What went unsaid, Justin noted, was that Scott no doubt did at least some of that walking in his other form.
“I have my role-playing game group, and we meet one night a week, and sometimes more over the holidays or if we have an intense campaign that didn’t get finished.” Scott blushed. “I know that sounds desperately nerdy.”
“Nerdy is my language,” Justin assured him. “I play plenty of online games, and some of those have remote teams that havebeen together for a long time. I’ve got a group of friends that get together regularly to game, and I’m also a volunteer firefighter.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Scott replied. “And dangerous.”
Justin nodded. “That’s where having some psychic warning comes in handy, except once when I didn’t pay attention fast enough and got hurt. It helps that a lot of my friends are also volunteers.”
“Good volunteers make a strong community.” Scott sounded impressed.
“Having good internet really opened up the Adirondacks during the winter, so we have more options,” Justin added. “I love curling up with a good book, but the social piece is nice too.”
“It’s great that we like a lot of the same things,” Scott said. “That bodes well if we ever get snowed in together.”
He said it off-handedly, and Justin warned himself not to read too much into the statement, but his heart thumped just the same.I can imagine how we could stay warm.“I don’t think we’d have any problem at all,” Justin agreed.
With all the common interests, conversation flowed naturally. Justin and Scott both flirted lightheartedly, and Justin took that as a good sign that Scott might be open to more.
By the time they finished their food and polished off dessert, the positive psychic vibes Justin was picking up gave him courage.
“We’ve got another flight tomorrow. How about dinner again? I bet there are some other local restaurants you haven’t tried yet.”
Scott’s smile was charmingly open. “I’d like that. This has been fun.”
When the check came, Scott reached for it. On impulse, Justin grabbed it first. “I invited you. You’re new in town. My treat.”Does that make it an official date?
To his surprise, Scott didn’t argue. “Thank you. Let me return the favor tomorrow night.”
Justin grinned. “We’ll figure it out when we get there.”
He drove Scott back to the hotel. “Thanks for a great evening.”
“Thank you for dinner and a fun conversation. I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Scott replied with a smile that reached his eyes.
Justin met Scott’s gaze, looking for a signal, then leaned in to press his lips to Scott’s. It deepened from a peck to a lingering kiss that left both of them breathless. Justin couldn’t help wondering whether Scott had gotten as hard as he did.
“See you for the flight tomorrow,” Scott said. “Maybe we can watch a movie together after dinner.” He made the invitation sound casual, but the spark in his eyes told Justin that the privacy might let them take things further.
“Sleep well. See you tomorrow.” Justin hoped his smile carried everything that he hadn’t said out loud.I like you. I think you’re hot. We might be mates.
“Good night.” Scott closed the door and waved, then headed into the hotel. Justin sighed and pulled away, adding some ideas to his mental wish list.
We’ve still got all week. I think we made progress, and if we really are fated mates, then things will work out.
He focused on how well the night had gone as he got ready for bed, and when he jacked off thinking about making love to Scott, his fantasy ended with them curled up in bed together.Mates.
At four in the morning, Justin’s fire department alarm went off on his phone. Groggy, he checked the screen and saw a callout for a wild, possibly dangerous animal.
Muttering under his breath, he dressed quickly, downed a cup of now-cold coffee from the day before, ate a granola bar, and suited up.
He met his crew at the fire department. “Do we know what’s going on? Is it a bear? A moose?” he asked his friend Brandon, a moose shifter. Gage, a Belgian Malinois shifter, joined them, as did Emery, a police deputy and non-shifter.
“The lady called and said there was a ‘monster’ in the back yard, and she was afraid for her life,” Brandon replied. “That’s all I know.”
“Better take the rifles—just in case,” Justin said.
When they arrived at the house, still hours before dawn, a woman in a bathrobe met them at the door. “It was near the garage. But it ran off toward the old railroad tunnel at the back of the yard.” She shivered, not just from the pre-dawn cold. “Thank you for coming. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was truly…a monster.”
