Page 64 of Love Bites Hard

“I asked Evan to drop some food off at our room. Will you go back with me so we can talk? We clearly have things to figure out, and we need to eat.”

My anger tried to swell, but I was too tired to tap into it.

And too sad.

“I don’t want to talk,”I said.“But I’ll eat.”

“That’s fine.”

I made my way through the water. Though he’d been the one to ask me to come out, it still felt like accepting defeat.

There was no one around when I got out—and instead of immediately yanking his shirt over my head, Porter stood at the edge of the lake with my bikini in one hand and his shirt in the other. He offered me both, and I eyed him.

After a beat of uncertainty, I decided to lean into the ongoing sex war and took the bikini.

He didn’t look away as I pulled it on, but he was quiet, and gave me space.

He didn’t comment on my radiating magic as we started toward the Manor. And he didn’t try to convince me to end the war, either.

We walked in silence.

It would’ve been awkward if it wasn’t so insanely tense.

I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Porter seemed strangely calm and laid-back. I had no idea what to think or feel about that.

“Do you want to shift and carry me back?” I asked him, a few minutes down the road. It was a long walk at human speed, and I wanted to get it over with quickly.

“Sure.” He stopped long enough to strip. Instead of handing me his clothes, like he had in the past, he left them on the ground.“I’ll come back for them,” he said, when he noticed me eyeing them.

He shifted, but I looked back at the clothes.

It seemed ridiculous for him to make another trip.

I grabbed the bundle before climbing onto his back and burying my hands in his fur. It was insanely soft. It took a lot of effort to resist running my fingers through it.

The warmth of his body felt ridiculously good against mine as I held on to him. And though I wouldn’t have admitted it, something about having him against me just feltright.

I slidoff Porter’s back and picked the foil-wrapped plates up off the floor in front of our room. He plucked them from my hands before I’d fully straightened, so I grabbed the door and opened it, still holding his clothes against my torso. When he set the food down on the bench at the foot of the bed, I handed his clothes back before slipping into the closet to change.

Everything still reeked of random men, but I hadn’t heard another word about it from Porter yet.

My bikini went back in the drawer (it was clean enough), and I pulled on a pair of loose sleep shorts and a bralette. I would’ve been more comfortable braless and in a cropped tee, but sacrifices had to be made for the sex war to be won.

Boob sacrifices were among the acceptable kinds.

When I emerged, Porter was sitting on the floor with a covered plate of food on his lap. I realized he was waiting for me before he ate, and I sat down closer to him than I genuinely wanted to be.

Though I liked feeling him against me, I wasn’t stupid enough to let myself get used to the comfort. Or even really embrace it.

He was going to be a jerk again.

And he was going to walk away again.

I grabbed my plate and unwrapped it, though he still hadn’t touched his own, and dug into the food. Steak, potatoes, and steamed veggies were a favorite of the wolves—and a definite win in my book.

“I’m doing everything wrong,” Porter said.

The words caught me off guard, but I didn’t stop the forkful of potatoes headed straight for my mouth.

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