Page 58 of Seduced By the Werewolves

“I know. It doesn’t make sense. Why would someone be following me?” A shiver ripples down my spine. “They did it a while ago, too. Same car. I thought it was weird then, but for it to happen again today…”

I trail off. I must sound like an idiot. I’m not special enough for someone to be following me, I know that.

Suddenly, Eli opens the door to my car, and I’m tempted to reach over and yank it closed again. I realize that I’m scared right out of my skin, and adrenaline is coursing hot through my veins, so even Eli is making me want to flee like a rabbit. But he settles in my passenger seat anyway.

“Is that why you came by?” he asks. “To get them off your tail?”

“I thought if I stopped near other people, they would piss off,” I say, clenching my hands on the steering wheel to stop them from shaking.

“You hoped Leon and the others might be here?”

I nod slowly, feeling like I’m stepping into a trap.

“I see.” Eli looks out the front windshield. “And were you disappointed to find it was just me?”

Now, surprise seeps in through my fear. Is Eli offended? I think I’ve said the exact wrong thing.

“I’m actually glad you were here,” I say. And that’s the truth. I remember the day when I met them, and Eli was the one who led me to the truck bed to sit down. He seemed to know what I was feeling, and how to help me through it. He made sure that I had space to think when Leon and I had conflict. Even though we didn’t leave it on the best terms on the mini-golf course, I also felt like he understood me—like perhaps he even struggles as much as I do with his own emotional turmoil.

“Hmm.” Eli continues looking straight ahead. “Well, looks like your tail is gone now, so you can probably head home if you want.” He reaches for the door handle to let himself out. “I’m just cleaning up here because I drew the short straw. I’m sure if you needed company, you could go find my brothers at Lucky’s.”

Sure, seeing the others sounds good, but now that Eli’s here, I don’t want him to go. I want to understand what happened yesterday, why he left in such a rush. I’m definitely not ready to drive again; my hands are still trembling, and my heart is speeding along like a runaway train. I think I might get into a wreck if I tried to get myself home.

“Can I just stay here with you while you clean up?” I ask at last. His eyebrows rise almost to his hair.

“You want to hang out here?” That frown deepens. “I’m getting dirt everywhere.”

“I probably shouldn’t drive for a while.” I’m afraid of saying what I want to say: that I want his company, that I want to understand him and find out how to repair the bridge between us. But what if he rejects me? I can’t take that right now. “It would be nice to talk to you until I calm down.”

“I see.” His mouth opens like he’s going to continue, then he closes it again. It seems like Eli is trying hard not to say all the things he wants to, and I wish I could tell him it was all right to speak his mind, and I’m not afraid of how he really feels about me. It would hurt my feelings to hear out loud, but I can bear it if it means I know the truth. I’d prefer that over perpetually wondering.

Eventually, Eli gets out of the car. “All right.” He turns around and walks away without sparing me another look. “I’ll be about half an hour, so you can hang out until then.”

I emerge from the car, too, and head over to the work site, where the guys have dug a trench and are filling it with wooden squares.

“What are those?” I ask, peering down into the trench.

Eli sighs as he gathers up tools. “Frames for pouring concrete.”

I get the sense my question annoyed him, so I don’t say anything else as he works. The thick muscles of his back flex as he picks up heavy bags and carries them to the truck bed, tossing them into the back. Not sure where else I belong, I open the passenger side door and flop down on the seat, just watching him as he wipes the sweat off his forehead. Even though the sun’s gone down, it’s still pretty warm out. If he’s losing all that moisture, he must be getting dehydrated.

I look around for a water bottle, but there’s nothing in sight, so I head over to my car to grab mine out of my bag. When I approach him with the water bottle, Eli glances up. For a split second, I see the sweet, friendly guy who first said hello to me.

“You’re sweating bullets,” I say, handing him the bottle. “And you need to stay hydrated.”

He glances down at the bottle, then back up at me, one eyebrow arched. After a moment of hesitation, he flicks back the lid of the bottle and chugs it down.

“Thanks.” He hands the empty bottle back to me. “I’m gonna be wrapping up here soon.”

I’m not shaking anymore, and I think I’m good to drive home given I don’t run into any more creepy black SUVs on the way.

“Right. I’ll go, too. Thank you for keeping me company.” I glance up at him. “Can you, um, not tell Leon and the others about this? I don’t want them to worry.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “You want me to keep it a secret that you’re being followed?”

I swallow. “Yeah. Just between us? For now. Until I find out what’s going on. I know they’ll freak out.”

Eli considers this, then nods. “I won’t say anything. They would probably overreact, like they always do when it comes to you.”

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