Red (5 page)

Nobody else volunteered.

Crap.

“
Take the truck,” said Dr.
McGrath, tossing him the keys. “I’ll hitch a ride home with
Patrick. We need to go over some things.”

Sawyer held open the door. “After you.”

I took a firmer grip on my pack strap and
went outside. It was just a car ride, I told myself. And a pretty
short one at that. There was no reason to get all wound up. But as
soon as he shut his door and started the engine, I felt my muscles
coil up. Without any of the others as a buffer, there was nothing
to distract me from
him.

At the end of the gravel drive, he turned
toward me with a soft smile that put Rich Phillips’ grin to shame.
“Which way?”

My stomach did a shimmy and my hands
clutched my pack in a death grip. “Left.”

Seriously, this was ridiculous. There was
nothing about this guy that should impede my freaking breathing. He
was just driving. In fact, he seemed to have been going out of his
way all day to be non-threatening, always moving slowly and talking
in that soft voice like I was a skittish horse or something. And,
crap, maybe I was. I was
nervous
with him. Not awkward or
shy like whenever I was the center of attention, but straight up
jittery and ridiculously aware of him at every moment. Ever since
he’d taken my hand this morning, my body had been charged up like a
freaking Duracell. It was nerve-wracking.

“
I wanted to apologize,” he
said.

I jolted at the sound of his voice, then
cursed myself for the reaction. This wasn’t like me. Not at
all.

“
For what?” I
managed.

“
For scaring you,” he said.
“I jumped to conclusions yesterday and I reacted. I was really,
really angry—not at you—but it just happened to spill over on you
when I thought you were . . . Well you know what I thought.” He
lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “I just wanted to say that I’m
not going to hurt you, and I’m really sorry I freaked you out like
that.”

He thought I was afraid of him because of
what had happened in the clearing. Well, that was a helluva lot
less embarrassing than the reality.

“
I’m not afraid of you,
Sawyer.”
At least not the way you think.
“I was just . . .
really surprised to see you today.”

“
That makes two of us. But
I have to say that I’m really glad to see you again under less . .
. dramatic circumstances.”

He was glad to see me? Well didn’t that just
make my heart go pitter pat? What
was
this? Where was that
whole, perfectly-honed ice queen routine I’d perfected over the
last three years of high school?

Rather than responding to his comment, I
said, “Can you pull off here at Hansen’s for a bit?”

Sawyer spun the wheel and whipped into the
parking lot.

“
Just over to the side of
the building, thanks.”

“
What are we doing?” he
asked.

“
I need to pick up my
bike.”

I slipped out of the truck and made a
beeline for the dumpster. I’d stashed what was left of my bike
behind it when I set out for work. As soon as I dragged it around,
Sawyer was out of the truck.

“
What the hell happened to
it?”

“
A classmate of mine backed
over it this morning. That’s why I was late to work.”

He picked it up and hefted it into the bed
of the truck. “Were they just not paying attention? Because, damn,
you’d think they’d notice this.”

“
Oh no, she knew exactly
what she was doing.” I grimaced as the bike clattered into the
back. But really, being banged around in a truck bed wasn’t gonna
do it any further harm.

“
Someone did this on
purpose? Why?” There was a little growl in his voice that made my
belly jump again, but not with nerves. I could tell he was angry on
my behalf and, for some reason, that pleased me a great
deal.

“
She thought I was poaching
on her territory. As if I would even look cross-eyed at the likes
of Rich Phillips.” I could see Rich’s truck still parked on the far
side of the lot, so I guessed the Barbie Squad hadn’t dropped him
off from their little water skiing excursion. I shook off the
desire to growl myself and climbed back into the truck. “It’s a
long-standing war—one that’s always been one-sided. Her against
me.”

“
Every school’s got
one.”

I directed him back to my road.

“
So are you uninterested in
this Phillips guy because you’re seeing somebody else or because
he’s a douche?”

