Page 82 of His Hungry Wolf

“If you had one, sure,” he said with a smirk.

“Okay, now you’re just being mean.”

Claude joyfully transferred his hands from mine to my waist.

“I just like you for who you are, Merri. Can’t you accept that?”

“You’re right, Claude. Thank you. I should just accept myself for who I am.”

“You should. Because what you are is wonderful. And it doesn’t matter if you have hands like a marionette or a bird-like feminine frame, I still like you.”

I stared at his grinning face with daggers in my eyes. Pulling away and walking off, I said,

“You know what, go back to Tennessee. No one wants you here. Goodbye.”

Beside himself with amusement, he followed, asking, “What? Was it something I said?”

“Bye.”

“No. Tell me. Did I say something wrong?”

“Goodbye,” I repeated, secretly elated to hear him follow me.

As annoying as he could be, maybe he wasn’t actually going to leave me again. And although it was my greatest fear, maybe I could trust him to be there for me after all.

Arriving back at my place unsure if I should forgive him for the horribly true things he had said, I was about to when my phone rang. Seeing me staring at the caller ID strangely, Claude asked,

“Who is it?”

“My ex, Jason.”

“Isn’t he the guy organizing the showcase?”

“Yeah,” I said, answering the phone with a bad feeling. “Hey, Jason. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to get to the point.”

“Okay.”

“Your friend can’t come to the showcase.”

My heart sank. Feeling the cold chill as the blood rushed from my face, I asked,

“Why not?”

“Because my therapist says that he thinks it’s unhealthy for me to keep doing favors for you considering the way you’ve treated me. And, frankly, I agree.”

I panicked.

“But that’s not what’s happening. You invited him because you saw his stats, remember? He’s good. And I’ve been working with him all summer. He’s better than he’s ever been.”

“I’m sorry, Merri. You acted the way you did when we were together because you thought it was what was best for you. Now, it’s my turn.”

“You can’t do this.”

“Because this is something that affects you instead of just me?” Jason asked bitterly.

“No. Why would you say that? I’m talking about Claude. He’s worked hard for this.”

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