Page 298 of Secret Shifters Next Door

Now? That hate and resentment seemed to be fading.

SIXTEEN

AVA

Grocery shopping was not one of my favorite tasks, but I needed to do it. My fridge was running low, and I’d been making extra food every day for the past two weeks. I’d eat my fill and drop off leftovers at Blayne’s door. It was one way for me to know he was at least getting something to eat. I’d bought him all that food a couple of weeks ago, but I had no way of knowing whether he was eating it. I could feel better about myself and him knowing he wasn’t slipping into a food-deprived coma.

So far, all I’d done was drop the food off and vanish back to my house before he came to the door. I hadn’t been able to face him in person yet. Not since I’d seen him shift, and those strange moments when he’d changed back to his human form. I remembered the heat of his body radiating and warming my skin, his face close enough that his breath tickled my neck and chest, and that way he’d looked at me…it had only been for a second, but I could have sworn I’d seen something there in his eyes.

It meant nothing. There couldn’t be anything there. Blayne had made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with me as a mate, and the only reason he’d agreed to try and be friends was because his panther needed me to be around. Thatwas my go-to response when that small part of my brain tried to say otherwise. But over the last several days, that tiny part of my mind had become more insistent. It forced me to remember the way my heart had raced when he’d been close enough to touch.

I blinked the thoughts away as I pushed my cart down the aisle, tossing pasta and rice into it. I swung through the produce section to grab fruit and bell peppers for dinner that night. I’d planned on making stuffed peppers for Blayne and me. It was easy and simple enough to separate into containers to leave on his porch. To complete the recipe, I needed canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. I had to go all the way across the store to the canned food aisle, and by the time I was there, my brain had reverted to thinking about what had happened with Blayne and me.

My eyes were staring at the can of tomatoes in my hand, but my mind was a thousand miles away. Questions and possible explanations bounced around like a wayward ping-pong ball. I never even heard the footsteps behind me.

“Do you always stare at cans like that?”

I jerked, dropping the can on the ground when I spun. Blayne stood there, one eyebrow crooked up, and the beginnings of a grin on his face as he watched the can roll away. My heart skipped a beat, and I glanced away.

“Uh, well, sorry. I mean, I was checking for sodium content. I have to make sure Dad doesn’t eat too much salt.” It was a lie, but at least it kind of explained why I’d zoned out, staring at a can of vegetables.

I bent to grab the can, assuming Blayne would go on shopping. Unfortunately, when I stood up, he was still staring at me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked lamely.

He shrugged. “Just wanna know why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Avoiding you?”

“Yeah. This is the first time I’ve talked to you in almost two weeks. What’s up with that? I mean, the free dinners have been delicious, but I thought you’d maybe check in with me. Especially after I found out hunters broke into your house.”

My cheeks flushed red. “Uncle Mike told you?”

“No, Sam did.”

“Shit,” I hissed.

He chuckled. “Yeah.”

I sighed, feeling like a mouse caught in a trap. “Sorry. My family took care of it and I didn’t think you’d want to be bothered with it. Not with everything else going on.”

“Well, you’ve still been coming over every day playing DoorDash. You don’t even knock.”

I was starting to panic, and had no idea why. Sweat slicked my back, and I could tell my cheeks were tinged with red. “I figured it was better not to bother you.”

“Why won’t you look at my face?”

He said that as I was doing my best to study the crooked wheels on my shopping cart. “I am looking at you.”

“No. You’re talking to me, but you’re not looking at me. I thought we were trying to be friends. Friends don’t avoid each other, and friends actually look at each other when they talk. Or am I misremembering the definition offriend? Do you still want to be friends?”

Lifting my head, I forced myself to meet his gaze. When I did, he smirked, and my heart did that weird little hiccup thing again. He raised an eyebrow, and my already-red cheeks blazed with more heat. I remembered that Liam could hear tiny things like heartbeats and smell pheromones. Christ, there was no way to hide anything from these damned guys.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy and there’s been a lot on my mind. With Dad and…other things. I guess I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Okay, cool. I get that, no problem. I do have to say, I’m a little worried about you staying away for long periods of time. I’ve got a very sensitive animal living in my head. He might get the wrong idea. Know what I mean?”

A sudden pit of guilt opened in my stomach. Christ, I’d totally forgotten. The whole reason I’d pushed my way into his life was to keep him and his damned panther from wasting away to nothing in a fit of depression. All because my brain was having a hard time with a thirty-second span of time in Blayne’s backyard. A look and a feeling. What were those compared to the real dangers he was facing?

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