I thought of Rich boxing me in this morning,
getting me on Amber’s radar. “He’s attractive, charming, and
completely full of himself. And he can’t stand the idea that
someone won’t fall at his feet and be grateful for the attention he
pays.” I scowled, wishing I had said or done
something
this
morning instead of just standing there.

“
He hassling you?” The fury
from yesterday was back in his voice. When I glanced over, his jaw
was tight, his hands in a white-knuckled grip on the steering
wheel.

“
He’s harmless. An idiot,
but harmless.” But I had a feeling that Sawyer wasn’t harmless. I
could see so much rage simmering beneath the surface, just looking
for an outlet. I wondered where it came from.

Sawyer visibly reeled his temper back in,
then shot a half-smile in my direction. “So he is a douche.
Although that doesn’t rule out option A.”

“
Option A?”

“
That you’re seeing
somebody else.”

It took a minute for my brain to catch up to
what he was saying, and when I did, all I could do was stare at
him. I’m pretty sure my mouth was actually hanging part-way open,
but I couldn’t seem to help it. Sawyer McGrath was fishing to find
out if I was dating somebody. Which presumably meant that he hoped
I wasn’t.

“
I . . . uh . . . ” Oh
great. Now I was reduced to monosyllabic stammering. Yes, here sat
the future valedictorian of Mortimer High School. Aren’t we all so
proud?

“
It’s okay. That’s not
really any of my business,” he said. “I mean, I guess it’s weird
that I’m asking after how we met yesterday and all. Forget
it.”

“
No,” I said.

“
No, it’s not
weird?”

“
Yes. I mean, no.” Crap.
Why couldn’t I get my brain to work? “Maybe it is a little weird
after yesterday, but no I’m not. Seeing anybody.”
And
why
did you tell him that, genius? Where exactly do you expect this
to
go?
That’s right. The train is pulling out of the station
to Nowheresville, where you can’t date. So
stop
encouraging
him.

“
Good to know,” said
Sawyer, pulling into my driveway.

Anxious, I looked toward the garage, but Dad
wasn’t back from his shift yet. He would flip his lid if he saw
some guy bringing me home.

I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Thanks for the
ride,” I told him, hoping my face didn’t betray the schizo
conversation I was having with myself.

“
No problem.” Sawyer got
out of the truck and retrieved my bike from the back. “Where do you
want it?”

Seeing him holding the thing with the taco
shell front wheel and the bent frame, I frowned. “I guess I
probably should have just had you toss it in the dumpster. Even if
I got a new front wheel, I probably won’t be able to straighten
that frame out.”

Sawyer studied it. “Doesn’t look good,” he
agreed.

“
I guess just lean it
against the wall of the garage there. I’ll let Dad decide what to
do with it. Thanks.”

Relieved of the bike, he seemed not to know
what to do with his hands, so he shoved them in the back pockets of
his shorts and rocked back on his heels, looking at me.

I felt the blood rushing under my skin and
prayed to half a dozen deities that I wasn’t blushing like a fire
engine. “Um, I’d invite you in for a Coke or something, but my dad
is kind of over-protective, and I’m really not allowed to have guys
over while he’s out.” According to The Rules, I really wasn’t
allowed to have
anyone
over while he was out, but that
sounded even more lame and hard to believe. I gave an awkward shrug
and half-smile. “Only daughter, single parent, and all that.”

“
S’ok. I need to get home
myself.” He took a few steps toward the truck. “Since you’re kind
of sans transportation, why don’t you let me pick you up for work
in the morning. It wouldn’t be any trouble. We don’t live too far
from here.”

Oh, no. No. I could not have a guy coming to
my house to pick me up. Dad would freak and probably put me on
house arrest. But it’s not like I could hike six miles to work
every day.

“
Do you think you could
pick me up at Hansen’s?”

If he thought that was an odd request, he
let it pass. “Sure. Say seven-thirty?”

“
I’ll see you then.
Thanks.”

I fiddled with my keys as he climbed in the
truck, waved, and drove away.

