Page 10 of Tender Wild

But he couldn’t let Jared leave thinking Miguel wasn’t happy to see him. Shit. Jared was all he’d thought about since that night.

Miguel sprinted after him, his boots thudding on the wooden floor. The heat hit him like a wall when he burst outside, sweat immediately forming on his forehead.

“Jared, wait.” Miguel caught up to him at his beat-up Honda Civic, gently grasping his arm just as he reached for the door handle. “I’m sorry, cariño. I’m being an asshole.”

Jared turned, the setting sun catching gold flecks in his eyes. “What’s with you today? The Miguel I’ve been texting for a week isn’t the guy who just looked through me back there.”

His words hit harder than Miguel expected. Those eyes held him accountable in a way no one else’s could.

“Our conversations were always lighthearted. I looked forward to your texts.” Jared crossed his arms, keys jingling in his grip. “Now you act like I’m a problem you need to solve.”

Miguel blinked, genuinely caught off guard. Jared had looked forward to his texts? The admission settled somewhere beneath his ribs, warm and surprising.

“I had…a day.” He ran a hand through his hair, the afternoon sun baking the pavement beneath them. “Bad shit went down. But that’s not on you, and I shouldn’t make it your problem.”

Miguel forced himself to breathe past the tightness in his chest, to push back the reel of horror playing behind his eyes. Six bodies. Diablo’s face, blood from his busted mouth.

The dart.

Not now.

“Then why didn’t you just say that?” Jared’s eyes softened, anger giving way to concern. “Instead of making me feel like an idiot for showing up?”

“Because I’m not good at this.” He gestured between them. “Whatever this is.”

Jared bit his lip. “And what exactly is ‘this’?”

“You. Me. The fact that I’ve been thinking about you since you left.” The admission slipped out before he could stop it. “The way you laugh at my dumb jokes through the phone.”

“Look, I’m not asking for your life story,” Jared continued. “Just don’t act like I’m intruding. Every night we talk until one of us falls asleep. I thought—” He cut himself off, then glanced away. “Forget it.”

“When you thought what?” Miguel tilted his head, wanting to know more than anything what he was about to say.

“When I thought you might actually want me here.” He shrugged. “Whatever. Clearly I misread things.”

Miguel stepped closer, close enough to catch the scent of Jared’s cologne—something citrusy and bright that didn’t belong anywhere near the darkness clouding his mind.

“You didn’t misread anything, cariño,” he said, voice low. “I fight not to be the first one to fall asleep.”

Jared’s mouth opened slightly, eyes widening. “Really?”

“Yes.” The quiet admission hung in the air between them. Miguel ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling exposed under the blazing sun. “Really fucking do. I want you to stay. Please.”

Flashes of mangled bodies and blood-soaked concrete kept invading his thoughts. Miguel pushed them aside, forcing himself to concentrate on the kitty cat in front of him.

Jared studied him, as if searching for something. Whatever he found must have been enough, because his posture softened. “So what do you want to do? Because I’m not feeling the darts scene anymore.”

Relief flooded through Miguel. “How about pool instead? Or we could grab something to eat?”

Jared’s stomach answered for him with a loud rumble. His eyes widened, embarrassment flashing across his face.

“Kitchen it is.” Miguel’s lips twitched into the first genuine smile since this morning.

“Don’t make it weird.” Jared looked away, his cheeks flushing.

“Never.” He winked. “Cesar’s busy at the bar, but I can throw something together.”

They walked back inside, Miguel holding the door, his wolf snarling softly as Jared passed. Inside, he led Jared through the main room, and through the entryway into the tavern’s kitchen. The room was empty. Miguel turned up the lights, revealing jars of spices and hanging pots above a center island. Counters gleamed under fluorescent lights, and the air smelled faintly of grease and cleaning solution.

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