I take a small step back, letting his hand fall and lift my gaze to his. “If something happened—”
“It didn’t,” I rush to assure him.
He stares down at me. “You can tell me.” I hear another growl, and my heart starts thundering. This time, Hayes lifts his head and frowns. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” I ask, but my voice is breathless, like I’ve just run several laps. Hayes steps closer to me and pushes me behind him.
“Stay behind me, Tessa. I’ll protect you.” My heart is thundering in my chest. There’s no doubt in my mind that Slater is still out there. I can literally feel his gaze on me. I don’t know how I know; I just do. And it’s not by coincidence that there’s a growl every time Hayes touches me.
“There’s nothing out here, Guys. If there is, it’s just a stray dog or something. It...it probably has fleas. Just let it go.” I take a step back, putting distance between Hayes and I. I take another step, right into a hard body.
“I do not have fleas,” a low voice sounds in my ear, causing a shiver to run the entire length of my body. "Some protector he is,” he continues right against my ear. He drops a hand to my hip and pulls me with him around the front of the building. “And he obviously hasn’t learned not to touch what doesn’t belong to him.”
Thatsnaps me out of my shock. I whirl around. “I am not yours, Slater Thorne,” I whisper fiercely.
He drops his eyes to mine, and I can see those dark gray eyes flash dangerously. They’re almost glowing in the dark. “You are definitely mine, Tessa Harper. I knew it the moment I scented you.”
“You scented?...what?” My voice is nearly a shriek.
“Tessa?” I hear Hayes call.
Slater’s eyes darken. “Take off his jacket. You smell like him.”
I lift my chin. “No. You are going to tell me what is going on right now,” I whisper hiss at him.
“Gladly,” he says in a low voice. “Right after you take off his coat. You want to smell like a male? You can have any of my clothes. All of them. Just take his coat off. It’s making you stink.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Did you just tell me I stink?”
“When you’re wearing another male’s clothes that aren’t mine? Yeah, Baby, you stink.”
“I am not your—”
“Tessa!”
I whirl around to see Hayes and Steven marching towards us. “Where did you go? Oh.” Hayes’s voice goes flat when he sees Slater. I take a step towards them, but Slater puts a hand on my hip again, stopping me. Hayes’s eyes drop there, and he doesn’t miss it. “Tessa, you okay?” he asks carefully.
“Take off his coat,” Slater mutters in a low voice right next to my ear. I resist the urge to shiver. I open my mouth to argue, but he steps closer.
Hayes steps forward. “Tessa, come on. We can head back.” He puts his hand out and curls it around my elbow. I feel Slater’s hand tighten on my hip.
“She’s not going with you,” Slater all but growls.
I know I need to put a stop to this now, or we will have another repeat of what went down with Connor. All Slater needs is another fight. His coach might have let it go once, but there’s no way he’ll let it go again. I pull my arm from Hayes’s grip and turn to face Slater. “I have to get back to work.” I shiver at the very real threat I see in his eyes. “Hey,” I say quietly. But he doesn’t look at me; he seriously looks like he’s going to murder Hayes. And I don’t know what will happen if he gets angry enough. I already watched as he shifted into a wolf once tonight. Would he do that again and go after Hayes? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure we can’t afford to find out. “Slater,” I try, but hispredatory gaze is locked on Hayes. I only have one idea. I step forward and step onto my tiptoes and touch my lips to his.
Chapter 27
Tessa
Slater goes absolutely still, and I freeze as well. I pull my head back but don’t lower my heels to the ground. “I’m sorry,” I whisper as I realize what I just did. I feel my panic building. “I’m sorry, I just—”
He wraps a strong arm around my back and crushes me to his chest, and his lips find mine. This kiss is so completely different from the one I just tried. This one is all-consuming. I forget my name; I forget to breathe. Stars dance before my eyes, and I just cease to exist. Time ceases to exist. Somebody clears their throat, and I jerk backwards. Mortification flows through me, and I stare at Slater with wide eyes. “Don’t ever apologize for kissing me.” His words are so low, I’m pretty sure only I can hear them. “If we didn’t have an audience...” He lets the words hang out there, and I wish he would come out and say what it is he’s thinking.
“Slater,” I whisper, feeling completely undone.
His face softens and loses some of its intensity. His hands frame my face. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“If you’re done now, we need to get back to work, Parker.” Hayes’s voice is much colder now. Slater’s eyes narrow, but I touch my hand to his arm, drawing his attention back to me.
