Me and Emme.
Here I go yet again.
A car drives by, the opened windows giving me a hint of what’s inside. Instead of taking more of Emme in, I focus on those scents. The driver didn’t bother with a shower when he left his house. He skipped out for the donuts. A dozen fresh and glazed sit in a flimsy cardboard box beside him, a bag of bagels, closer to the dirty carpeted floor. They intermix with an old aroma of spilled beer.
Another truck follows shortly after that, the cabin reeking of rust, gasoline, and lawn clippings. Those two vehicles make the only sound with the exceptions of a few birds that have begun to chirp and Emme’s bare feet lightly slapping against the concrete.
Emme healed enough of her injuries and is trying to match my stride, to walk along with me, to be with me. I forge ahead, trying to leave her behind. Without me, she’s safe. She won’t get hurt, and I won’t make her cry.
“Is everything okay?” she asks.
Nope. Not even a little bit.
Emme is decent. She doesn’t belong with a wolf like me. She doesn’t need the tears I would cause. Nah. Emme deserves better than that.
She gasps, struggling to keep up with me. “Bren,” she says. “Why are you running?”
I’m trying to tire you out, dammit, so you can just crash in Danny’s bed and not, definitely not in mine. “Just stretching my legs, Emme,” I say like a douche. “Come on, it’s good for you.”
“D-don’t you think we had enough exercise for the night?” she stammers.
She sounds winded. Nice. If she had Celia’s endurance, I’d be screwed. That tigress can go for miles without breaking a sweat.
Emme catches up to me and circles my waist when we reach the intersection. Stupid Do Not Cross signal. I could have made it and further worn her out.
As the sign changes, she adjusts the blanket and grabs my hand. I frown. What the hell does she use on her skin? She feels like silk. Did she have to go and feel this good?
Emme is breathing hard. I slow enough to let her catch her breath. Her labored respirations combined with the warmth her close contact brings only makes me think of her lying naked beside me.
My mind wanders to yet another place I shouldn’t go. Where could I touch her to make her breathe like that for me, and how will the rest of her silky skin feel rubbing against mine—
Aw, man. I’m ready to kick my own ass.
We’re standing in front of my apartment building when I realize I don’t have my stupid key.
For all that running I made her do, Emme doesn’t seem any warmer. She shudders, bouncing in place, the concrete at her feet doing nothing to keep her warm. I can’t let her keep suffering like this. It’s time to wolf and man up.
“Fine,” I grumble, giving in. Emme is coming into my apartment. She’s going to shower and get warm. She’s going to have some food, take a nap, and then I’m taking her home. That’s it. No fooling around.
“Fine?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say, resolution steeling my voice. “Hang on.”
She squeals when I toss her over my shoulder. I rush through the alley and leap onto the fire escape.
I usually leave my windows unlocked and sometimes opened. Anyone would have to be naive or suicidal to break into a werewolf’s apartment.
We reach the third floor in no time flat. I place her down and throw open the window to my living room. The motion drops the towel wrapped around my waist.
Emme’s focus drifts down. It’s brief, her head snapping up the moment she realizes I notice. Her large, beautiful eyes and her guilty expression give away the attention she gave Little Bren, and the longer I eye her, the more embarrassed she appears. Her lips remain blue and her messy hair is mashed against her face and scalp. God help me, there isn’t anyone prettier out there.
The clouds return full force, battling it out with the overcast sky, and beating back what little sun had blurred out the gray. Rain as cold as the first frost pelts us in large drops, wetting down the patches of dry skin our bodies managed on the walk here.
It’s raining a-fuckin-gain. We’re getting soaked and colder.
And none of it stands a chance against this unfamiliar heat between me and Emme.
What the hell is happening? Emme has been my pal for years. Where was the shift? Was it in Malaysia when that fool chased her down? Or when that witch tried to gut me?
The clouds bust open and rain pours. Neither of us move. I have to get us inside. I know this. But it’s like I can’t and don’t want to move. This moment, right here on the cold metal fire escape, can’t end. It’s perfect. Right and wrong at once. Sweet and sinful at the same time. Pretty in all the ugly.
Finally, I move. Finally, I speak. Logic somewhat winning out.
“Shrinkage,” I say.
“Huh?”
It’s what she says, except when she looks past my waist, she knows. “It shrinks when it’s cold,” I add.
Like my ass is on fire, I hop up on the sill and crawl through the window.
Chapter Seventeen
Emme
Bren holds out his arms and lifts me through the window. He sets me down like I would an art piece made entirely of glass. Without another word, he shuts the window to the living room and crosses the room into his bedroom. Instead of following him, I stand where he left me and try not to drool.
“Fine ass.”
That’s what Taran would say.
“Bren has a fine ass.”
I’ve seen Bren naked plenty of times. When you have weres for friends,
