“That’s a pretty damn good idea,” Reed said evenly. Anyone looking at him would think he was perfectly calm, but I somehow knew better—in that weird, wordless way.
Reed wasn’t okay.
He wasn’t okay at all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN || HARRIS
Reed was quiet for most of the day, in his head. I could tell he was stewing on what had happened with Lacey. Specifically, her mention of Jeremy. When Reed told me he needed to go check on the bar, I let him go without protest.
By myself in the cabin, I felt restless. I couldn’t get comfortable and I couldn’t sit still long enough to read or watch anything—surprisingly, Reed had a television that worked and subscriptions to several streaming platforms. But none of the programs held my attention.
At last, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and stared at the screen. Then, after several moments of indecision, I called Cole.
He answered on the second ring.
“It’s about time,” Cole said by way of greeting. “You’ve made me wait almost a week for news. It’s enough to make a boy become homicidal.”
“You haven’t been a ‘boy’ in eight centuries. And you’ve never needed any help in the homicide department.”
He sniffed. “True. I assume you’ve called to spill all the tea about your new man.”
“Cole.”
“It’s been nearly a week and you two are fated to be together—plus, he’s a werewolf. Love at first sight was practically invented by their kind!”
Wouldn’t that be nice?I thought wryly.It would save me an awful lot of headache.
When my pause lasted longer than it should’ve, he added, “I’d assume you two have been engaged in plenty of mate-worthy activities by now?” His voice rose a little at the end, making it into a question.
“You were the one who suggested I go and tell him off for being an asshole,” I reminded him.
“And I assume you did exactly that. But what, precisely, have you been doing with the other six days and twenty-three hours of the past week while you’ve kept mewaiting?”
It was an exaggeration, of course, but not by much.
“Well, I guess we slept together last night.”
“Ah, lovely!” Cole’s tone brightened. “And how was it? Is he an animal in the sack?”
“No, I mean… we slept. As in, occupying the same bed.”
“And this was… progress?” He sounded deflated.
“Look, I didn’t call to tell you about my sex life. Or lack thereof.”
“You’re no fun, detective. Has anyone ever told you that?”
I rubbed my forehead. Cole somehow had the power to make me simultaneously miss him and want to clobber him over the head with a blunt object. “Only you.”
“So, if not to share the gory details, what made you finally decide to call me?”
Maybe I was slow on the uptake, but it only hit me right then that the restlessness I felt was because I wasworriedabout Reed. Right now, he was trying to shut me out, to handle everything—including his darkest emotions—all on his own.
Paul had been like that, too. Despite being the talker of the two of us, he’d always processed things internally and quietly. But I had never directly made space for him to do that with me, so I had no idea if he would’ve trusted me with that. In the backof my mind, I had always known it was a line I wasn’t sure I wanted to cross with him, because of the way it would deepen the already confusing intimacy between us.
I had screwed things up with Paul. And I was scared of screwing things up with Reed, too. Of making the same mistakes all over again.
At last, I spoke. “I think I’m…” I swallowed the knot of emotion in my throat. “I think I need to talk to Reed about his feelings. Or maybe let him talk about it.”
