Page 32 of Little Etheldreda Riding Hood

I’m not far from his face, not far from his lips.

“How do you always manage to smell so amazing?” he asks.

I pull back, the words like a punch to the gut. There it is again–the reminder that this is just a pheromone thing–he’s a wolf and I’m still a rejected Luna. He’ll find out and pheromones or not, this will all be over. I stand up and back away from the couch.

“Do you mind if I just hang out on the couch until it’s time to go to work? I’ll keep the TV down.”

He doesn’t move. His eyes flick across my face, the worry lines deep between his brows. “Sure, make yourself at home. Anything in the fridge is free game. Wake me up if you need anything.”

He pushes up from the couch. “I’ll be up by eleven, it doesn’t take me long to get ready. I’ll have you at Soojin’s by eleven forty-five.”

I nod. “Thanks Zach.”

He studies me for a long moment and clears his throat. “You know where to find me.”

I nod and he’s gone. Dolly rubs her body against my leg, demanding my attention. I pick her up and rub my face against her side. “Are you going to hang out with me?” I ask her as I stretch out on the couch. I arrange the blankets over me and set her next to me between the cushions and my leg, then turn the TV down, and promptly fall asleep.

Chapter Fourteen

In Which Confessions are Made

Iwake up to the buzzing of my phone. I don’t recognize the number, but the area code is from home, so I hit the green button and immediately regret my choice.

“Red, babe, it’s Morgan. Don’t hang up.”

I hang up and the phone starts to ring again. I hit “ignore” and a moment later, it’s ringing again. This new number has sent me one hundred texts in the last hour. I guess I should have changed my number, too. What is it with guys? They’re fine leaving but the minute someone else shows interest, their “let’s fuck with her” radar is activated.

“Are you going to answer that?” Zach asks as he comes down the hall and into the living room. He’s sleepy-looking and only wearing sweatpants–gray, of course. I meet his eyes to keep myself out of trouble.

“Nope.”

He looks confused. “Why not?”

“It’s Morgan.”

“The ex?”

I nod.

“You didn’t block him?”

“Of course I did. I hadn’t heard from him in six months until a few days ago. He messaged me online, but I ignored him. I guess he’s probably just getting cold feet.”

I turn the sound off and set the phone back down the coffee table. It starts buzzing with another call. I poke it with my toe and it slides across the wood and falls off the table. Dolly runs over to it and starts batting it with her paws.

Zach comes to sit next to me, his bare chest making me feel incredibly feral. “Cold feet?” he asks.

I sigh. “Yeah. I always thought there might be other girls here and there but I never had any proof. Then one day his high school sweetheart comes home from college and he wants to go to dinner to catch up.”

“Dinner for the three of you?”

I smile and shake my head. “I came home from work the next week to find his friends helping him move out of our apartment.”

I say nothing for a long moment, keeping my eyes on Dolly, batting the phone around to keep me in the present. “I’m embarrassed to say I practically begged him to stay, but he had changed. He said he needed a partner who would be a strong…he wanted a wolf, basically. I couldn’t afford our apartment on my own, so my Aunt Mae and Uncle Jim let me move in with them. I decided to come stay with Darla when they sent me an invitation to their wedding.”

He takes my hand and I don’t fight it or make a sarcastic remark. I just let him twine his fingers through mine.

“So,” I continue on, “Knowing of his track record, I’m guessing he’s realizing that he’s actually going to be committing to someone and is throwing out lines everywhere, hoping someone on his long list of ladies will bite.”

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