Wolf Next Door (8 page)

A.J. chuckled. “Maybe you missed how often the three of us used to beat the shit out of each other when we were kids? The only thing that changed is our ages. They’ll get over it, they’re brothers. You focus on you, and whether or not you can do this.” Layer upon layer of meaning. Do this as in—Ty or pack? Maybe both?

“I didn’t want to hurt him,” she said. “I know I was selfish. I know I
did
hurt him, but it wasn’t my goal.”

With excruciating slowness, A.J. raised his palm then, holding her gaze, cupped her cheek. The action was both familiar and reassuring, if utterly unsettling. “If I’d thought for a moment you’d truly wanted to do him harm, you’d already be dead.”

“Okay.” She accepted the touch and the statement. “That makes me feel better.”

He grinned. “Good. Now let’s get you some meat and let you escape before we run into another matron who wants to hug you to death.”

Shuddering at the thought, she nodded eagerly. A.J. ran interference for her because they did indeed run into a couple of other mothers who’d known hers. Though her heart raced and her shoulders were tense, she wasn’t in a fighting rage when they walked out of the store.

By the time A.J. pulled into the driveway of her house, she almost felt…normal. Then movement on the porch caught her eye, and her breath caught. Standing at the top step, Tyler was a feast for hungry eyes. He’d dressed in a cotton t-shirt that molded to his musculature and jeans that emphasized the strength of his thighs. With a half-frown, he jogged over to the car and pulled open her door.

She tensed. Was he going to be pissed because she’d gone out? Would they end up fighting after she’d found some semblance of equilibrium? But all he said as he leaned down was, “Do I smell cookies?”

T
he past two
days had been torture of the very best kind and yet far simpler than Tyler would have expected. After arriving to find A.J. returning Claire from a shopping trip, he’d helped her unload the car and then pestered her until she threw a box of cookies at him.

Since she’d thrown them, he declared them fair game and ate three. Catching her smiling at him, the hint of laughter in her eyes had been the sweetest treat of all. Leaving her that morning had been a different kind of torture. She’d been soft about his presence and, instead of taking advantage of her, he’d made himself go to work. Cars still needed repairs, and he owed his father a hell of an apology.

Later, he would make it up to his mother. He hadn’t gone near the Buckley house or Linc since the fight. In fact, he’d made himself go to A.J.’s so he would keep his distance. His wolf chafed at the enforced separations, yet when he did come to see Claire, she welcomed him.

For two days, he’d given her space and let her dictate the terms. When he offered to help her with her parents’ things, she’d looked relieved. They’d spent hours sorting through closets and boxing items to be distributed to others in the pack. Willow Bend was healthy, but they had their share of families who struggled financially or with other burdens.

By the third day, however, he needed to get Claire out of the house and the memories it kept waking in her. Twice he’d caught her crying, and it cut him to the bone when she wiped away the tears and buried her emotions. He didn’t care what she’d learned in Sutter Butte, burying who she was wasn’t healthy for anyone.

So, he’d concocted a plan and cleared it with A.J., who took the request to Mason. Going around Mason to his brother had been a bit of a dick move, but Ty had seen something in A.J.’s expression when they’d unloaded Claire’s groceries.

Rough sympathy.

Sitting at Vivian’s breakfast table while A.J. placed the call, he pushed the eggs around on his plate. Giving Claire the space she wanted and needed were one thing, but his wolf hated it.

Hell, he hated it. She’d been gone for years. He just wanted to be around her—yet at the same time, the driving need to give her what she’d never asked him for previously aggravated him.

“Growling at the eggs won’t make them taste better.” Vivian watched him from across the table, laughter in her eyes. The warmth surrounding her and A.J. gave Ty hope. They’d been through hell—partially mated and separated for years. The ruthless loss dug into both, carving them to their very essence. Yet once they’d been re-united, they’d found their way back to each other. The strength and beauty in their bond…

God, he wanted what they had.

“I’m sorry, I’m not very hungry.” Instead of toying with the food, he pushed the plate away. His brother’s quiet voice had gone nearly sub vocal, and Tyler tried not to eavesdrop.

