“Okay, come to the front door, please.”
I press the button to open the gate. Then I walk to the front door and push my bags out of the way so I can open it.
When the deliveryman knocks, I open the door, smiling politely.
But my smile fades as my mouth parts in shock, and my eyes widen.
It’s not the deliveryman from the security monitor holding a box of groceries with two others at his feet.
No, it’s my former best friend.
Hayes Cartwright.
Chapter 27
Leeva
AllIcandois stare.
Hayes is here.
Standing on my front step.
Holding the groceries I had ordered.
Frantically, my eyes dart behind him, trying to see the delivery guy who had been on my security monitor. I see his car driving away down the road.
“Are you going to invite your best friend in?”
Hayes’ deep voice snaps my attention to him. God, I’ve missed his voice. I’ve missed him, period.
“Formerbest friend,” I say through my shock.
Hurt lances his expression, and it nearly crumples me right then and there. I know that was a bitch comment, and I know what happened wasn’t officially his fault, but…
This forgiveness stuff is hard.
“How did you know I was here?”
He looks down at the box of groceries in his arms. “This is heavy. Let me in so I can put it down, and we can talk, little dove.”
Tears threaten to fill my eyes as his nickname for me reminds me of all the good we had together as friends. But it also reminds me that I’m the pure and innocent dove that he put on a pedestal long ago. I’m not that girl—not anymore, or at least, not completely.
Forcing back my emotions, I move to the side. He steps over the threshold, and for some reason, I feel like I’ve just let a wild animal into my safe space. He kicks off his boots and carries the box to the kitchen, placing it on the island.
I watch him as he comes back for the next box. He’s smooth, graceful, and lethal, like a wild cat.
No, like awolf.
Shock rips through me with that thought.
There’s that undeniable pull I feel to him, but that’s always been there. It’s only magnified now because of years apart, and because I’m no longer a young, naïve girl, I reason.
It’snotthe same pull I felt toward the masked man—my wolf—at Hedon.
Right?
I frantically look for the tattoos I had seen briefly on my wolf’s neck, but Hayes’ collar covers it, so I study his build instead. He’s broader and more muscular than when he was a young man. But does he have the same build as the man in the wolf mask from Hedon?
