Page 18 of Losing My Rejection

I saw Josh grin off to the side. He’d been pretending not to pay attention to our conversation, but clearly he was listening to every word. Seeing a smile on his face brought joy to my heart, even though I had no reason to lay claim to it. Maybe this day was just what he needed to come out of his shell a little bit.

“So…” he began, drawing our attention over to him. “What’s this full moon party all about?”

“Lots of barbeque, great food, beer, and a big bonfire out on the beach,” Matt replied first. “I guess Sam has a couple a year, although this will be my first one.”

“Sam has a friend in the park service that lets us have them,” Ace added. “So it’s just wolves.”

Josh looked over at me like he was searching for permission. “I… I might want to go…”

“Of course,” I said, a burst of warmth flowing through my chest. “I sort of hoped that if you got to know some people, you might change your mind.”

“I know,” he nodded. “I… I just…”

Matt put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright,” he said, giving him a pat. “We get it. All of us have been where you are now. I just arrived a few months ago. Believe me, we get how hard it can be.”

“Nobody’s gonna be annoyed that I’m such a downer?”

“Not at all!” I chimed in. “It happens. And, if you get tired of talking, you can just shift and run around to your heart’s content. There’s no expectations. Besides,” I gestured to all of us. “You’ve got friends now, so you won’t be there alone.”

My heart lit up as I saw a small grin pull at the corner of his mouth.

“Friends,” he repeated, as if trying to convince himself he’d heard right. “I like the sound of that.”

Chapter Ten: Josh

The parking lot had a lot more cars than I expected when I pulled up to Sam’s party a few days later. Even thought it wasn’t due to start for another half hour or so, there were already several people milling about with beers in their hands. I spotted Andy’s bakery van and parked next to it, knowing I needed to help him unload the food. He’d agreed to bake for the party, but he’d also volunteered to pick up all the food from the caterer as well. So it was up to us to get everything set up.

“There you are!” Andy called, the moment I stepped out of my car. “You’re right on time! I need your help with a couple of these bigger trays.”

I glanced nervously at the pavilion where a few people had turned our direction. I saw Sam, smiling and waving in my direction. All I could do was nod before I put my head down and started to unload the van.

With the pair of us, it only took a handful of minutes to get the food transported to the pavilion. After that it was just a matter of setting up the racks and warmers so that everything stayed fresh. Just outside of the building was a large hog roaster that looked like it had been going all day. Sam was hanging around it, talking to the guy who was doing all the cooking, but eventually he came over to us.

“Can I get you two anything to drink?” he asked. “I brought a lot of extra beer for my food people. It’s the least I could do.”

“Wine coolers?” Andy asked.

Sam shook his head. “You know I brought fruity stuff for you, don’t worry.” He turned back to me. “What do you want, Josh?”

“Just beer is fine with me.”

Sam gave me a once over. “Judging by how fit you are, I bet you don’t drink light.”

“I’m not particular.”

He narrowed his eyes. “How old are you again?”

“Twenty-one,” I sighed. “But I doubt it matters considering everyone here is a werewolf and we’ve got the place to ourselves all night.”

“Are you gonna get wasted and cause a problem?” he joked.

I just glared at him.

“Right. Leaded beer it is.”

With that, he walked off toward a pair of big coolers.

“He’s just messing with you,” Andy said, the heat of his body suddenly close. “Sam’s all about making people smile.”

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