stomach, and it put a bite in my voice as I said, “I wouldn’t have minded a cup of coffee.”
Jesse looked at me, a hint of something indulgent in his eyes. He offered me the tumbler. “Help yourself.”
Refusing it would seem petty, so I took it and tipped it back. Dark roast and caramel. Fucking delicious.
“Since you already helped yourself to my closet,” he added silkily.
I swallowed too quickly, burning my throat and dribbling coffee down the front of his sweater. “Fuck,” I muttered, dabbing at my chest. I shot him a defiant look. “You said to dress warmly. I only brought a few things from home.”
“It’s all right.” His lips quirked as he pulled into a parking spot at the edge of the forest. He shut off the SUV and looked at me. “If you’re borrowing my clothes, I think it’s safe to say we’re officially dating.”
My stomach flipped over. “Boyfriend” was one of those words that didn’t seem to belong to me. Other guys had boyfriends, not me. I certainly never expected to call a man like Jesse my boyfriend…or anything more than that. Before I could unravel my feelings on the matter, he left the car and headed into the trees.
“Goddamnit,” I mumbled, flinging open my door and jogging to catch up to him.
We walked for a good thirty minutes, moving deep into the quiet forest. The trees were taller than the ones in the woods back home, their green needles blanketed with snow. The temperature was sharp but not unpleasant, and the sun stretched long, golden fingers over the ground as the sky brightened.
At last, Jesse stopped and pulled his shirt over his head.
“What are you doing?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.
His expression told me he shared the sentiment. “I like that sweater. If you shift without removing it, you’re going to rip it to shreds.” He toed off his shoes and then bent and removed his socks. When he straightened, sunlight gilded his bare chest. “In the future, you won’t always know when you’ll need to shift. Emergency situations are bound to come up. But shifting is sort of like surgery. It’s safer and less unpredictable when it’s planned. You don’t want to end up tangled in your clothes when you need to run or fight.”
I couldn’t help glancing around. “When will I need to fight?”
“I’m talking hypothetically.” Jesse nodded at me. “For now, strip so we can get started.”
More questions about his “hypothetical” fights bubbled in my head, but I shelved them as I did his bidding. Nerves prickled down my spine. What if Icouldn’tshift? Or maybe I’d get stuck between forms. The memory of his hand morphing into a claw hovered in my mind.
My stomach growled. Snow huddled around my ankles, the cold like icy manacles on my skin as I folded my pants and then hunted for a dry patch of ground. My dick drew up like a turtle withdrawing into its shell. This was so stupid, standing in the middle of the forest talking about werewolves.
Fuck, how was this my life right now? I hadn’t asked for it. I wasn’t even sure how I felt about immortality. It hadn’t gone so well for Jesse’s sire. My heart thumped harder as I dumped my clothes on the ground.
Jesse turned from where he’d placed his in a neat pile at the base of a tree. His dark brows drew together. “You’re going to come back to wet clothes.”
