not letting my guard down. “She’s dead. She died when I was a little girl.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. I barely remember her.” And what I do remember are not memories I like to dwell on. Images of a tall woman with long hair who drank chamomile tea and smelled of cheap drugstore soap fill my mind. My sharpest memories of her are when she’s standing by the kitchen sink peering out the window. She would do that for hours even when I was standing right beside her, tugging on her pant leg because I was hungry or wanted her attention. She still wouldn’t move. It was as though I didn’t exist.
I shake my head, dispelling the memory.
“What about brothers or sisters? Do you have any of those?” he asks.
With a start, I wonder if he’s trying to distract me. My knuckles are white on my door handle. “Nope, no siblings. It’s just me.”
“So you moved away to go to college cause you wanted to experience the world?”
“Yeah, but I started college late. I was twenty-two because I worked for a few years before college to save money and help my dad. That’s why I’m a twenty-six-year-old senior.”
“A senior, eh? Does that mean you’re going to graduate soon?”
“Yep, I’m done this spring. I just need to—” I stop, realizing mid-sentence that he’s just spoken about my future, as if I still have a future. Does that mean he’s really going to let me live?
I try not to dwell on that or the insane way my heart surges at the thought of getting out of this alive.
“What about you?” I ask, completely losing track of our conversation. “Where do you live and work?” When you’re not abducting women that is.
He returns his focus to the road as a muscle tightens in his jaw. “Nowhere really. I don’t have a job, and I haven’t called anywhere home in a very long time.”
“How long have you not had a home?”
“Two and a half years.”
“And what happened two and a half years ago to make you not call anywhere home?”
His grip on the wheel tightens, and he doesn’t look at me when he replies, “I left my pack and didn’t look back.”
Pack? I’m assuming that has something to do with him being a werewolf, but I have no idea how to respond to that. And from how tense he appears, I’ve just stepped into very sketchy territory, and I’m pretty sure a faint glow just lit his eyes.
Shit.
“So … have you seen any good movies lately?” I ask in an overly cheerful voice. “I haven’t been to the theater in ages, but I try to watch a flick every week with my friends. It’s one of our fave things to do as a study break.” I begin babbling again, but it seems to help. His tension eases, and his lazy smile returns.
I don’t even notice the huge rut that practically bounces me to the ceiling I’m freaking out so much, but Collin does. He laughs when I rub my head, then apologizes for the bump.
“It’s fine, really,” I say with a forced smile. “We’ve got to almost be down by now, right?”
“Yeah, not too far,” he says and flashes me another dazzling smile. Dr. Jekyll is still firmly in place.
But that’s not necessarily a good thing. When he smiles like that, a flutter stirs my stomach. And it’s one of those flutters that I need to suppress. I groan inwardly. Did I seriously just find him sexy again?
I’m going to need serious psychological help after I get home, cause not only did I meet a werewolf who tried repeatedly to kill me, but I also continuously admired his muscles and fawned over his sex appeal.
So fucked up, Keller.
My breath stops again as images of Thor fill my mind, but I quickly shake it off and leap into a new benign subject. Food. Who doesn’t like to talk about their favorite foods and the best meal they’ve ever had? And there’s no way a conversation of food can remind me of chiseled biceps, tangled blond locks, or breathtaking smiles.
Thankfully, Collin has a long list of what he likes to eat.
I sit back a little easier and concentrate on what he’s saying, all the while keeping my gaze straight ahead so my wayward thoughts don’t once again land me in hot water.
Chapter 9 – Collin
Not long later, we’re almost to the bottom of the mountain. Brianna’s been asking me questions non-stop, and I have the