Page 163 of His Hungry Wolf

Quin

“You know that if you go talk to him and his father finds out, you’re putting everyone you know at risk, right? Including me,” Lou asked.

Lou was right and that was the reason I never replied to any of Cage’s texts. I wanted to. When they appeared on my phone it would tear me apart. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to take care of him and relax in his arms. But I couldn’t.

Cage’s father was something ungodly. Even my wolf feared him. When I had finally shifted back, I was naked miles away from school. Walking back to civilization took more than a day. Once there I told the first person I met that I had been robbed and borrowed their phone.

Lou, bringing clothes, got a rideshare and picked me up. I didn’t tell him about what I saw in Cage’s father’s eyes because I was still figuring it out. He was already dealing with enough having seen me shift for the first time. He didn’t need to know that the thing that had threatened his life was evil incarnate.

“He said his father was gone,” I reminded Lou.

“But, what does that mean? Gone for the weekend? Gone for a vacation? Will he be back in a week or a month?”

“If you don’t want me to talk to him, I won’t. I’m not going to put you in danger. Tell me not to and we’ll leave through the back door right now.”

I tried not to look desperate to get his approval but I couldn’t help it. Everything in me pleaded for him to say it was okay. I needed to talk to Cage. The pain of being away from him kept me from eating and sleeping. Lou had suggested coming to the activity center because all I had the strength to do was lie in bed and he was worried about me.

“Lamb Chop, you can’t not see him because of me. You know I can’t do that to you.”

“How about this? I could talk to him and find out if his father is really gone. If I get the sense that he could be back at any minute, or if he’s coming back at all, I’ll walk away. In that case, it wouldn’t be because of you. It will be because I can’t trust him. And, if I can’t trust him, then what would be the point of being with him?”

Lou smiled. “Well, there’s a little more to being with someone than that. But I appreciate what you’re saying.”

He closed his eyes and sighed with resignation.

“I trust you, Lamb Chop. Go talk to him. I know you wouldn’t put me or anyone you cared about in danger. And, for what it’s worth, I don’t think Cage would put you in that situation either.”

“You sure, Lou. Because I don’t have to.”

Lou chuckled. “You have to. Don’t pretend that you don’t. Go. I’ll just be here climbing this wall on my own.”

Lou looked around and spotted a cute, dark-skinned guy putting on climbing shoes.

“Unless I can get that scrumptious bit of man meat to tie me up.”

“Isn’t the phrase, ‘Tie you in’?”

“You heard what I said. Go. I have some rope work to do.”

I watched as Lou walked over to the guy and struck up a conversation with him. That was immediately followed by Lou stretching in front of him. The guy was interested.

It amazed me how easy it was for Lou to talk to guys. He didn’t know if they would be into other guys or not. He just did what he wanted to do and somehow it always worked out. It was like he had some sort of device that could tell him which guys were open to being with guys. It was like a built-in radar or something.

As smart as I was supposed to be, I could never tell what anyone else was thinking. That’s what made parties so uncomfortable for me. If I could predict peoples’ behaviors, I could relax.

But, for me, people were a series of random events. They rarely did what they said they wanted to do making it hard for me to tell when they were joking. Why couldn’t they just say what they were thinking and do the things they say they want to do?

As smart as I was supposed to be, I could never tell what anyone else was thinking. That was one of the reasons I liked being around Cage. Yeah, he was the hottest guy ever. But, more than that, he was easy. He did what he said he was going to do.

Cage shared things about himself that told me who he was. He was exactly the man he presented himself as. He was the type of guy I could shut off my brain and relax with. I always felt safe when I was around him. So, why would I question whether he would keep me safe now?

Realizing that there wasn’t a reason, I turned to the hallway to the front desk and headed back to Cage. As he came into view, our eyes met. He made me melt. The tingles were back.

“You came,” Cage said telling me how much he wanted me here.

“Before you say anything, I need to know for certain. Will your father be coming back.”

Cage opened his mouth to speak and then lowered his head instead.