Page 38 of Can't Be Love

Ruby laughed. “Those six have been running together since they were just small pups. Practically inseparable. They didn’t earn their name till they hit high school, though. They all bulked up, working out obsessively for football. They were practically unstoppable. When they rightfully developed six-pack abs and spent an entire summer showing them off, they acquired the name and it’s never gone away. They are legendary across the Packs. I can’t believe you’ve never heard of them.”

I snorted. “If it started with ‘Thomas Collier . . .,’ I promise you I tuned it out and didn’t want to hear about it.”

“Ouch,” Wyatt said. “Don’t you be going and breaking my boy’s heart, now. I kind of got the vibe there might be something between the two of you.”

I looked at him in all seriousness. “If you had said that a week ago, I’d have given you a good tongue lashing and probably kneed you in the ?nads. Old habits die hard.”

Wyatt chuckled. “Looks like you got your hands full with this one, Collier.”

Thomas smiled that full, irresistible, slightly crooked smile. “I’ll manage.”

“He ain’t denying it neither,” Wyatt said, winking at me and walking away.

“Ruby?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“Is Collier Pack as big a bunch of gossips as Westin?”

“Probably even worse,” she admitted.

“There’s really little point in trying to hide this, is there?”

“You mean, you mating my brother?”

I looked at her guiltily. “Yup.”

“Half the town’s already abuzz about it, girl. Most are a little shocked. Torn because of . . .” She caught herself and stopped.

“Because of Sydney,” I added.

“You know about her?”

“Well, yeah, she’s kind of my only friend in town,” I confessed.

Ruby put her arm around me. “That’s not true. Lizzy, Clara, Peyton, Shelby, and I are all here. I think you’ll really like Kate, and many others as you meet people. If you decide to go through with it and bond with Thomas, this will be your home. Your Pack.”

“I’m okay with that, Ruby. I’ve always loved it here in Collier. It’s just . . .” I didn’t quite know how to verbalize it.

“My brother is the biggest douchebag on the planet and the last person in this world you ever expected to mate.”

“Pretty much.”

“I know you channeled all your emotions about Maddie’s disappearance onto him. He wasn’t around to defend that line of thinking, and you never wanted to hear otherwise. I can’t imagine the war waging inside of you right now. At some point you’re going to have to talk to him about it.”

I gave her a half smile. “We talked a lot about it all, everything really, earlier today. I’m just trying my best to process it. It’s a lot to take in.”

“It was easier to hate him than to love him, huh?”

“Love?” I snorted. “I don’t love him. I can’t. No way, that’s Thomas!” I protested.

She gave me a knowing look as Thomas rode up on a large white stallion. “Lil, want to go for a ride?” he yelled as he approached.

“This can’t be love,” I whispered harshly under my breath as Ruby laughed in my ear. “Damn, that might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” I confessed as he approached on horseback. “When the hell did that happen? Lust? Maybe, but definitely not love,” I told her before he was within earshot.

He rode up on that white stallion with a double saddle already in place. He leaned down and grabbed my arm and swung me up in one smooth motion, like something you’d see in a movie. I settled into the seat behind him and gave a quick wave to Ruby as he took off at a trot.

It had been a long time since I’d been on a horse. I was grateful not to be the one in control. My arms instinctively wrapped around his waist as I held on tightly. Wyatt was waiting at the pasture gate, opening it so we could pass through, and closing it behind us. I looked back at him over my shoulder as he tipped his hat to me with a grin.

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