She bent to pick up the remains. His t-shirt was more of a suggestion than a garment at this point. His jeans were ripped everywhere. His underwear—also gone. He was a brief guy. Who knew?
She walked closer, making sure she kept her eyes on his face.
On his face.
FACE.
Not on that chest. That wonderful chest. How would it feel to—
Face, Zoe.
She handed him the shredded clothes, temptation for a peek down roaring through her like thunder. Just one little peek—
No, Zoe. The guy just saved your life, respect his awesome nudity.
Heroically, she stepped back.
He looked at what was left in his hands—very little—and sighed. “There’s nothing I can do with this,” he murmured.
You can just step out, and we can keep strolling home, no problem.
She did not say that.
She said nothing.
“I don’t always have a change of clothes with me,” he apologized. “I’m usually by myself or with other shifters so...”
“No, no, it’s all good. Actually, it’s a very healthy body consciousness.” What in heaven was she saying?!?! Jesus.
He chuckled, warm, and that helped. A little. “I’ll have to shift back, and we’ll just hike down that way.”
“It’s totally fine, really.”
And that’s what they did.
He shifted back to his magnificent wolf, picked up his backpack in his jaws, and led the way.
It had strong twisted-Red-Riding-Hood vibes, strolling in a forest following a wolf.
The light thinned further as they walked. The trees turned into silhouettes, their tops laced against a sky that was now lavender, while crickets began their evening chorus. The forest felt different now, more intimate.
It gave her a lot of time to think. And thinking she needed to do, because she’d never wanted a man’s hands, and mouth, and whatever else he could manage, on her like this. She’d read about insta-lust, had always filed it under fiction-only phenomena. Cute and dramatic, but not real life.
But the almost visceral way she’d reacted to his presence since the moment he’d stepped into her shop was insane. It was as if something in her had recognized something in him and gone,Yes. That. That one’s yours, go ahead and hit it.Which was ridiculous, she’d literally just met him today. Hello?
And yet here she was, struggling not to throw herself at him in the middle of a forest that had just tried to kill her. Thinking that if she did, he would not send her away. He’d really looked like he was riding the same wave once or twice. The glances. The almost-smiles. The way he’d grabbed her waist.
People hooked up on less than surviving a mountain lion encounter on a hike—but that was neither here nor there because there would be no hookup. Sadly.
By the time they reached the parking lot, dusk had settled fully. The air was cool, the asphalt holding the last of the day’s warmth.
He walked with her to her car. Cute.
He sat on the ground, backpack dangling from his jaws, looking at her.
She didn’t know what to say.
So she said it all.
