Page 48 of Roaring Flames

“You’re being disgusting,” Dec corrects.

“Sex isn’t disgusting,” Kain counters immediately. “It’s a normal activity?—”

“Seriously, Kain. Don’t fucking test me…” Jake glares at his teammate, and Kain finally lifts his hands in the air in mock surrender.

“Fine, fine. I’ll knock it off.”

“And for the record, I didn’t have sex with Ansel,” I bite out. “Not that it’s any of your business. We just hung out.”

Kain looks as if he wants to say something—probably a lewd or perverted joke—but one warning glare from Jake has him snapping his mouth closed.

“Where is he anyway?” Dec asks, dipping his french fry into a pile of ketchup.

“Library. He had to study for a test.”

Ansel apologized profusely that he couldn’t sit by me at lunch, and I felt those butterflies return with a vengeance. I don’t know how so much could’ve changed between us in a span of a day, but it did.

“I just wish you had come home last night,” Jake murmurs, pouting. “I had things planned.”

“Things?”

“You know…presents and cake and all that stuff. We’ll just have to celebrate your birthday tonight.”

My smile fades. “I don’t know…”

“Did something happen?” Jake asks, concerned. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

His earnest eyes ensnare my own.

Is it possible that Jake knows the truth about Hale, Gerry, and the others? Is he a part of the supernatural world as well? Or has he been in the dark this entire time, just like I was?

I want to demand answers, but now isn’t the time. Kain is grinning at me with a decidedly shark-like smile—one thatclearly states he scented blood in the water and is coming in for the kill.

“Later,” I promise Jake, and I’m not just talking about the birthday celebrations.

Later, we’ll talk. Later, I’ll get my answers. Later, he’ll learn the truth.

His brows furrow at whatever expression he sees on my face before he nods once. “Okay, but I think—” A frosty scowl overtakes his features. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I don’t even need to look over my shoulder to know who has just arrived. I can sense him the way I can my own limb. Heat permeates the air around me and seeps through my skin, alighting me from the inside out. I rub absently at the mark on my wrist as wave after wave of fire ripples through me.

“Izzy.” Emery’s voice is a dark, husky growl that reverberates through me. “We need to talk. Now.”

Eighteen

IZZY

“I’d think very carefully about what you want to say next,” I warn, narrowing my eyes at the ridiculously handsome wolf shifter.

Seriously, why couldn’t he be ugly? It would be so much easier to ignore him if he were sporting a penis nose or had ass cheeks for hair.

Emery grits his teeth together but manages to bite out, “Can we talk, Izzy? Please?”

“Was that so hard?” I give him a sardonic smile, which causes his right eye to twitch. “And to answer your question…no.”

“No?” One of his brows arches in obvious disbelief.

“You heard me. No.” I swivel around on the bench to face the others once more. “Now, what were we talking about again?”

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