Page 28 of No Saint
None of that mattered now, though. What did matter was getting off this trip down memory lane and the hell out of that house. Who knew if he’d feel so chivalrous as to give up his bed for a second night?
I glanced back at the door, the hum of the TV drifting through it, before I scanned the room. Where would I hide drugs? Carefully, I rummaged through his desk.
Nothing but papers and pencils, and another of those stupid penguins.
I moved to the dresser and yanked open the top drawer, searching through his clothes. When I closed it, something wobbled on top, and my hand shot out to steady the picture of him and his dad. My heart clenched at Wolf in his State football uniform, his dad beaming with pride beside him. He’d lost so much, more than anyone his age should have. I swiped at the tear that dropped onto my cheek and put down the picture. Then I forced myself to keep searching, but with a whole lot more guilt. He was blackmailing me! Why was that so easy to forget?
Eight
Jade
The next morning, I woke to snuffling in my ear. “Stop.” I squinted at the furry little barrel of a dog. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here.”
I glanced at the cracked door and groaned. All my ranting about wanting a room with a lock, and I hadn’t remembered to use it. I’d been too eager to search through his stuff.
A wet tongue swept my cheek. “Dog is not a proper name. You need another one.” I scruffed behind his pointy ears. “I shall call you…Squishy.” My childhood obsession withFinding Nemohad apparently not done me any favors.
The little fox look-alike tilted his head like he understood me, then went to the end of the bed and frantically dug up the comforter.
Something clattered in the bathroom, and my gaze shot to the closed en-suite door. That was when I realized the shower was running. There was only one person who would be using Wolf’s shower—Wolf. God, I really needed to be more observant if I was going to live in this house. And seeing as I found absolutely nothing last night, that could be for a while.
The water cut off, and I panicked. I really did not want to be here when he came out, but I couldn’t go downstairs in my sleep shorts—or didn’t want to. I could get changed, but…I glanced around the room for my bag—my bag I had left in my car. Dammit. Just as my bare feet hit the floor, the lock clicked. I froze like a possum, ready to play dead, when the bathroom door swung open.
Steam billowed around Wolf’s hulking, barely towel-covered figure. My attention swept from the top of his muscular chest, down abs that could have been chiseled by God himself, to the deep V-lines that slipped beneath that towel. My mouth went dry, and it took everything in me not to gawk openly. My face was already hot, though. Thankfully, Squishy leaped off the bed and shot a lap around the room, for no reason, granting me a much-needed distraction from all that skin, and hopefully drawing Wolf’s attention from my, no doubt, tomato-red cheeks.
“Sorry, I slept late.” I pushed to my feet, feeling super awkward about taking over his space. “I’ll go.” Even thoughhewas the one forcing me to be in this house.
“It’s fine. I’m about to leave.”
Dog followed Wolf across the room, licking water from his leg when he stopped in front of the dresser. He yanked one of the drawers open, and the picture on the top wobbled, the same way it had last night when I’d snooped in there.
His hand shot out to steady it. He paused for a moment, seeming to stare at the photograph. Once again, a jagged lump of guilt lodged in my throat at the memory of Wolf’s hurt expression yesterday.
“Wolf, I…” God, it was true that the longer something was left, the harder it was to say. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
His back muscles tensed before he slammed the drawer shut so hard that the picture fell with a resounding clack. That time, he didn’t bother trying to save it. “A year too late, don’t youthink?” The venom in his voice had me wanting to recoil, to escape the uncomfortable sense that maybe I had been in the wrong.
“I know.” I wanted to apologize for apologizing. “I didn’t know how to?—”
“How to what, Jade?” He turned from the dresser, his angry gaze aimed right at me. “Be a decent fucking person?” Without shame, he dropped the towel, and I snapped my attention to the wall directly in front of me. He knew how to make me uncomfortable.
The guilt I’d felt moments ago slowly ebbed into anger. What had he expected from me? I had tried to text him, to offer my condolences, but it hadn’t gone through. Just like all my other attempts to contact him. He was the one who’d changed his number. Sure, I could have asked Monroe for his new one, but he clearly didn’t want me to have it, so I’d refused to. I took it as a clear message that I wasn’t welcome in his life or at the funeral. My own heartbreak over him moving on so quickly with Nora didn’t help. I was shattered, and now I was mad at him for acting like he’d needed me when he’d had her. But the anger didn’t change the look of hurt on his face. It didn’t alleviate the guilt I felt—misplaced or not.
“You’re right.” I shielded my face with my hand, blocking my view of his naked body as I hurried to the bathroom. “Sorry I brought it up.”
I closed the door and leaned against the wood, sucking in several calming breaths. Some things were unforgivable. On both our parts.
Thankfully, after I’d showered, Wolf was gone.
My bag, the one I’d left in my car last night, sat on the bed. Damn him for still being thoughtful. My mind and heart couldn’thandle the emotional rollercoaster of contradictions. But I was no closer to locating anything incriminating to change the situation. There were drugs somewhere in this house, though. I just had to find them.
After I dressed, I went downstairs, following the rustle of plastic bags into the kitchen where Cassie was placing several Wal-E-Mart sacks on the counter. Her hair looked like a bird’s nest, and I was pretty sure her shirt was on inside out.
“Why are you shopping before—” I checked my watch. “Seven thirty in the morning?” I wasn’t sure Cassie had ever been awake before seven, unless she was rolling in at that time.
“I went to get the shopping list Rogue requested for breakfast.” She definitely should have sounded more pissed about that. I’d clearly entered some twilight zone.
“What are you, his personal assistant all of a sudden?”
