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Hunter shrugged. “You’re allowed. But for what it’s worth, the last three times we worked on the ladder you did make it to the top.”

“But I failed the three before that.”

“We’re focusing on the wins, okay? You’ll be fine. Remember, I have a one hundred percent success rate.” And the smile he gave me was so warm and reassuring that I almost believed him.

Almost.

But I couldn’t help asking, “What if I can’t do it?”

Hunter looked at me, his expression unreadable for a second, and then he stood, took two steps across the kitchen, and dropped to his knees. Without a word, he reached out and popped open the button on my jeans, pulling down the zipper with his other hand and fishing my dick out of my underwear. A weekend of reward blow jobs had conditioned me to get hard as soon as his knees hit the floor, and when he took me in his mouth and sucked, my back arched so hard I almost launched out of my kitchen chair.

Hunter’s eyes were bright as he ran his tongue up my shaft, then teased the tip with his tongue before swallowing me down. He could deep throat like a champion, and he did it now. His head bobbed in a steady rhythm, one that never failed to make me fall apart, and it didn’t take long before the combination of his hot mouth on my dick and his hand teasing and tugging at my balls had heat racing through me like a wildfire in summer. I gripped his hair and tugged in warning. “Hunter!”

He held my gaze and sucked harder, and my vision went white. I bucked up into his mouth and came down his throat, my body shaking with the intensity of it. Hunter swallowed everything down and worked me through my orgasm, and by the time he finally let my softening cock slip from his mouth, I was a boneless heap.

I slumped back against the chair, my chest heaving, and Hunter grinned up at me, looking like the cat that got the cream, which. Well. “Nerves gone?”

I let out a breathless laugh. “What was that for?”

He kissed the head of my damp cock and tucked it back inside my underwear. “It’s my way of saying congratulations.”

“Not that I’m objecting, but what are you congratulating me for exactly?”

He gave me a smile that was pure sunshine. “Because I know you’ll do great today.”

And maybe it was because I’d just shot all my nervous energy out of my dick and down his throat, but this time, I believed him completely.

I could do this.

After all, I’d already done the impossible this week and convinced Hunter to date me. Compared to that, climbing a ladder would be a piece of cake.

“Best boyfriend ever,” I said and leaned forward and drew him into a soft, slow kiss that chased away the last traces of my anxiety.

I grabbed my keys and pulled on my jacket, and Hunter said, “Want me to come with you?”

“Fuck, yes,” I said. Having Hunter there would help fool my legs into thinking we were still training, and they were much more likely to behave if there was the promise of another blow job. What could I say? Sex with my hot new boyfriend was turning out to be a hell of a motivator.

We drove to the job site on the other side of Hyde, an old cottage that was having the shingles replaced before winter arrived. I parked my truck and got out, and my boss waved me over. “Good to have you back,” he said. “Can you do the job?”

“Of course,” I said. Fake it till you make it, right?

“Good,” Harvey said and nodded toward the side of the house where a ladder was already leaning in place. “Prove it.”

Okay then.

I nodded and walked over to the ladder and set one foot on the bottom rung—and promptly forgot how to climb the fucking thing. I took a deep breath in an attempt to shove down the panic that was trying to make an appearance and gripped the sides so hard my knuckles went white.

I felt a hand on the small of my back then, firm and reassuring. Hunter’s voice was low as he murmured, “You’ve got this.”

His presence was a soothing balm, and my panic retreated enough that I could think. I closed my eyes for a second, reminding myself that I had feet, not paws, that I’d been able to do this yesterday, and that I had the same number of body parts today.

I could hear Hunter’s voice in my brain telling me to focus and think about my goal, and when I opened my eyes again, it was like something went click in my brain, and I could finally see the picture in the magic eye puzzle—and I knew exactly what I needed to do to make my body cooperate. And maybe it was unconventional, but hey. I was a dude who transformed into a giant wolf. I was allowed to have quirks.

I stepped back from the ladder and said to Harvey, “Okay, this is gonna look dumb, but trust me.”

I walked along the side of the house until I was far enough away that I could see all the way to the top of the ladder, jogged in a small circle three times in preparation like I was winding myself up, and then launched myself forward.

I hit the bottom step at a run. I got halfway up the ladder before my brain had a chance to talk with my legs and confuse them, and by then I had enough forward momentum to carry me to the top.