Page 331 of His Hungry Wolf

My phone dinged stopping him mid-sentence. We both looked at each other.

“Is that him?” Cory asked.

I checked.

“Yeah.”

Cory sat next to me on my bed and looked at my screen as I read it.

“He says he’s flying out for an away game tomorrow morning.”

“Did you know he had an away game this weekend?”

“No.”

“Ask him if he wants to get together tonight,” Cory suggested.

I looked at Cory to figure out what was going on. “You are awfully invested in this.”

“What? I just want to see you happy. Text it.”

I did what he said and quickly got a reply.

“Can’t. Getting up early,” I read. “What do I text now?” I asked with a hint of snark.

Cory leaned back deep in thought. He really was invested in this more than I was. I wasn’t sure what it was, but something was going on with Cory.

“Maybe you wish him luck on the game and ask if you could get together when he gets back?”

I shrugged and typed it figuring it was as good of a reply as any.

“Sent.”

‘Ok,’ was what followed.

Cory returned to his bed looking more nervous than I was. It felt like he was living vicariously through me. What was up with that?

I certainly appreciated not going through this alone. But, he was a happily married man, or something close to it. Why would he want to vicariously live my gay relationship?

I set that mystery aside and returned my thoughts to Nero. He had replied to my texts very quickly. It didn’t seem like he was playing games. Then, why hadn’t I heard from him? Had he just been waiting for me to reach out?

Knowing that I needed a fix of Nero one way or another, I sent a text to Quin.

‘Are you around this weekend?’

He didn’t reply as quickly as Nero, but I didn’t have to wait long to hear back from him.

‘I have to work this weekend, so I’ll be around.’

‘Dinner Saturday night?’

‘Sure.’

I would have preferred to have Nero, but Quin was a great consolation prize. I liked spending time with Quin. He was the first guy I felt I had a lot in common with.

Cory was great and had been a lifesaver over the years. But, he was popular in high school. He grew up with a loving family and has been in a relationship since birth. He was probably even human.

The biggest challenge Cory has ever had to deal with was choosing the picture for his family’s Christmas card. I was terrorized in high school by a wolf shifter and lacked a scent. There weren’t too many areas we could connect on.