coyote duck?”
“Now you’re thinking,” he says, tapping his temple with a grin. “Okay, how about this—how do you change a duck’s tires?”
“Did you look these up on the internet?”
“With a quacker jack,” he says, ignoring my question. “Hey, sexy. Wanna flock?”
I laugh and slap his side. “Okay, okay. Stop.”
“Sure thing, duckling,” he says with a mischievous wink.
Lafe is so easy to be around, that I find myself relaxing. Thank goodness he showed up when he did. I’m not sure what would’ve happened otherwise. I don’t even want to think about everything right now, but the fact that Pack Rockhead is out to get me isn’t good. In their eyes, I cost them their payday, and I know they aren’t going to let that go. But for now, I’m safe, and my mate bond isn’t hurting anymore with Lafe so close.
When we reach the end of the hallway, Lafe opens the door to his bedroom and steps aside to let me in first. It’s smaller than the bedroom we had sexy times in, but it suits him. There are old eighties rock band posters framed on the walls and a black bedspread messed up from sleep on top of the bed. But my eyes hone in on the guitar propped in the corner. “You ride a motorcycle and play guitar? Geez Louise. What a stud you are.”
He laughs and scratches the brown scruff on his jaw. “I’m pretty shit at it to be honest.”
I smile at his candor. “That’s okay. I tried learning the violin when I was sixteen and ended up slamming it against the concrete driveway. I’d saved up for that damn thing for five months, too.”
He nods to the guitar. “That’s my third one. I drove over the first and chucked the other into a river.”
I tip my head back and laugh, and his own low laughter joins mine. It feels good to laugh with him, and it dispels some of the awkwardness. After all, I don’t really know Lafe at all. Heck, the first time I met him was last night, and I jumped him before I even got his name. But damn, I’m just as attracted to him now as I was then.
Lafe is hot, funny, and easy to be around. He also knows how to handle the stick in his pants. No wonder my duck wanted to claim him.
When our laughter tapers off, I let out a long breath, like I can exhale all of the tension that happened back at the motel. “Hey, thanks for saving my ass back there,” I tell him seriously.
“Nah, I didn’t save your ass. I was just your getaway. But I do want to know what the hell happened back there. I was about to park when I saw you sprinting across the parking lot. It looked like you needed to get out of there fast.”
“I did,” I confess.
His face grows worried. “Who was that following us? What happened, Addie?”
“Mind if I borrow your phone?” I hedge.
He digs into his pocket and passes it over. Knowing that Zoey will be awake by now, I shoot her a quick text with the Lafe’s address.
If I were to call Hugo, he probably wouldn’t answer because he’s supposed to be meeting with Pack Rockhead. And if he did answer while they were still there…well, I have a feeling that the meeting wouldn’t go so well. I need to wait until the meeting ends so that he doesn’t freak out and start a pack war. I don’t want him to get pissed on my behalf and do something he’d later regret. Hugo is protective of me, maybe more than some of the others, but I refuse to let that hinder him when he’s keeping our pack safe.
I don’t know what Pack Rockhead is up to, but it’s nothing good. They outnumber us and have much stronger animals than us, too, so like Hugo always says, we have to play smart.
“Did you track me to the motel?” I ask Lafe as I finish texting Zoey and pass the phone back to him.
He rubs the back of his neck like he’s embarrassed. “Umm, yeah.”
“How did you find me? You couldn’t have scented me.”
“I followed behind your alpha’s car. I made sure to keep a good distance between us, and people don’t usually notice motorcycles as much. When I saw him drop you off at the motel, I turned around to head home. I was about half way there when I got a bad feeling and