Page 27 of Tiger Betrayal

“I’m going to open your doors and I’m going to pay for your food. I hated not giving you food the last few days. I hate that Craig gives you candy bars. You can call us whatever you want, but I’m going to hold the doors.”

There wasn’t a lot of room for arguing with him, so she accepted his hand and climbed up into his truck. A strange relief overtook her as she buckled into the familiar seat. She’d missed the smell of his air freshener, and the way he always had rock music playing low so they could talk over the volume. She’d missed this truck, and she couldn’t explain it. Maybe she’d just really missed the seat beside Stellan.

When he settled behind the wheel, she thought they would leave right away, but he didn’t turn the truck on. He stared ahead with a slight frown etched into his handsome features. “I don’t have all the good words,” he said. “I wish I did, but I don’t.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper and handed it to her.

A letter? Carefully, she unfolded it, and gasped. It was a sketch of her in the library, sketching in her mother’s journal. At the bottom, it said simply, I’m sorry.

The sketch was really good and had to have taken a lot of time with all the shading.

“You followed me there?” she asked.

“Yes. I wanted to fix it, but I’m shit at fixing anything. And you were crying, and I didn’t know what to say.”

She actually loved his honesty. He was so much easier to understand when he just told her where his chaotic head was at.

“I didn’t like what you said about me,” she said low.

“I know. I could see it on your face. You didn’t want to eat. I still have the stupid sandwich in my fridge. I can’t throw it away. I’ve tried. It’s yours. Look, I know I’m fucked up. I know. For a long time I was okay just being fucked up, but you make things different.” He inhaled deeply and eased his head back against the headrest. “I don’t like the way I feel without you around. I feel like my worst self and I hate it.”

“I don’t like it either,” she murmured, staring at the drawing. No man had ever apologized like this to her.

“And I don’t like when you cry over something I did to you. And I don’t like the way your eyes were puffy when you came out of the bathroom on Monday, and I don’t like the way you avoid me, and I don’t like that you said you are busy indefinitely, which, by the way, I had to look up the word ‘indefinitely’ because what the fuck does that even mean? But it might mean forever, and being so close to you at work without being allowed to talk to you or touch you has tortured me. It has tortured me, Laramie. And I deserve it, I know I do. I’m sorry. What I said was messed up, but it wasn’t true. I wanted it to be true. I did. It’s best for you if we are just fucking. It’s best for you if me and you are just that video and nothing more. Clearly. If I’m not inside you, I’m pissing you off. It’s what I do. I piss people off and I don’t realize how much of an asshole I am until afterward when I have time to think about it, and I hated the last few days. I want to do better. I’m so fucking sorry I said all of that. And I did it in front of people. You didn’t deserve it. You let me touch your body, and then I hurt your heart, and it was fucked up. I saw it on your face. I hurt you, and it was so fucked up.” He sounded sick by the end of his rambling.

“For someone who claims to not be good at words, that was a really good apology.”

He jerked his attention over to her, his pupils constricting, making his eyes look even brighter with all that churning gold. “So, we’re okay?”

She looked down at the drawing, then back up to him. Slowly, she unfastened her seatbelt and leaned over the console, then kissed him on the cheek, and nodded as she sank back into her seat. “We’re okay.”

He blew out a long, steadying breath, and a slight smile consumed his lips. He lifted up the console, exposing the middle seat, and pulled out the seatbelt for her as she scooted right up next to him.

He buckled her in and turned on his truck, then put it into gear and pulled out of the parking spot. And by the time he turned onto the main road, he’d slid his hand over her legs and was gripping her outer thigh, holding her legs pressed against his.

With a sigh of relief, Laramie hugged his muscular arm and rubbed her thumb gently onto his taut skin as he drove them to a little restaurant called Bunker Barbecue. It was connected to a gas station, but they had a smoker going outside and it smelled like delicious brisket.

Stellan backed his truck into a parking space next to his brother’s like he’d done it a thousand times, and then threw it into park. Before he even cut the engine, he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. His hand went to the side of her neck as he kissed her, and God, this was everything. She’d missed him. She couldn’t explain it, because he was supposed to be this new entity in her life, right? But she felt like he’d made such a huge, crater-sized impression in her life already.

“I missed the taste of you,” he murmured, trailing his kiss to her neck, and back to her lips. He didn’t push for more though. Instead, Stellan rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “You forgive me?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can have whatever you want.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean you can have whatever you want.”

“Can I ask a question then?” she asked.

His eyes cooled as if he knew where this was headed. “Sure.”

“What are you?”

Stellan cocked his head. “What do you think I am?”

“A werewolf.”

His eyebrows shot up with his surprise. “What do you know about werewolves?”