“May I ask you a question?” Buried beneath a layer of meanings, concern radiated from Vivian. She propped her chin in her hand and studied him with the same intensity he’d seen in her when she watched a game they played, as though she were trying to decode him.

“Of course.” Tyler would never deny A.J.’s mate. Besides being adorable, she’d given him his brother back. “I won’t promise to answer. Or, if I do, that you’d even like my answer.”

“I don’t have to like it, because it’s not about me.” Glancing toward her mate, she smiled and seemed to brighten from the inside. “I didn’t really know A.J. before.”

Tyler nodded. He’d met her the same night A.J. had, when she’d been broken, bleeding and stumbling around a damp parking lot with a dead man at her feet. She was a survivor. “I know.” He couldn’t tell her the differences, either, because his brother was still A.J., but A.J. had changed. Isolation had been a cruel crucible for him. The important part was A.J. was happy now.

“That said, I know your mother and sister have mentioned to me on occasion how different he is, and that I probably wouldn’t understand, but that’s not entirely true. I see you and Linc, and I see the echoes of who A.J. was then.”

As if by unspoken agreement, they both looked to his brother then back. “We were never identical in personality.” A common mistake made by a lot of people. A.J. had always been driven and the natural leader. He mediated when Ty and Linc clashed. Linc was the fighter, with a hot temper and the need to be right in an argument. Ty had never considered himself as much more than going with the flow. He didn’t need to win as much as Linc or be as in control as A.J.

Why should he? He had what was most important to him in the world. Claire. Well, he’d had her until he didn’t.

“Maybe not, but the warmth and passion, it’s all there. So I see it, but that’s not what I wanted to really talk to you about. A.J. changed and everyone here had to accustom themselves to the changes, and it wasn’t always easy. I didn’t really get to know him until after, and it didn’t matter. I love him regardless. I love who he is, who he became, and who he continues to be. Your Claire—she’s changed, too. She grew up. You’re not kids anymore. I don’t know what happened to her, but A.J. said something a couple of days ago that I think you need to hear.”

If his brother confided in his mate, then it should remain between them. But across the room, A.J. met his gaze and nodded once. Accepting his permission to intrude, Tyler focused on Vivian. Her bright green eyes darkened with emotion. “The hardest thing he has to deal with is people expecting him to be who he was. There’s nothing wrong with who he is. Claire isn’t who she was anymore, either. The question you have to ask yourself is, who are you expecting her to be?”

An hour later, he parked in front of her house and considered those words. His Claire had been a delicate thing, or at least he’d always thought so. She was an only child, had no siblings to look out for her. He’d have wanted to protect her without the need to be with her.

At least A.J. had gotten him the permission he’d wanted. Claire was free to come and go as long as she was with him. The restriction might irritate her, but he wanted to get her out of her head and the house. To get to know her.

The door opened and she strolled out on the porch. Her long legs gleamed in the morning sunlight and her dark hair clung to her cheeks.

She’d just gotten out of the shower. His whole body pulsed at the knowledge of how warm and damp she had to be. Stifling a groan, he rolled down the window and kept his ass planted in the truck. If he met her on the porch, he might do something stupid like try to kiss her. Once he started doing that, he’d never stop.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He grinned at the flash of surprise in her eyes. “Want to get the hell out of here for a few hours?”

All the way to her house, he’d thought about how to broach the enormous gulf between them and decided, in part because of Vivian’s question, to just stop trying to build a bridge. He could take the long way around.

“I’m not supposed to—”

He held up his hand to halt her protest, but waited until she paused before saying, “It’s all good. I talked to A.J. He talked to Mason. You can go out and about—with me. I know that’s a limitation, but I have to volunteer at the school today and I thought it would be fun if you joined me.” Then, because he didn’t want her to think he was wielding power over her, he said. “I’d like your company. After the school, I’d be happy to do what you’d like.”

She frowned, but didn’t outright reject the offer. Leaving the porch, she walked over to the truck. The breeze carried the faint scent of her arousal to tease the ever-loving fuck out of him. His dick hardened instantaneously. At least the damn thing still worked. No matter how many other wolves flirted with him, he’d never had eyes for another woman.

“What do you do when you volunteer?” Genuine curiosity lived within the question.

