Page 11 of Cold Foot Revenge
Outside, Wolf Mask was closing the passenger door of her car. She walked around the front of it and made it to her driver’s side door before he caught up to her.
“Wait!” he called.
“Don’t be creepy,” she told him.
“Whoa, that’s rude. I’m not creepy.”
“What are you still doing here?” she yelled, clearly flustered.
“What do you mean?” He was confused and backed up a step, unsure of what to say. “I’m from here.”
“You got away, you idiot. You were away. You are free!” She dragged air into her lungs like she was fighting a sob. “You’re free so what are you doing coming back here?”
“My parents are here. My history is here. My ex, my old friends, the house I grew up in. The apartment I shared with my brother is three blocks that way,” he said, pointing up the road. “My first job was at that tire shop off McAllaster. I belong here.”
She shook her head over and over, staring at the grocery store.
“Those guys last night,” he said. “Are they your Crew?”
“They’re not mine.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But I’m in their Crew.” A frown knitted her delicate eyebrows, and she slid her glowing blue eyes to him. Oh, her animal was worked up. He could see it right at the surface. Even her cheekbones looked sharper now. “How do you know about Crews?”
“I’ve been with one. Actually, Garret’s officially in one.”
“What?” she asked softly.
“Yeah. Hey, do you know my brother too? How do you know us?”
“I…” Wolf Mask dropped her gaze to the ground. “Is Garret okay?”
“Yeah. He wasn’t for a while, but he landed well. He’s got a mate and a baby and everything.”
And now she wouldn’t look up at him.
“Did Garret mean something to you?” he asked, trying to figure this all out. Maybe they dated or something.
“I’ve never met him,” she uttered softly. She lifted her gaze back to his and forced a smile across her lips. “I’m glad for him. What Crew did he register to, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Dylan thought about not telling her, because he didn’t understand her connection to him or his brother, and that old instinct to protect Garret at all cost was a big one. But…she’d saved him from something he didn’t understand the other night, he thought, and so it felt right when he told her, “The Cold Foot Crew. He’s up in Wreck’s Mountains. He’s under the protection of Damon’s Mountains now.”
She lifted her forearm and stared at the gooseflesh that covered her skin there. “Well, that’s something I never would’ve imagined for him,” she said low. With a single nod of her head, she opened the driver’s side door. “That means you have even less of a reason to be here.”
“I have to find out,” Dylan said. “I have to know.”
“Have to find out what happened to him?” she asked, one leg in her car and one on solid ground.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll tell you what happened. He escaped something awful, and he ended up in the Cold Foot Crew as a part of Wreck’s Mountains, as a member of Damon’s Mountains, and now he can live happily ever after. That’s what happened to him.”
“What’s your name,” he asked as she moved to get into the car.
“What’s it matter to you?” she asked.
Dylan shrugged. “I know you don’t want to tell me anything. Maybe you’ll get in trouble, or maybe you know Garret’s Maker and you’re protecting them. I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to see you again though, and in my head, I’ve been calling you Wolf Mask.” He gestured to her face. “You’re even prettier like this, without all the jewels and the wig. It would be nice to know you’re name when I think about you.”
She stood there frozen, like a picture. Cut off shorts high on her tan, toned legs, tank top hugging her curves, toenails painted bright pink and matching her neon plastic flip flops, flyaway strands of hair whipping around her face in the breeze because they’d escaped her ponytail. Vibrant blue eyes full of emotions he had no guess at. She was pretty as a picture right now.
“I’ll give you a fruit roll-up if you tell me,” he bargained.