What. The. Hell. Am. I. Doing?

I was half numb with shock as I unlocked the
door and headed for the kitchen to start something for supper. This
was stupid. I was acting like a normal girl with a normal crush on
a cute guy. It wasn’t just stupid, it was dangerous. Both to him
and to me. It wouldn’t matter if he was a hulking giant of a guy if
I wolfed out. Strength was nothing against razor sharp teeth.

I’d spent the last four years of my life
doing everything in my power to
avoid
that eventuality. And
here Sawyer comes and wrecks my “all high school boys are morons
and assholes” rule to live by in just over twenty-four hours, such
that I’d gone and accepted a ride to work and
was looking
forward to it.

I pulled some chicken out of the freezer and
tossed it in the microwave to defrost. If I didn’t get a handle on
this and put a stop to it
fast
, this chicken wasn’t going to
be the only thing that was cooked.

I replayed our conversation from the ride
home, reliving every awkward moment in a loop as I gathered
ingredients for dinner. On the third time through, I stopped, my
hand inches from the bottle of Italian dressing.

He’d just whipped into my driveway. I’d
never given the address or pointed out the house, and our name
wasn’t on the mailbox.

How had Sawyer known which house was
mine?

~*~

Sawyer

Elodie Rose is available.
I caught
myself drumming a cheerful beat on the steering wheel and grinning
like a dumbass at the thought. The expression felt so foreign that
it kinda hurt my face. There hadn’t been much to smile about since
Mom died.

And then I stopped.

“
What the hell are you
doing, McGrath?”

I’d done what I set out to do. I’d
apologized for my behavior from the day before. And then I’d
flirted
with her? Poked around to find out if she was dating
anybody?

She’d entirely missed the first subtle
query, and I could still see the shock on her face when she’d
realized what I was asking. That was the expression of someone not
used to such attentions. Which just went to prove that the guys
here were grade-A, class act fucktards if they hadn’t recognized
that she was amazing.

She was so cute when she blushed.

But what did it matter if she was dating
somebody? It’s not like
I
could date her.

Hello? Werewolf. We don’t mate outside our
own kind. I guess it’s not technically impossible. There aren’t any
genetic incompatibilities. But I never heard of anybody doing it. I
mean, it’s not like that’s a third date confession. “Oh by the way,
I can turn fanged and furry at will. That’s not a problem for you,
is it?” How many humans—given their fear of what they don’t know,
don’t understand—would actually say, “Yeah okay, I can deal with
that”?

No, they’d be calling up the men in white
coats and trying to have you put away. Or locking you in a cage to
test and poke and prod and probably dissect.

It was far smarter to stick to our own
kind.

I’d done what I meant to. She wasn’t afraid
of me. I’d apologized. Mission accomplished.

The best thing, at this point, would be to
cut this off before it started. I mean, nothing had been started,
really. It’s just that we had amazing, off-the-charts chemistry,
and she had the power to soothe the savage beast.

Well, we didn’t have to be dating or
together for her to do that. Just being around her seemed to do the
trick. So I’d make nice, be her friend, and squash any idea that
this could be anything more. It would be fine.

By the time I took the turn at the end of
the road, I was scowling again.

My brain ran back over our conversation on
the drive home. If she wasn’t dating anybody, then who had I
smelled on her this morning? That Rich Phillips guy she mentioned?
The one her bike got ruined over? She’d said he hadn’t hassled
her—or more properly she’d said the guy was an idiot and harmless.
I got the feeling Elodie was prone to both understatement and a
tendency to handle things herself.

A jackass unable to comprehend the meaning
of “No” was not something she should have to handle herself. It
wasn’t safe. Someone should be watching out for her.

By the time I approached Hansen’s again, I
felt the beast pacing within me.

A truck pulled out into traffic a few cars
in front of me. The same truck Elodie had been scowling at when
she’d talked about this Phillips guy. I couldn’t see the driver
well enough to tell anything but that he had blond hair.