Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
But as it turned out, I was wrong.
15
WOLFE
Losing my journal had been stressful enough without then having to sit around the fire with both Trace and Jake wafting out pheromones like asshole wolves from competing packs.
Thankfully, Trace had the decency to step away and give me space. But Jake had turned up his attention dial to a thousand.
The entire experience had been exhausting to the point that I was glad to see the back of both of them.
It had taken Imani’s perceptive intervention to get me out of an unwanted goodnight kiss from Jake. She’d suddenly needed me for something urgent in the skoolie and had managed to thank Jake profusely for allowing her to steal me “for the rest of the night.”
Once she’d given me the all clear that his truck was gone, I’d slunk back to my van and prepared for bed. Then I’d lain there alone, staring up through the skylight at the twinkling stars above for what felt like hours… before finally giving up and sneaking out of the van as silently as possible.
When I got to the orange tent, I tried telegraphing my presence so I didn’t scare Trace. The loud crunch of my footsteps sounded like gunshots in the sleepy campground until the sharp zzt of his zipper joined it.
“Wolfe?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest, finally noticing the bite in the air. “Yeah, uh. Hi.”
He crawled out of the tent and stood, his hair already sticking up on one side from lying down, though he didn’t appear to have been sleeping. “You okay?”
I shifted from foot to foot, trying to decide whether to laugh and say never mind and make my way back to the van. “Um.” I twisted my lips together tightly before just saying it. “Would you maybe want to…” I thumbed over my shoulder like an idiot.
Trace’s body relaxed a little, and I could tell he was trying to hide a smile. “Go for a walk?” he teased. “Check out the stars?”
I inhaled shakily before rubbing my hands over my face. Okay, maybe I deserved that. “Yeah. We can check out the stars. But I’m a little cold, so maybe we can do it through the skylight over my bed?”
He yanked off his SERA fleece and dropped it over my head. “Put this on. Let me grab my shoes.”
His scent clung to the warm fabric and wafted around me as I stuffed my arms in the sleeves. I huffed the fabric like the sweet-smelling laughing gas at the dentist.
“You’ll be cold,” I said belatedly.
“Then I’ll have to find someone to warm me up,” he said with a wink before closing the tent.
His palm was warm and dry and seemed to engulf my hand as he threaded our fingers together and tugged me after him toward my van.
For some reason, just being near him made me feel like I could breathe better. Like maybe the missing journal wasn’t the end of my life.
“You don’t seem surprised,” I pointed out. “Were you expecting me?”
“Definitely not. But I’ve spent the past two hours wishing it into existence. To be honest, I’m a little proud of the power of my own mind.”
Trace was so relaxed, so easy, I couldn’t help but smile despite my anxiety.
He’d always been this way.
One time when I was in middle school, I’d overheard my parents talking about Trace’s past. About homophobic parents who’d kicked him out before he’d even graduated high school. About how he’d been couch surfing when Dad had met him. He hadn’t had an easy life, and after coming to San Francisco, he’d worked hard to prove himself at every job he’d had.
Somehow, through all that, he’d gained an easy confidence that drew me to him like catnip. I wasn’t sure the man had ever experienced a moment of indecision. When he came to a fork in the road, he picked a direction and strode ahead.
Meanwhile, I felt like I plopped myself down at the fork and made camp until I’d thoroughly overthought the decision.
That’s why I was grateful Trace didn’t allow me time to get weird when we stepped into the van. He simply shucked off his sweatpants, peeled off his T-shirt, and climbed into my bed in his boxer briefs.
I stared at his body shifting in the ambient glow from the tiny night-light that illuminated the floor by the sliding door.
“If you changed your mind, let me know. I don’t have to stay,” he said.
I blinked at him, suddenly aware of how long I’d been staring. “I didn’t. Change my mind.”
“Baby.” The look on Trace’s face was understanding, amused, and incredibly sexy. “We don’t have to do anything if it feels weird. Just get in here and let me warm you up.”
Maybe it should have been weird.
Should have been awkward, at the very least, to see my father’s best friend settling himself in my bed.