of you.”
Lakota’s jaw kept working on that donut as he stared at the painting. I wondered if I should shower, but part of me didn’t want to if that meant washing away his smell.
And wasn’t that a silly thought?
Maybe my uncle William was right. Being away from a pack too long could put some crazy ideas into a woman’s head, and here I was, giving sex advice to my best friend’s brother. What would Hope think if she knew how quickly I’d lured her brother into my bed? Given that she never dated, she would probably think I was a slut.
And as I sat there in silence, I realized that was what Lakota must think of me as well. Jericho’s little girl grew up to be exactly like the man her daddy once was. And even though Lakota and I hadn’t done anything sexual, would I have said no if that offer had been on the table? Probably not.
I jolted out of bed and yanked on my jeans.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as I shot past him.
“Nothing.”
He gripped my arm. “No, not nothing.”
I wrenched away and hurried into the bathroom. After sliding on my tank top, I began brushing my teeth.
Lakota filled the doorway behind me, hands gripping the frame above his head. I glanced at him in the mirror while I brushed my molars.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever slept with,” he quipped.
I rinsed my mouth out. “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”
His jaw set. “Who are these men you’ve slept with? Do I know any of them?”
Was he trying to start something with me so I would get mad enough to leave town? I ignored him and put on my turquoise necklace.
His hands lowered so he was holding the frame on either side. “Are you seeing anyone now?”
I took my clean panties from the towel rack and stuffed them into my purse, leaving the toothbrush and toothpaste behind since they were travel size and not mine. “Move. I need to leave.”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
Flustered, I adjusted my purse strap. “Maybe you should ignore everything I’ve told you about relationships. I can’t tell you how to live your life. Women are complicated, and if you can’t handle a mood swing, maybe adding sex to the equation is doing more harm than good. I just… I didn’t want you to go around thinking that you were broken.”
I immediately wanted to retract my words. “Broken” was too harsh, but that had been exactly the look shadowing his expression when he bared his soul about his real father. That knowledge had broken him—stripped away the promising future he had as a man, a Shifter, and a lover.
Tainted it.
I couldn’t even look him in the eye. As lovely as the previous night had been for me, it was probably terrifying for him. Or embarrassing. I’d behaved like some kind of half-naked temptress, hoping to slap a Band-Aid on a problem that was probably bigger than I could comprehend, a dark truth that had cast a shadow on his entire life.
When he reached out to touch my face, I shrank back.
His brows knitted. “What changed between us?”
“There is no us. There’s just you and me living separate lives. We both took a detour, but I need to get back on the road. I have to go.”
He stepped aside to let me out. “Afraid a wolf will tie you down and make you quit all your big dreams?”
I shouldered past him.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” he asked. “Casual sex is fine because no strings are attached. You’re afraid to mate.”
I impulsively hurled a pillow at his face. With lightning-fast reflexes, he knocked it away.
“That’s not who I am!”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Then how come Hope never mentioned that you had a steady boyfriend? If a wolf doesn’t put a claim on you, sex is casual. I thought they were the ones who didn’t want to get serious, but maybe I was wrong.”
“You just know everything, don’t you?”
He leaned against the wall, his hands tucked beneath his biceps, pushing them out. “Maybe.”
With a heavy heart, I gave the room a final inspection and took a deep breath. Sometimes I had a fiery temper, so I gathered my emotions and smothered them before I said something I would regret. “Let’s not go away mad at each other. Can we pretend this never happened? I love Hope too much to have friction going on in the background every time