“Lots of things. Today, for example, the kids are going to be adding to their obstacle course. So we’ll be building. Have to handle a bunch of fourth, fifth, and sixth years with power tools. Doesn’t that sound fun?” He grinned. “Last time we did this, the Jenkins boys kept trying to set traps in the new obstacles. Really hurt when I made them run every obstacle first and trip their own traps.”

The sharp, sweet sound of her laughter burst forth and he stared, utterly captivated at the simple joy in her expression. “That’s mean, Tyler.”

“Hey,” he said fighting to keep his voice even. “They set the traps, they should have a taste for how it feels to trigger them. You were great with those boys the other night. Will you come with me?”

Wariness glittering beneath the humor in her eyes, she gripped the door. “Are you sure you want me to go?”

Not entirely certain where the question came from, he stretched across the truck and placed his hand over hers. Electricity sizzled along his arm from the contact. “I want to know you, Claire. I want you to know me. Working at the school is important to me.”

Her expression softened and her mouth formed a faint ‘o.’ The temptation to shut off the truck and slide over so he could kiss those sweet lips wrested with his control.

“I’d like to go.” The whisper-soft words were music to his ears. “Should I change?”

“It’s outdoor work, but jeans might be more comfortable than shorts.” He stilled when she stroked her thumb along the side of his hand. Every nerve ending in his body followed that simple motion. “But whatever you want to do.”

“Do you mind waiting five minutes?”

He’d waited years, what were a few minutes? The fierceness of the emotion gripped him, and she hated his possessiveness—
still
. He said, “Only if you make it worth my while.”

Her nostrils flared, and she blinked once. Surprise filtered through the desire in her scent, and he soaked in the sweetness of both. Laughing, she grinned. “I might have some of Vivian’s cookies secreted away.”

Shock slammed into him. “Vivian’s?”

“Uh huh. Someone left a box on my porch this morning. The note said you loved them.”

Who the hell was leaving him gifts on her porch? The assumption could piss her off, and she hated when he tried to control her. She giggled and his gaze narrowed. God, he loved that sound and she was killing him.

“Don’t be mad. They said you loved them and they were excellent bribing material.”

Oh. So the present had been for her to get her way. He pursed his lips. His sister-in-law was a wonderful woman, but he didn’t need her teaming up with Claire. He and A.J. really wouldn’t stand a chance then. “Cookies are definitely acceptable currency, but I would have settled for a kiss.”

Fuck
. It slipped out before he could stop it. He held his breath. Had he just shot himself in the foot? Pupils dilated, she leaned into the truck, and he released the seat belt to slide over. “So, if I want five minutes, one kiss will do?”

He doubted the whole pack and a forklift could dislodge him at that point. Heart in his throat, he stared at her, mesmerized by the glow of her wolf peeking out from her eyes. His wolf wanted to rub against her and he gave into the urge and trailed his knuckles down her cheek. She didn’t pull away, and his heart squeezed at the display of trust. “Even the promise of one is enough.”

Her tongue flicked out over her lips, moistening them. The action drew him like a predator seeing the first real movement of his prey. “I think actions speak louder than words.”

So close the whisper of her breath tickled his lips and his cheeks, he waited. Her choice. He’d made his desire clear, so she had to choose—then her mouth brushed his, the gentle tease of soft lips, and his mind shut off. The wolf wanted to howl, but he kept his fingers on her cheek and didn’t fist her hair.

When her tongue licked along the seam of his lips, he opened to the request and darted his tongue along hers. The delicate tang of her sweetness mixed with the hints of coffee and blackberry muffins. Wanting—no, needing more, he deepened the kiss, gliding his hand to her nape, but he kept his fingers loose. The throat was a delicate place. Wolves didn’t allow other wolves there without true trust, and his Claire had lost her faith in others, had it driven from her.

Tension shifted through her, and she nipped his lower lip. Reveling in the sting, he stroked his fingers against the softness of her skin. When her eyelashes fluttered open, he gazed into her wolf’s eyes and smiled. He needed to respond with something more than a groan, so he nipped her lower lip in response, then laved the light injury before murmuring, “Five minutes.”