Page 28 of Entangled in the Woods
I found it interesting that Wilder had never gotten his fangs. Did it make him less appealing to other wolves, so he had to seek human companionship? Or maybe, like Everett had said, it was a major insecurity, causing Wilder to isolate himself from the restof the pack. Either way, I wasn’t interested in anything Wilder could offer, fangs or no fangs.
Everett and I joined back in on the conversation at the table. Jack was in the middle of animatedly telling the story of the last time Kostas had gotten drunk at this bar.
“He disappeared from the table. He was gone for five minutes. Longer than it takes a guy to piss,” Jack said. His eyes were lit up. Kleio was smiling, her fangs on full display.
Something warm sank onto my bare thigh, slowly getting heavier by the second. I glanced beneath the table, seeing a tan hand on my leg. I followed the tattooed arm it was attached to to the man sitting next to me. Everett continued following the story, acting as if this was normal behavior. His hand was on my thigh. Again. I didn’t move. A tingling sensation traveled down my leg—it seemed to come from his hand.
“I went to see what was going on, and I found him at the end of the hallway,” Jack was saying. “He never made it into the bathroom.”
My mouth fell open as I looked at Everett for any sign he knew where his hand was at this current moment, but he revealed nothing. If anything, maybe his lips upturned slightly. His thumb began making rubbing small circles along my inner thigh. Goose bumps peppered my skin, and he must’ve felt it. He increased the pressure of his thumb against my skin. His hand felt so warm against my skin that it was suddenly so cold. I shivered at his touch. My hearing went fuzzy for a moment. The only thing I could feel was Everett’s hand against my thigh. Stroking my skin slowly, as if he was relaxed in this situation. Like this was a casual touch between two lovers.
His calloused thumb drug across my skin, the rough texture stimulating. My mind went places it shouldn’t—his rough skin against my soft core… I was not relaxed. My muscles were tense and my core tightened. Everett was dangerously closed tothatarea. He could slip his hands beneath the shorts of the jumpsuit and… No one at the table would know.
Jack’s voice came roaring back into my ears. At first quiet, then loud. “He was stuck at the mirror at the end of the hallway, continually running into it and apologizing to his reflection.”
Everyone at the table laughed. Everett’s fingers squeezed my legs quickly before releasing my thigh and returning to the tabletop to grab his drink.
My reaction was delayed as if my body couldn’t send neurons fast enough to the part of my brain that controlled my reaction to stimulus. I looked around the table to see if anyone had seen what had just happened, but it seemed that no one had. Everyone continued laughing, unbothered. I laughed a little too loudly, trying to blend in, keeping my eyes trained on Everett. What had just happened? Last weekend I had been an unwanted guest at his shifter tournament, and now I was “beautiful” and worthy of a thigh squeeze?
I shivered, taking my eyes off him, trying to follow the conversation at the table. I had goose bumps again, this time because I had lost his touch.
“Hey, Elise. It’s late. We should head back.” Jenny interrupted the trance I was in. She stood behind my chair nervously, glancing at the shifters who sat around the table.
“Give me a minute—I’ll meet you out there,” I said. I didn’t want to leave, but Leo and Jenny were my ride home. She nodded and turned around to leave.
When I shifted back to the table, Everett looked at me and cocked his head to the side.
“Do you always do what people tell you to do?” he asked.
“No…I don’t,” I answered. Jenny and Leo were my ride—I wasn’t about to let them leave without me for the second Thursday in a row. We all saw how that had turned out for me the first time.
“I think you get easily persuaded to do a lot of things.”
My jaw dropped. Who did Everett think he was? We had barely had a full conversation. “I do not.”
“Who picked that outfit for you? I know you didn’t pick it for yourself. If you would have chosen an outfit, it would be some of those tight leggings and a baggy T-shirt.”
I frowned, but he wasn’t wrong.
“Who left you to hook up with Wilder last weekend? I’m gonna bet that it wasn’t entirely your idea.”
Everett had some nerve. I had said less than twenty words to him the entire time I’d known him, and he now was stepping over the line. His touch might’ve been confusing to me, but this entire conversation was getting too personal. What did he know about my decision making? Why did he even care?
I glared at him, and he gave me a confident smirk.
“Kleio.” I said her name louder than I intended. She immediately turned to look at me. I stood up, pushing my chair out from behind me with the back of my knees. “I’ve got to go.”
“Oh, okay,” Kleio said. She looked between Everett and me, somehow sensing the tension. She gave me a quick hug. “It was so nice to see you, Elise. I’ll see you soon.”
I didn’t think that would happen, but I nodded. “I’ll see you all…later,” I said to the table, avoiding eye contact with Everett. If he was going to comment on my decision making, I could easily show him I could decide not to acknowledge him.
I left the table and made my way to the door. Not once looking behind me, I walked through the exit and took a moment to calm my racing heart. Everett. Something about him just pushed my buttons.
“I think you get easily persuaded…”I mimicked is dumb deep voice as I searched through my purse to make sure I had all my things. “Who does that guy think he is?”
Scanning the parking lot, I saw the bed Leo’s truck sticking out from behind the side of the building, and I turned to walk that way.
As my body turned, I ran into what felt like a brick wall. A brick wall that was all muscle. I backed up a step and felt large hands grab the sides of my upper arms. That warm, tingly sensation shot through my arms and out of my fingertips. There was only one person I had met who could elicit such a feeling.
