“So, how’s life in the rest of the world?” Cat asked.
“I wouldn’t know. Breckenridge is pretty similar to the Falls. Tourism is a mainstay, and in the winter, the slopes are busier than the streets of New York.”
“Then why settle there? I mean, if it’s no different from the Falls, then why not just come home?” She ducked her head. “Sorry, that was a rude question,” she added.
“It’s fair.” I hesitated. “The difference is the peace I get there.”
She bit her lip, unwilling to pry further.
My wolf was restless, pushing me to tell her the full story.
I changed the subject. “Speaking of peace, what’s the story with you and Travis Burns?”
“You know him?” she asked, surprised.
“He’s a wolf.” I shrugged. “I make it my business to know my own kind.”
I didn’t bother to tell her I’d looked him up and asked around about him after our run-in yesterday morning.
She sighed and reached for her wine glass. “We went out a few times. He wanted to get serious, and I didn’t. When he pushed, I broke it off, and . . .”
Her face paled.
“And what?” The look on her face had me instantly on edge.
“He lost his temper,” she said then took a big sip of wine. I waited, sensing she needed time to tell it. “He threw things,” she said finally. “Yelled. Nearly shifted.”
Something about her careful tone had my wolf already snarling.
“What do you mean ‘nearly’?” I pressed.
She met my eyes then looked away again. The wine glass in her hand wobbled, and I gritted my teeth, waiting for her answer.
“His legs remained human but his arms . . . his hands… He threw a vase at me and nicked my ear with a claw.”
She lifted her hair back to reveal a still-healing scrape on her earlobe.
My wolf rose so quickly I almost came out of my seat. Bloodlust pumped through my veins.
“East.”
Cat’s voice sounded faint and hollow against the rushing in my ears.
I gripped the chair until the wooden armrest crumbled in my hands.
Cat slipped out of her seat and rounded the table, crouching beside me. Her blue eyes held mine with no trace of fear. “Breathe, East. Just long, deep breaths. You’re fine.”
Her voice was soothing. Calm.
Shit.
My heart rate finally slowed. Only now, I was mad at myself. A quick glance told me we’d gained the attention of at least half the restaurant.
“You okay?” Cat asked.
I grabbed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Cat. That was unacceptable.”
“It was understandable.”
“You just got done telling me your ex lost control of his wolf side and flipped out. And then I almost did the same damn thing. In public, no less.”
She shook her head. “You would never hurt me.”
She was right, but it touched me how sure she sounded.
“Not physically, anyway,” she added, and the implication was a blow I should have seen coming.
“Cat.”
She pulled her hand free and stood, returning to her seat and reaching again for the wine. Her gaze flitted down and around but avoided me.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “Also, Travis is an asshole.”
That got her attention. She looked up at me, her lips curving wryly. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“I left because my dad’s a drunk.”
The words were out before I’d realized they were coming.
Cat lowered her glass, her eyes wide as she studied me.
“When he drinks, which is always, he swings between ignorantly happy and vehemently angry—sometimes to the point of violence,” I explained.
“I had a feeling it was his drinking that— Wait. Violence,” she repeated, stricken. “Toward you?”
I shrugged. “When I got old enough, I made sure to draw him away from my mom.”
Her expression filled with sorrow. “East, why didn’t you tell me?”
It wasn’t as pathetic as I’d expected—the sympathy. But it had done its job. Something had irrevocably changed between us. I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“Mostly because of the way you’re looking at me now,” I admitted.
“How am I looking at you?”
“Like you feel sorry for me.” I grimaced, hating the weight of it as it settled around us. Like a third wheel.
This was why I’d never told anyone before.
I’d been stupid to start now.
“Funny. That’s not what I’m thinking.” Her voice was steady now. Solid.
“What are you thinking?” I was almost scared to ask, but I couldn’t help it. I had to know.
“That you’re stronger than anyone knows. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to carry that all this time. You’re a hero, East.”
I snorted. “I ran, Cat. Left town without explanation. Without my mother. I’d hardly call that heroism.”
“Did you ask her to go with you?”
“Of course.” Fury flamed brightly before I breathed through it and calmed again.
“God, East.”
“What?” I snapped, still trying to get my emotions under control.
Her smile turned crooked. “You were already hot. I didn’t need the extra layer of you getting all sensitive and emotional on me.”
I grinned, the anger melting off as I focused entirely on her and the sparkle in those doe eyes of hers.
“You think I’m hot?”
She rolled her eyes. “East, everything with a pulse thinks you’re hot.”
My grin widened. I signaled for the waiter and the check.
“Good. Because I’m walking you home, and I’m coming inside. We’ve got some lost time to make up for.”
10
Cat
East was in full seduction mode. I could see it in his eyes. Sense it in the way he kept letting his hand brush my skin as we moved through the restaurant and out the door into the cool night. My heart pounded harder the closer we got to my apartment. I wanted this. But I also couldn’t afford it. Not now.
I hadn’t lied back there.
His vulnerability and trust in me when he’d told me about his dad had only made my feelings for him worse. But if we slept together now, there’d be no preventing my heart from breaking all over again when he left. And after the bomb he’d dropped at dinner, I had no doubt he would leave. Even though I was still pissed about
