Page 73 of Verses

“I’m okay.”

“Let’s get inside anyway.”

Once he’d shut and locked the door, I asked, “Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah.”

We were close to each other and I wasn’t about to move away. “You were so good with that woman. And I bet she wasn’t afraid at all with you there.”

“She might have been if she knew I had this.” Reaching behind, he pulled a gun out of the back of his jeans. I hadn’t noticed it there, obscured by his loose shirt. “If that guy hadcome in the house, I would have killed him. I don’t give a shit if he’s a cop. The Make My Day law is still in effect.”

“Yeah, but the cops—”

“I don’t care. You don’t fucking beat a woman like that.”

I was staring in his green eyes then, completely smitten. And I was breathless.

He must have known what I was thinking. “I’m a bad man, Hayley. You need to know that.”

“No, you’re not, Wolf. A bad man wouldn’t have done what you just did.”

“You’re seeing what you want to see, bird. I just told you I would have killed that motherfucker if he’d come in here.”

“Todefendher. That’s not bad.” I stroked his cheek with my fingers and his whiskers tickled my palm. He felt so warm against my body, and every nerve in me began tingling in anticipation of something that wasn’t going to happen.

“Rose-colored glasses,” he said, touching my nose with his finger. Then, breaking the spell, he walked toward his bedroom, gun in hand.

What the fuck was it going to take?

When he came back, he said, “We’re gonna have to see if there’s anything we can salvage for dinner—but think the steaks are completely ruined.”

I followed him out back, trying not to be upset, but I was tired of the mixed messages he kept sending me. I wanted to scream that at him, but it wouldn’t have mattered.

I was in the fucking friend zone.

“I guess I can use them as charcoal,” he said, using the tongs to remove them from the rack. When he placed them on the platter, they sounded like rocks. “At least we have the potatoes and salad, but I’ll owe you steak.”

We headed back inside and Wolf asked, “What would you like to drink? Wine? Beer? Something stronger?”

“I think we could both use something stronger—but I’ll stick with water.” I decided I was going to kiss this man the first chance I got, but if I had alcohol in my system, that would be a good excuse for him to push me away again.

And I didn’t want him to have any reason to refuse.

For now, I was going to fill my empty belly and just try to enjoy his company.

The potatoes were nice and warm and the butter melted easily inside. I didn’t want the sour cream Wolf offered, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted ranch or Italian on my salad. By the time I settled on ranch, Wolf had set two glasses of ice water in front of each of us before he sat next to me.

I decided to go for broke. “You’re an amazing guitarist.”

“Well…you’re an amazing vocalist. Guess it’s a good thing we’re in the same band.”

I laughed. “We match!”

“How’s the potato? Too dry?”

“No, it’s fine.”

After he ate a couple of bites, he said, “We should try writing a song together while you’re here.”

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