Bad Wolf (Wild Men 4)

I eye her. She looks so much… sassier than she used to be. Confident. Strong. I want to be like her, I think—sure of myself, knowing what I need and with the courage to fight for it.

Having a slim, tight body like hers would help. Though I’m not chubby anymore, my curves are generous. Very generous. They aren’t easily contained, to be honest, and they make me self-conscious, especially in summer.

“You keep spacing out on me and I’ll start to worry.” She takes her mug and blows on her tea. “Or think you have a crush on one of the boys. You’ve been out of it since the party.”

Heat rises to my face. How can she read me so well after all this time?

“Oh my frigging God, I was right!” She squeals and for a moment I’m terrified she’ll tip the tea on her lap and burn herself. “It’s one of the boys, isn’t it? Who? Wait, don’t tell me.”

I discreetly roll my eyes.

“It can’t be Shane. You were appalled at his manners. Seth?” She leans toward me, peering at me closely. I stick my tongue out at her. “Nah. Too quiet. Too much like you.”

“Whatever,” I say, but a chill runs down my spine.

“That leaves Ocean. He’s funny and nice all around. If you set your sights on him, I have no objections.”

“Okay, good to know.”

I wait for the next one, but she just sips at her tea. After a long moment, she looks up and lifts her copper brows at me. “What?” Her eyes narrow. “Wait…Not Jesse. Not the manwhore.”

“I haven’t said anything”

“Yeah, only your eyes lit up like fireworks when I mentioned his name. You don’t even like the guy!”

“Never said I do.” I stare into my tea. “Why are you so set against him?”

“Because he is… Have you listened to a word I’ve said? The man is a slut. He has screwed half the town.”

“You’re telling me the others haven’t? Micah exempted, of course,” I hurry to add when she scowls.

“Well, I wouldn’t know. They don’t parade their conquests at every party. They try to be discreet. I don’t think Jesse would know the meaning of the word discreet if it bit him in the face.”

No big surprises there. “What’s his story anyway? Kayla didn’t know to tell me, said to ask you.”

“Oh God…” She plunks her mug on the table, toes off her sandals and gathers her legs under her. “You got it that bad, do you?”

I don’t reply. I won’t dignify her words with an answer.

“Jesse…” She sighs again, and what’s up with that? It’s like I’m tiring her. “He doesn’t really talk about his past. But I overheard Zane tell Dylan how he found Jesse more than a year ago, on the street. He’d been a real mess, He had… a fresh tattoo on his chest, badly made and infected.”

I shudder. “What about his family?”

“No family, apparently, and he said his only friend was gone. He’d escaped from a group home. Or transition home. No idea. Zane somehow saw an artist in him and took him on as his apprentice.”

No family. No home. His friend gone. “The leather band was given to me by someone who meant a lot to me. Later I lost her, and that’s all I have left of her.”

“Doesn’t mean all he said was true,” Ev says.

“But it could be.”

“Yeah, it could. Anyway…” She picks up her mug again and her mouth twists. “Too late to convince you not to have a crush on him, right?”

“I don’t have a crush on him. Why do you say that?” I push my hands into the back of the arm chair, between the cushion and the back. My fingers curl around something thin and rough.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” She snorts. “You’re funny, Amber, you know that?”

“Why does everyone assume I have a crush on Jesse? I don’t. I’m just curious.”