I rolled my eyes, but it was all a cover. Really, I was touched and thrilled that I had friends who looked out for me. “Fine. Fucked then drunk.”
I paused, looking at Cole. “Are you okay with this? We can chill here instead.”
He gave me a crooked grin. “Nah, I’m good now. Just needed to decompress.”
“I have your Loops,” Mac told him, referencing the earplugs Cole sometimes wore when overstimulated. “And just use the signal if you need to leave.”
“I’ll be fine.” Cole brushed a kiss over Mac’s temple. “You worry too much.”
From the crease between Mac’s brows, he wasn’t happy about Cole going out. Of all of us, Cole was the one he fussed over the most. To his credit, Cole didn’t seem to mind. All of us were close, but the two of them shared a special bond. Not a romantic one—well, not as far as I could tell.
Aside from how they hooked up, of course. But there were reasons for that too. Not healthy ones, but hey, who was I to judge? I was about to drink and fuck my feelings away.
No judging from me. Nope.
Just then, Bryce burst into the room. He was wearing apair of shorts I’d grown out of a while back. On him, they fit like snug hot pants. He’d paired them with one of my tank tops, and it was so loose that it flashed both his nipples.
“Well?” He arched a delicate eyebrow. “What the fuck are we waiting for? Reid’s told us what he needs, so let’s get on with it.”
Spinning on his heel, he strode for the door, pausing to pick up my keys from the hook.
Yeah. My friends were awesome.
Chapter 6
Evan
Never before had I disobeyed a direct order from my alpha.
But in silently tailing Reid and his friends down the street, I was doing just that.
I kept my distance, staying as far away as possible while still keeping them in my line of sight. As humans, they should have had no idea what was stalking them through the night.
But Reid wasn’t your average human. He’d been raised by shifters. He had a unique perspective that others wouldn’t. He knew how we operated. How we behaved. So no, he shouldn’t have known I was following him.
That didn’t mean he wouldn’t work it out though.
I wasn’t taking extra precautions because I was afraid of word getting back to Finn. I knew what I was doing by disobeying him, and I’d accept whatever punishment he might decide to deliver as a result.
No, it was Reid I was afraid of. Seeing me earlier had obviously upset him. After everything else I suspected he’d gone through because of me, it didn’t seem right toadd to it. The last thing I wanted was to bring him anymore pain.
That was preciselywhyI was stalking him though. The likelihood of Reid being in danger on your average night out was slim, but never zero, especially given his connection to our community. All it’d take was one fucked-up supe with an agenda, and Reid’s safety would be at risk.
And that was just the supes. Reid might be grown now, but he was smaller than the average human male.
The perfect size for you, you mean.
I ignored that errant thought. It didn’t matter if Reid was basically everything I looked for in a man. That I’d been struck dumb by his entrance, and not because I recognised him. I hadn’t recognised him, which I should’ve. That should’ve been the reason for my brain’s inability to function when he’d entered, but it wasn’t.
It’d been because he was the most beautiful male I’d ever seen.
It didn’t matter once I’d learned the truth. Reid had been put firmly in a box labelled ‘do not even think about’ and that was where he was going to stay.
All of the things I’d been admiring about him were now signs of how I should worry. The delicate cheekbones that were easily breakable. His elegant legs that could be outpaced by someone faster. His slender shoulders that would struggle to fight someone off.
His size was a signal of his vulnerability. Of how easily a bigger human might overpower him.
Another way he might be hurt.
