always this fortress, and I was this battering ram, desperate to get in. To understand you. To be there for you. And you never let me in.” She swallowed hard. “Last night was fun. It was easy. I liked it.”
“Hunting with me?”
“Spending time with you.” She was a stupid, stupid girl. He didn’t feel what she’d felt. He didn’t have the same bond that she did. Be quiet, Wolf advised her, and she took the animal’s advice.
She silently dug through the grocery bags in the back seat of the truck and pulled out a T-shirt and short-shorts, bra, hairbrush, toothbrush, and toothpaste, and got ready for the remainder of the drive to Albuquerque. To Sam. In the quiet of the morning, not even the birds sang here. Probably because Wes felt like a mother-squawking predator right now. There was a cloud of frustration that surrounded him and made the air feel too heavy.
Wes jumped from the tailgate and leaned against the side of the truck, watching her brush her teeth over the grass. He still didn’t say anything though, so she matched his silence.
She pulled her messy hair into a high ponytail and slipped her feet into a pair of brand new flip flops, but still, he only leaned against the tailgate and looked at her.
When she pulled a thin purple and pink flannel around her shoulders to ward off the cold morning air, he finally, finally broke the silence.
“I never wanted to talk to anyone but you. I just never knew how.”
“So spill it. What are you thinking right now?” she challenged him.
“I want to lock your arms against the side of this truck and fuck you until you don’t remember your name. I want to call Hunter and see how he slept. I want to check on Maris and Sadey and make sure they’re okay. I want to call Bryson and see how his night was delivering calves. I want to know why the fuck Sam didn’t contact me. Why the fuck he let me live this half-life, thinking he was dead. Why the fuck…?” He lowered his gaze to the ground. “Why the fuck he didn’t come find me and tell me everything was okay, like he always did when we were kids. He was the one who always made everything all right. And you. I want to ask you if you’re okay just about every thirty seconds, and this isn’t me. I’m not the man who worries. I’m the man who just gets shit done.”
“The old you was the man who got shit done. The new you does that, too, but you’re an alpha now. The new you cares. That’s not a bad thing, Wes. It’s a good thing.”
“Well, it’s fuckin’ annoying.”
Summer let off a laugh. “Feelings are annoying?”
“Yeah, they’re the worst.” He didn’t look grumpy anymore, though. There was a twinkle in his blue eyes and the smallest smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“Truth or dare,” she said.
“No. You used to play this when we were together, and it always got me in trouble.”
“Wuss.”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head and doing an about-face. He pulled the folded blanket from the bed of his truck and made his way to the back door to put in inside.
Summer tried again. “Yellow—”
“Don’t say it.”
“Bellied—”
“Summer!”
“Coward.”
“Shhhhhheeyit. Truth,” he growled.
“Do you still like me?” Summer arched her eyebrows up as high as she could.
“I meant dare.”
“Nope, you said ‘truth,’ gotta answer it. You know the rules.”
Wes let off a snarl and slammed the door closed. “I think you should go first.”
“Yellow—”
“Just go first, and I’ll answer it after I think for a minute. That’s a big question, and I know you. You set booby traps with your questions. If I answer it wrong, you’ll bleed me or leave, or maybe both. There’s no answer that keeps me out of trouble on that one, woman. Truth or dare.”
Summer sighed. “There’s no wrong answers with me anymore. If it’s an honest answer, I respect it. Wolf has taught me a lot. You don’t go begging. You appreciate honesty. However a person feels about me now…well, I can’t rightly blame them, can I?”
Wes canted his head like a curious animal. “Truth? Or dare?”
“Dare.”
Wes twitched his chin up slightly and dropped his gaze to her T-shirt. “Strip out of them clothes and go for a swim.”
Shocked, Summer ghosted a glance to the cold river behind him. “Naked?”
“Woman, I’ve already seen you naked.”
“Years ago! I’m different now.”
“You’re better now.”
“Wait, what?” she asked, stunned.
Wes sauntered