Page 18 of Just in Time
I tugged my sweater up and over my head, thankful for the tank top I was wearing underneath. September in 1987 was warmer than September in 2018. I suppressed the urge to throw the sweater out and simply tied it around my waist. I gathered up my hair, which was getting frizzier by the second in the heat, and pulled it back into a messy bun on the back of my head. I could feel Brody’s eyes on me, so I reached down and fanned my tank top a little bit.
Of course, it was at that moment that I heard a low growl and I quickly moved closer to where Brody was standing.
The tawny wolf appeared out of nowhere, a bag clutched in its teeth that it dropped on the ground before turning back into a man.
It happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to avert my eyes. Indy grinned as he bent down, grabbing his jeans from the ground where he’d left them. He had them pulled up before it was too improper, but I’d already seen everything he had to offer. Twice.
I shifted nervously from foot to foot as he leaned down to grab the stuff out of the bag. “I figure you might need a spot to stay in, so I was gonna let you crash at my place… you’ll have to figure out something to tell my Momma, but besides that, you should be good. Momma ain’t a shifter, so she isn’t gonna smell ya or nothing.”
Indy looked over at me at that, his wide blue eyes going from my own to my neck to his own hands. “Not that y’all smell bad or anything…”
Gods, he didn’t look like a killer. Of course, killers rarely did, did they? That’s how they were able to kill.
Brody was damn near salivating, his teeth bared as he almost snarled at Indy.
Indy looked so shocked that he took a step back. “Whoa now… you don’t have to… I didn’t mean nothing by it, man. I wasn’t insulting your girl or nothing… she smells… she smells great, and that ain’t no lie…”
Brody snatched the bag from his hand. “Just leave it alone,” he said, a warning in his tone that made even me shiver a little.
This was a side of him that I rarely had to see. In fact, the only other time I’d seen it was when one of the patrons at Jolene’s had gotten fresh with me. But even then, it wasn’t as scary as this was.
I caught Indy’s confused gaze, but I quickly glanced down at my hands. Better not to get into this. The less we had to tell people about their futures, the better.
“So are y’all gonna stay at my place?” Indy asked, his tone bordering on patronizing. “Because if so, we need to run by the grocery to pick up a couple of things… I don’t suppose y’all have any money with you?”
“Nothing we could use, the dates are off,” I explained apologetically.
“It’s totally cool, don’t sweat it,” Indy replied.
“I need to talk to Lily,” Brody said gruffly, turning towards me and dragging me over to a couple of bushes.
Once behind them, I started to strip off my clothes, replacing my white jeans with a pair of high-waisted light wash jeans. The fit was actually pretty good, surprisingly. “What do we do?” asked Brody, undoing the button on his jeans. “We don’t have anywhere else to stay…”
I pulled on an oversized t-shirt after that, leaving my tank top on beneath it. I stuffed both the sweater and the jeans back into the bag. “Keep your enemies closer?” I wondered aloud. “If we try to sleep in the woods, that’s just one more thing to worry about. At least if we stay with Indy, we won’t throw up as many red flags to the locals. For all they know, we’re family of Indy’s or something.”
Brody nodded, obviously mulling over the options in his mind as he pulled on the other, decidedly older cut pair of jeans. He had a plain white t-shirt draped over his shoulder.
I tossed him his sneakers and socks from my bag. Nothing weird about a pair of Converse and tube socks. He’d fit right into 1987 Abernathy, VA.
“So we’re just going to… what? Stay in his house?” Brody asked.
“Do you have a better idea?” I asked. “And please do not say ‘sleep in a barn’, because I’d rather not wake up smelling like horse!”
Brody pressed his lips together and nodded. “I’m gonna roll all over wherever we’re sleeping though…” he grumbled under his breath. “Make it smell like me.”
I rolled my eyes, but reached out for him, pulling him close for a kiss. “Fine, you do that, Claws.”
He kissed me firmly, his breath huffing out against my face. “I will, watch me.”
I grabbed my purse and emerged from the bushes with my shifter in tow. “We would love to stay at your place, Indy,” I replied, mostly because I was pretty sure Brody couldn’t do it without growling again. And Indy had looked pretty freaked out when he’d done it before. “We are much obliged to you,” I added.
Indy grinned widely. “Alright, then. You wanna just follow me and we’ll head to the store. Probably need to put on shirts when we get there, Tex,” he leveled at Brody as he tugged a black t-shirt on over his muscled chest. “We’ll walk for Ms. Lily’s sake, though.” He winked at me, a gesture that made me feel strangely weak. And as I chastised myself for reacting to it, I felt Brody’s hand slide down over my ass, squeezing slightly before he swatted me. Marking his territory.
I’d have to remind him that while my ass might be his territory, his was mine as well.
But maybe not when we were staying at a shifter murderer legend’s house.
Murderer or not, that just felt rude.
