Wilder (The Wild Ones 3)

Kai’s arm drops around my shoulders again, and I work damn hard not to smile. As off-beat and confusingly abnormal as this town is, it’s also charming and unique. I’ve never been anywhere like this.

I’d be really uncomfortable if Kai was, but he seems at ease and laidback about all the quirks.

“How did river dance become a manly challenge with such dire consequences?” I ask, unable to help myself by this point.

He tosses a thumb in the direction of the old couple who are now making out on the sidewalk.

Wowza.

“Bill’s a romantic. Penny’s nice. We do things for Bill and Penny because they look out for the Wild Ones.”

I clear my throat, wondering how he says such random things so casually…

That last bit strikes me as odd, mostly because Gran wrote a bunch of books about shapeshifters who were called the Wild Ones…

“Do you shapeshift?” I ask automatically.

He looks down at me like I’m the one who’s crazy. Got it. No shapeshifting.

I guess Reese was right about one thing—these guys were Gran’s inspiration. The town is more cheery than morbid, like in the books, but it’s still just as outrageously unbelievable. No one will ever believe I watched a town full of men attempt to river dance to avoid wearing a tutu while swimming across the lake and singing a ‘girly’ song.

Instead of overthinking things, I lean against him, since he’s clearly an affectionate sort of guy.

He guides me into the diner, and I swear there’s almost a record screech that seems to happen. The lively chatter comes to an abrupt halt, and like one of those creepy horror movies about small towns flicks through my mind when everyone jerks their attention to us at the same time.

Kai moves through the silent crowd like it’s no bother that they’re all openly gaping at us. Clearing my throat, I follow him to a table in the back, sitting down right beside him in the booth because I’m a little scared of these people now.

What’s wrong with them? Why do they keep staring?

I suppose, by comparison, he’s the most normal person I’ve met in this town so far. Everyone else seems a little bizarre.

Wild Ones Tip #583

To be or not to be a Wild One. That is the question. That’s right. We know Shakespeare too. The pen is a fabulous weapon.

Chapter 8

PIPER

*******

Sitting in the town gazebo, I flip the next page on the final book of Gran’s series. I’ve been reading with a little more vigor since yesterday. Also, I’m worried about my sister who hasn’t come home yet. She’s not answering her phone, but I finally got a message from a random number telling me that she was alive and that she’d meet me here at noon today.

Noon was two hours ago; hence the reason I’m worried again.

Putting the book down, I glance around the town, spotting a bunch of guys hurriedly jerking their heads away, like they were just caught looking.

There are a lot of beards in this town, I’ve noticed. None of them look as good as Kai’s.

I really have to stop thinking like that. It’s been too long since a guy occupied so many of my thoughts. He’s got a cougar for a pet and dances in public with no shame.

I almost wish I had kissed him yesterday when he dropped me—

A body drops to the seat beside me, jarring me from my thoughts.

Reese grimaces, and my eyes widen on the cast on her arm.

“What the hell?!” I snap, dropping the book to the ground.

“Turns out, sledding is more extreme when you do it with the Wild Ones, who are also known as the four corners of crazy in a town that apparently has an addiction to acid-laced shrooms or something,” she deadpans.

Her cast is filled with signatures already. There’s only one spot left. Idly, I notice Kai’s name is also signed.

“When the hell did you see Kai?” I snap.

“He came over to Hale’s after he apparently went out on a private date with you. I lost my phone on the mountain, and there’s not a lot of cell signal…anywhere. You have to be fortunate to make a call or get a call, it seems,” she adds with a firm nod.

I want to say something, but I’m just not sure what to say.

“Oh, and Kai outlined this spot for you to sign so that I didn’t run out of room before I met up with you,” she tells me, pointing to the spot. She grins at me. “They’re a little out there, huh?”

“Says the girl smiling with a broken bone after spending a day with them. Cheese and rice, how reckless are they?”

Her smile falls. “Seriously, though, they took me sledding down a mountainside. It would have been fine if I hadn’t had a panic attack and flipped us off the sled. I wasn’t prepared for that level of insanity.”