Dragon's Fake Wedding Date - Riley Storm Page 0,59

“I didn’t ask him. I got a bit too worked up. I’m already on edge about this whole thing so soon after Mikey, and then he came and seemed to take pity on me, to tell me something nobody else would. I just sort of…left.”

“What did he look like?” Claire asked.

“Um, tall. Broad shouldered. Not as thick as the others though. He had a really fancy haircut though, all modern, not like most of the other males I saw up there. Gray eyes, I remember that,” Gayle said, thinking hard.

“Did he have a nose that was too big?” Claire said.

“Yes!” Gayle exclaimed, brightening. “Yes, he did! That’s right, I’d forgotten. Why?”

“Because” Claire said tightly. “I know exactly who that is. It’s Prax.”

“Prax?” Gayle repeated, looking back and forth between her two friends. “Who’s that?”

“He a shifter with a hate on for the entire team, but most especially Rann. I guess they had some issues that never got resolved. Prax hates him for it. He’d do anything to sabotage Rann.”

“But he had all these pictures of Rann and other women,” Gayle said slowly.

“Right,” Lilly said, snorting. “Now ask yourself, why does he have them, and also how did he get them? It’s not like he’s ever invited out with Rann and the others. Was he in any of the pictures?”

Gayle shook her head. “No,” she said uncertainly. “It was just Rann and women.”

“You know,” Lilly said thoughtfully. “He’s probably been hoarding all those pictures for a moment just like this one.”

“That would be like him,” Claire agreed.

“So Rann isn’t using me?” Gayle half-asked, half-said.

“No dear,” Lilly said. “I think he really likes you.”

Gayle slumped deeper into the couch somehow. Of course he liked her. He’d taken her to his lair, to his home. He’d shown her around. He’d done exactly what someone who liked her would do.

And she’d screamed at him and told him to get out of her life forever.

“Oh no,” Gayle whispered. “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Hopefully, he’ll give me another chance…

Chapter Thirty-One

Rann

He should be out hunting the vampires with his team.

The longer things went without tracking them down and eliminating them, the worse it was going to get for the dragons when they finally did confront them. The longer the delay, the more new vampires could be created, strengthening their army, and increasing the chances a vampire king might arise from their midst.

That would be bad indeed.

Yet instead of doing that, he was crouched on a roof staring at the house across the street. Which is exactly where he’d been for two hours now. Watching the bungalow, hoping that he might just get a glimpse of Gayle. Even seeing her through the blinds would be better than nothing.

I never want to see you again.

Those were the last words Gayle had said to him, other than a very rushed and meaningless ‘thank you’ when he’d pulled up out front of her house and dropped her off. The last he’d seen of her was the back of her head as she went inside.

She hadn’t looked back.

Nor had she texted him or called him.

Rann didn’t get it. She’d not shown any fear, worry, or anti-dragon sentiment when they’d first left the tent city, her on his back. In fact, she’d seemed to accept it with a rapidity that shocked even him. Maybe that should have been his first clue that she wasn’t processing everything okay, but there hadn’t been any signs.

Everything seemed to have been going so well. Rann didn’t have any prior experience to go on, of course. Gayle was his first relationship of any sort. But it had seemed to be going smoothly. She must have come out of her shock at last and been unable to handle the truth about him.

Or perhaps she was afraid of his entire world. What with the vampires making their presence known to the public as well, things were changing. The world wasn’t as safe as it had appeared to be, and perhaps that had scared her off. Maybe Gayle thought if she pushed him away, she would be safer that way.

Whatever it was, he didn’t know, and it didn’t seem like he was ever going to know. Not without contacting her, and she’d made it rather clear she didn’t want him to do that. She wanted him gone. Out of her life.

And so he was. Except for the fact that he was watching her house instead of doing his job. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave. It hurt too much to