Page 99 of Secret Shifters Next Door

“Okay,” I said, “I’ll be on the lookout. You gonna call the other guys? I’m really not in the mood to talk to anyone else.”

“I got it. Go home and rest.”

We hung up, and I drove the rest of the way home in a daze. I parked my truck and went inside to jump into the shower. As I let the water run down over my head and across my face, my mind slipped back to memories of April.

We’d been happy together. Yes, we’d basically been kids, but that love hadn’t been any less real because we were young. That happiness had turned to pain and then regret. How many years had I thought about what might have been if, on that day, I’d been honest with April and told her everything. How would she have reacted?

She was a human, and I was a bear. Before everything that happened with Tate and Harley, I’d believed we could never have kids. How many years would have gone by without us conceiving while I kept the biggest secret of my life? It would have been dishonest and unfair to April to keep it from her had we stayed together. If I’d told her, would she have accepted me? Or would she have looked at me like a monster? Well, it was too late now. I could never know what she would have said, because I’d been too much of a coward to do it back then. Now, there was only one thing I was certain of. I had to keep her safe from this hunter.

FIVE

APRIL

The clock on my phone read 4:00 a.m., and I’d tossed and turned for hours at that point. It was like there was no way I could relax enough to actually drift off to sleep. My stuff was all packed and ready for me to move to my new place the next day. All I could think about since coming home wasn’t the party or the new house. No. The only thing that kept springing up in my mind was Steff and the argument we’d had.

The second I got comfortable enough to drift off, my words would replay in my head. I’d basically told him he’d been a shit boyfriend, and deep down I knew that wasn’t true. Despite how things had ended, our relationship had been great. There’d been nothing bad about our time together, except how it ended.

Steff had been more than a boyfriend—he’d been my best friend. Since the day he left, I couldn’t remember anyone understanding me orknowingme the way he had. That was part of the reason it hurt so much when he left. I lost more than the love of my life, I’d lost the person who understood me better than anybody.

All these years later, I still had no clue as to why he’d ended things. Every thought I could imagine had flooded my mind in the months afterward—he’d gotten bored of me; he’dmet another girl; he’d realized he was gay and had met a guy; he wanted to sow his wild oats—but none of that made any sense. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer. Whatever the reason, even fifteen years later, it would hurt just as much.

My alarm went off at eight, and I dragged myself out of bed, having only managed a few hours of sleep. I stumbled into the bathroom and looked at my reflection. For an alleged supermodel, I looked like shit. Black bags under my eyes, pillow creases on my face, my hair was chaos, and what looked like a dried patch on my face where I’d drooled on myself.America’s sweetheart, my ass, I thought, and proceeded to get myself ready for the day.

Thirty minutes later, I went downstairs, yawning and still exhausted, but looking less like a troll. Kellan and Aiden were sitting at the table, eating waffles—probably from the box and frozen—and bacon. I breathed in, relishing the scent of bacon and syrup. One of the best things about being home was the food. I no longer kept to the same diet I followed when modeling, which basically consisted of a kale salad, baked fish, and maybe an apple if I wanted totreatmyself. My body had already lost some of the bony angularity I’d had when I got here. My curves were coming back, and I was pleasantly surprised to find my boobs had gotten bigger. No place like home.

“Please tell me you made enough for me?” I asked.

Kellan nudged a fork at a third plate, and I sighed in contentment. “You guys are the best.”

After breakfast, Kellan and I loaded my three suitcases into his SUV and got in along with Aiden. It was a little weird leaving his house. In a short time, it had really started to feel like home. On the other hand, I had butterflies of excitement just thinking of settling into my new place.

“Okay, where is this place?” Kellan asked.

“I’ll tell you where to go. Drive on, Jeeves.”

“Smartass,” he mumbled, putting the car into gear.

I gave him directions, telling him when to turn and what road to take. After two or three minutes, I noticed a frown on his face. Right before we got to my new neighborhood, he stopped at a stop sign and glanced at me.

“Are you gonna tell me to turn right?”

“Uh… yeah, actually.”

He shook his head. “Oh, man.”

I had no idea what that meant, but he turned as directed and immediately I saw the house. It was just as cute as I remembered it being when I’d first seen it. The little blue house stood right between two other homes. Quaint was the word that came to mind, and not in a bad way.

I pointed. “That’s it right there.”

Kellan sighed and pulled up to the curb. I could see by his expression that he was upset. I had no idea what his problem was.

Aiden unbuckled his seatbelt and bounced excitedly in his seat. “It’s Coach. Guys, look, it’s Coach Steff.”

My heart lurched, and my head snapped around. Steff had walked around from the back of the neighboring house. He was shirtless, a pair of work gloves on his hands. His body glistened with sweat, and the muscles in his arms and torso flexed as he walked. Beside him, an Australian shepherd padded along.

I gestured at the windshield toward Steff. “What the hell is he doing here?” I hissed, keeping my voice low so Aiden wouldn’t hear.

Kellan grimaced. “He’s here because he’s your damn neighbor. That’s why I was freaking out when we were getting close. I know where he lives, and your directions were taking us right to his house.”

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