“Haircut,” Gavin said promptly. “Long hair. Gets in my face. Hot.”
“Done and done,” Chris said, his pencil scratching along the notepad. I heard him set it down on the table. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes,” Gavin said. “Questions, questions, questions.”
“Yeah,” Chris said, and I knew he was smiling. “All those questions. We tend to do that. You should have seen what it was like when Ox told us about werewolves and witches.”
“Bad?”
“Nah,” Tanner said. “It actually made sense, looking back. Gordo would always wear long sleeves, even in summer.”
“Weird white-boy arms,” Rico said.
Chris asked his question. “You really like him, huh? Carter.”
“Breathe,” Kelly whispered to me. “Just breathe.”
I closed my eyes and breathed.
Gavin said, “He’s stupid. Always almost dies. I protect him. He needs me. He is strong. And brave. But doesn’t take care of himself. Like he should. I can do that. For him. So he can be strong and brave. For everyone else. Big bad wolf. But I can be good human.”
My mother whispered, “Oh, oh, oh,” and it was filled with such love and joy that I thought I would drown in it.
Rico said, “Hey, I get that, man. I do. But you know you don’t have to change yourself for him, right? Or anyone, for that matter. You’re good just the way you are.”
“Maybe,” Gavin said. “But not just for him. For me too. It’s hard. Being human. But I want to learn again.”
“Well, then, you’ve come to the right place,” Tanner said, slapping his hands on the table. “We’ll take care of everything, even if you’re a liar by saying Rico dresses better than the rest of us. That’s just bullshit, man.”
“You’ll help me?” Gavin asked, and I ached at the surprise in his voice, like he couldn’t believe it was real.
“Of course,” Rico said. “We’d do anything for you, even if your asshole dad is trying to kill us all. You’re one of us.”
Tanner and Chris joined in. “One of us! One of us!”
“This is why,” Kelly whispered to me, and I put my hand in his hair, holding him close. “This is what it’s all about. This is why we always fight, no matter what comes at us.”
IT WAS AS IF GAVIN had lit a fire under the others. They didn’t want to wait. “Might as well give him what he wants,” Rico told us as Chris and Tanner took Gavin upstairs to get him ready. “It’s not like he asks for something every day.” He hesitated, looking at me. I was sitting with my back against the couch, Kelly’s head in my lap. “You all right with this? Don’t mean to steal him away from you. You can come too, if you want.”
I shook my head. “You guys can handle it. He came to you for a reason.”
He puffed out his chest, and I was helpless against the rush of affection I had for him. “Hell yeah he did. He knows who has the best taste in this pack.”
His eyes widened as Bambi shouted down the stairs, “Rico, I swear to god, there better not be snakeskin anything on him, you hear me?”
“Yes, my love!” Rico shouted back. “None whatsoever!” He lowered his voice. “It’s Bambi. Bambi has the best taste. Obviously. Look whose baby she just had.”
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said.
Rico rolled his eyes. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. Get him all done up so you can drool over him and pretend you’re not, even though we can all smell you. And seriously, that is not something I signed up for when I let Ox bite me instead of dying a tragic yet heroic death.” He grinned at me. “We’ll take care of him. We know how important this is for him, and for you.” He turned his head toward the ceiling. “Come on, guys! We don’t have all day!”
They reappeared down the stairs a few moments later, Gavin trailing after Chris and Tanner. He was wearing a pair of jeans I thought belonged to Kelly, cinched up with a belt. He had an old hoodie of mine, the strings frayed. His hair was pulled back and tied off with a purple scrunchie, one I’d seen on Bambi before.
I stood, back popping. Knowing everyone was watching or listening, I forced a smile. I didn’t want them to know how nervous I was about letting him out of my sight. I knew the guys would watch over him, but it didn’t feel like enough.
“Listen to them,” I told him, pulling at the hoodie unnecessarily. “And don’t growl at people, especially if you’re going a couple of towns over. They don’t know about wolves. Not like Green Creek.”
He batted my hands away with a scowl. “I know.”