Page 22 of Death and Donuts

He stepped back and looked at Vena. “Thank you. I’ll make sure Doc is here for watch duty.”

Then he strode out of the kitchen.

“That was so damn hot,” she said as soon as the front door closed. “Seriously. I videoed it. Want to see?”

I turned my back on her as she lifted her phone.

“Nope, I don’t. I want to bake. Go watch TV or something.”

“What? No way. I want to talk about how you want to bang a wolf just as badly as I do. Just wait. These dates are going to pull you even further in.”

“Date, not dates. Vena, please. I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

The kiss with Shepard scrambled my brain and a bit of my heart. It left me feeling like there was a promise somewhere in there but that it also came with messy strings. Wolves didn’t docasual. It was the exact thing I had been driving home to Vena for weeks now.

I wasn’t ready for a relationship. I still had school, work, a new business venture, and…Cross.

“Seeing that lovefest and hearing Shepard talk about a date gives me the feels,” Vena said, oblivious to my torment. “The feels of jealousy. Why do you get two men drooling over you, and I’ve got a guy who is avoiding me? What does a girl have to do to get a guy to have sex with her? I hung my gloriously used lucky panties in his locker. I wore my padded bra that hikes my boobs up like a pearl necklace. And I drop things all the time and pick them up, showing off this delicious ass. No response. Nothing. All he does is run away with his snatch sniper, missing an easy mark.”

“He was here last night, so he’s not avoiding you. He bought you hiking boots when he saw yours falling apart, hand-sharpened your throwing knives, and took you on treasure-hunting dates. He likes you, Vena. You’re just a little much.”

“I’m perfectly enough much.”

“Remember when MC was chasing you and throwing himself at you? How did you react?”

“I ran away,” she mumbled.

“Is there a lesson here?”

She nodded. “Yep. No more chasing and no more beating around the bush.” She snorted. “That’s what he said.”

I shook my head at her.

“You’re right, Ev. I’ve been doing this all wrong.”

“I’m glad you’re being reasonable.”

“Instead of beating around the bush, I’m going to be blunt. He needs to beat my bush, or he can say goodbye to my briar box for good.”

I stifled a groan.

“Speaking of which, I think I’ll take a few minutes before work to spruce up the hedges.”

This time, I knew there would be no saving Anchor. He was on his own. I had too much going on with a different wolf. My lips still tingled from Shepard’s kiss.

As if Cross could sense it, a text with two different color swatches popped up on my phone.

Cross: Looking at colors for the bakery. One reminds me of your hair and the other of your grey eyes. Which one should be our accent color?

Me: Maybe we should choose a color that will make people hungry instead?

Cross: Both of these colors make me hungry. And it’ll feel like you’re here even when you’re not.

Damn. My heart was being pulled in two separate directions.

I thought of what Shepard had said about knowing him as a man and realized I didn’t know Cross like that either. Asking him out would only be fair since I agreed to go on a date with Shepard. However, I suspected spending more time with Cross to start up the business had spurred Shepard into asking for the date. If Shepard found out I wanted to date Cross as well?—

Squerk-squerk.

---