Page 25 of Fastlander Fallen

She forced a smile onto her face and huffed a breath. “Ace, I’m really happy for you. You’re doing it.” She stuck her hand out for a shake, but for some reason it didn’t feel right. It was such a formal and cold goodbye. Her hand hovered in the air though.

He slid his hand around hers and marveled at the small size of hers compared to his.

“It was really nice to meet you, and also to drink Ratsquatch beer with you.”

“And almost eat a celery stick with me.” There was that pretty smile. “Can I text you later?”

“Ummm, I think you are all going out tonight. Hint, Gunner is going to test you. He is going to see how all of you behave in a busy bar.”

“What bar?” he asked.

“Didn’t catch that part.”

Gunner was still calling out the names of the finalists.

Ace inhaled deeply and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I should probably get a shirt before then, huh?”

“If you want the attention of every girl in the bar, you should go just like this,” she said. “See you when I see you, Ace.”

She was sad, and confused. He could tell. He didn’t like her feeling down as she walked away. It didn’t sit right with him.

Hallie was being Turned, and that was her right. Honestly, she would do better in this Crew as a shifter instead of a human. She would be safer.

But he also understood Corey’s confusion over it. She’d already told him she felt like she was losing Hallie.

In a way, she was.

He parted his lips to tell her he didn’t want other girls’ attention at the bar tonight, but then stopped himself. She was checked out and wouldn’t care about that admission. He wished he could tell her he was sort of interested in her attention, but it was too soon, and too fast.

And she was having a hard moment. He needed to be a gentleman and let her sit with her feelings until she figured them out.

“Hey, Ace!” Owen called, gesturing him over.

He gave the boar shifter a two-fingered ‘I-will-be-right-there’ wave, and watched Corey get into her car. He watched her pull away, and didn’t leave the mouth of the gravel road until she had disappeared down into the woods. Only then did he turn and make his way back to the others to get his instructions on what he would need to do for the final round.

The whole time Gunner and Damon spoke, he couldn’t keep his mind focused on anything but the look on Corey’s face as she’d told him about Hallie Turning.

He didn’t like the sadness on her. It didn’t fit.

Time and time again, he looked to the mouth of the gravel road, but she was gone. He couldn’t even hear the engine of her car anymore.

When he looked back up, Hallie was watching him. He cleared his throat and straightened back up, tried his best to focus on what Gunner was saying.

As soon as the Alpha of the Fastlanders dismissed them, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and texted Corey something his dad had always messaged him on a bad day.

Everything is going to be okay.

Chapter Six

If Corey was a shifter, she would be a starfish.

She stretched her arms and legs even wider and let off another dramatic sigh as she watched the slow-moving ceiling fan above her, and tried to cry.

She hadn’t been able to since Hallie had moved out.

Maybe she was emotionally constipated.

She tried to sob, but it didn’t catch, and she ended up sounding like a braying donkey, which made her laugh.

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