Page 14 of Wolf's Chance

“Well, you won’t manage to walk by yourself.”

I knew what she was thinking. She was relentless in her determination. “I’ll be fine.”

He decided to be helpful by beingnothelpful. “You were just sleeping against the wall.”

Yes, I’m aware, thanks. “It happens.”

“It does?” His incredulity was worse than thetiredcomment. “Like narcolepsy?”

That actually made me laugh. “No, nothing like that.”

His finger slipped under my chin, and he tilted my head back to look at him. “You stare at my feet any longer and I won’t be sure you haven’t fallen asleep again.”

Looking into those molten pools of chocolate had me swaying on my feet for the wrong reason. He held my stare, and I saw him searching my face for…something. Lily cleared her throat, causing us to react differently. He stepped back as if he was scalded, and I jumped like a startled rabbit.

Both of us watched Lily try to cover her grin.

“So…”

“You want me to take Willow home?”

The dryness of his tone was lost on Lily. I, on the other hand, was painfully aware of it. “You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine.”

“She really shouldn’t be alone,” Lily told him with an exaggerated level of concern. She winked at me, and I knew I was going to throttle her. “I’ll get your purse.” She disappeared, my shout of protest falling on deaf ears.

His low chuckle made me turn to him. “It’s not funny.”

He nodded. “She’s subtle.”

“She really isn’t.” He had a dimple on his left cheek. It was a feature I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe because I hadn’t seen him smile.

“You’re staring,” he murmured.

“You don’t need to walk me home.”

He shrugged. “It’s not far.” We held each other’s stare. Did I call him out on the fact he just told me he knew where I lived? “Unless you live outside of town?” he added. “Otherwise, the town’s small, won’t take long.”

His stare never wavered as he lied to my face.

I had ME, I wasn’t weak.

“You can stop with the pretense.” My voice was soft, but he heard the challenge.

His eyes got darker as he watched me. “Well all right then.” He held his hand out to me. “You ready?”

Was I?

FIVE

Caleb

Willow watched me,her gaze dropping to my hand once before she took a step back, rejecting my offer. Her friend was back, chattering away like an annoying little yappy dog, but Willow listened and nodded in all the right places.

When those green eyes met mine, I realized the other girl had stopped talking.

“You ready?” I asked her again.

“What’s your name?”

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