I’d meant to hand it off and bolt. In and out. No big deal.
The warm scent of cinnamon and citrus hit me the moment I crossed the threshold. The wolves always used orange zest in something. It clung to the walls like sugar smoke.
The front bell jingled as I walked in, but nobody looked up at first. Then I heard James.
His laugh hit me like it always did. Bright and careless and just this side of wicked. I paused, involuntarily, like a deer in headlights.
He was somewhere near the espresso machine, joking with that sharp-tongued wolf Rowan while a customer waited nearby.
“Careful,” James was saying, flashing a smile that made two of the college girls at the table giggle. “If you praise me too much, I’ll get cocky and start demanding a crown.”
“You already act like royalty,” Rowan muttered, rolling his eyes.
The customer leaned on the counter and flirted back, giggling something about crowns and kings. And James? He winked.
I stood frozen, the box suddenly heavy in my hands.
That smile. That wink. The way James’s body angled just a little toward the customer, open, easy, smooth. Too smooth. My jaw clenched.
I shouldn’t care. He flirted with everyone. That was his thing. But I did care. And I hated that I did. The way my irritated and restless bear inside stirred.
My instincts flared with something sharp and territorial, something that whispered: mine.
Which was ridiculous. James wasn’t mine. He’d never be mine. Guys like him didn’t go for guys like me. And even if they did, I wasn’t doing this again.
Kellen could charm the fangs off a vampire and lie straight to your face while doing it. I’d spent five years tangled up in his games.
I was gaslit, cheated on, made to feel like I was the one being unreasonable for asking for honesty. And that smug, teasing tone James just used? It sounded way too familiar. Too practiced.
James caught sight of me then. His expression shifted. Not much, but I saw it. A flicker of surprise, quickly masked.
His hand shot up in a wave, and he jogged over, apron strings bouncing against his hip.
“Hey, Grumpy Bear.” His eyes sparkled as he stopped in front of me. “What brings you to our lair?”
I stared at him for a second too long before holding out the box.
“This got delivered to us by mistake,” I said. My voice was flat, even to my own ears. “Thought you’d want it.”
James blinked at the package like he’d forgotten what boxes were. Then he took it, his fingers brushing mine.
“Thanks,” he said, the usual humor a little dimmer now. “You could’ve just left it with the courier.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Guess I was in the area.”
It was a lie. I’d driven six blocks out of my way to drop this off. And now I wished I hadn’t.
Behind James, Rowan was watching. Cyrus, too. I didn’t like being watched. Didn’t like how they both seemed amused. Like they’d walked in on a scene they were very familiar with.
I stepped back. “Anyway. Gotta run. Stuff to do,” I said.
“Right,” James said, though he didn’t move. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes now. “See you around, Rafael.”
I nodded, turned, and walked out without looking back. But every step to the truck felt heavier than the last. Because the truth was, I did want to see James. I always did. Even when it pissed me off.
Even when it scraped at the scabbed-over parts of me that hadn’t fully healed.
I wanted to believe he was different from Kellen. That behind the flirty exterior and the smooth grin was someone who wouldn’t twist me up and leave me feeling like I was the broken one.
