Page 429 of His Hungry Wolf

“First of all, you don’t know that. Second of all… Sey?”

“He’s hot.”

“Whatever. He’s also engaged to Lou.”

Cali went quiet before saying, “I’ll hate him if you want me to.”

Did I want him to? Wasn’t Sey making Lou happy?

“Do what you want. I’ll see you back in the room,” I said getting up.

“Are you mad at me?” he said watching me with vulnerability in his eyes.

I stopped and caught myself. What I said had come out a lot harsher than I had meant it to be. Kneeling in front of him, I put my hand on his shoulder.

“Cali, you’re a great guy. Any guy or girl would be happy to be with you. You have a lot to offer someone. So maybe consider someone who isn’t already in love with someone else.”

He didn’t reply. He didn’t have to. I could tell he heard it.

I left him and hit the showers. After, I headed to the café, picked up dinner, and then headed to the library to catch up on my reading for the week. It was hard staying focused. My mind kept drifting to Lou and his visit.

What would it be like to have him there? What would my mom think of him if I introduced them? Should I introduce them?

‘I’m thinking about doing games at my place back home on Friday,’ Quin texted. ‘Lou, Nero, and Kendall will be there. Are you and Cali interested? We might do a wolf run afterward.’

I considered it. We had a football game on Friday but it was early. And I hadn’t shifted since Nero and I were attacked by the dragon. If I were ever going to shift again, the best time would probably be with my pack. But could I pretend like everything was the way it used to be with Lou?

I knew Cali would want to go. And he wouldn’t be comfortable going without me. Cali was a great guy, but he hadn’t made any real connections with anyone at university. If nothing else, I felt like I should go for him. He needed it.

“You’re coming with me to game night, on Friday. Afterward we’re doing a wolf run,” I told Cali when I returned to our room.

“Cool,” he said not showing much emotion.

I was counting on him being more excited. If he was, it would be easier to believe that I was doing it for him and not because I really wanted to see Lou. I ached to see him again. And the thought of being around him made me feel all of the things I didn’t want to feel for him.

‘We’ll be there,’ I texted Quin.

‘Yay!!!’ he replied.

I should have been thinking about my upcoming game. I should have been thinking about my speech at the town meeting. But all I could think about was seeing Lou again.

On Friday, I ran through the game like I had somewhere to be. I had seven sacks and each time I pictured Sey’s face on the quarterback. No matter how Lou felt about Sey, I wasn’t gonna like him. All I wanted was a weekend where he didn’t exist.

“Titus!” Nero said when he opened the door.

“Dude! What are you doing in town?” I said greeting him with a hug.

“I had a few days off. I decided to come down to visit Kendall and Mama. Beer?” he said showing me the bottle in his hand.

“Definitely!” I said entering.

“I heard you’re running away with the sacks record,” Nero said proudly.

I smiled scanning the house as we walked through.

“Looking for Lou?” Nero asked seeing my eyes dart around.

“No!”