“Thank you for coming anyway.”
Elliot disappeared back inside, and I waited until Jake and I were back in the car to look at my phone. The message from Elliot stared back at me from my phone screen and I almost didn’t want to open it.
Jake made no attempt to start the engine, turning in his seat to look at me. “You going to open it any time soon?” He sounded about as reluctant as I felt.
Did I really want to see something that would give me serious fucking doubts about my alpha?
I sighed, closing my eyes for just a second.
Jake’s hand closed around mine, the warmth of his touch enough to settle the anxiety threatening to take hold. I clicked on the text and held my phone between us so we could both read.
Elliot:Thanks for coming tonight. Despite what Xen said, Iknowit was more than idle curiosity. There’s something going on with him, but he won’t tell me what it is. I don’t know if it’s cause for concern yet, so please keep tonight between us. For now.
“Well, fuck.” I scrubbed a hand over my eyes, wishing tonight had never happened. I had enough going on worrying about Axel. I didn’t need anything else to worry about.
Jake still had hold of my hand. Not that it was unusual for us to touch all the time, but the awareness I felt when his palm brushed against mine… That was new.
As was the way my stomach fluttered when our eyes met, the blue-grey of Jake’s like a stormy sky in the waning light. “Elliot will keep an eye on things,” he whispered, knowing what I needed to hear. “You have enough on your plate. You don’t need to take on this too.”
He was right.
I needed all my focus right now to be on keeping Axel safe.
I shoved my phone in my pocket. “Yeah, okay.” I huffed out a laugh. “Besides, Xen might cross the line sometimes, but I can’t believe he’d be stupid enough to try and bring any of those laws back.” I had to believe it because what was the alternative?
“Of course not.” Jake sounded marginally more convinced than I did, and I clung to that.
“Let’s go home, then.” The pack house was, for once, the last place I wanted to be.
It was only when Jake let go to grip the steering wheel that I realised he’d never once let go of my hand. My fingers felt cold without the heat of his palm, and I clenched them tight to stop myself from reaching for him.
Fuck’s sake, I needed to get this under control.
He drove out onto the main road, but then a couple of minutes later turned left into Rufford Park itself. “You said you wanted to go for a run after,” he said by way of explanation.
“I did. But we could’ve done that from the pack house.” Since our pack claimed the golf course as our own, the back of it now joined up with Rufford Park. The old fairways reclaimed by nature and blending seamlessly into the forest.
Jake turned off the engine and looked at me. “Did you want to stay there? Because I sure as fuck didn’t.”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.” He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “Now get your clothes off.”
I knew he meant so we could shift, but the rough edge to his voice caught my attention, his words taking on a whole different meaning.All that olive skin on display for me. My body reacted before I could lock everything down, my wolf already so close to the surface, and I was powerless to stop the surge of desire that swept through me.
Fuck.
I caught the telltale scent of arousal and scrambled to get out of the car, but Jake grabbed my arm as I opened the door, his iron-grip holding me in place. “Max?” Uncertainty replaced the roughness of before, and my stomach sank.
This was exactly what I’d wanted to avoid. At least until these stupid feelings went away. Jake was my best friend, had been for years. If something was going to happen between us, it would’ve happened before now. Wouldn’t it?
Living together had confused things, that was all.
I closed my eyes, trying to find the courage to admit what we could both sense.
“Fuck, sorry,” he muttered, grip tightening, like I might flee the car any second.
And wait, what?
