Page 33 of Fighting Furry

I followed him onto the elevator. “How do you know Shelly?”

“She orders a shit-ton of flowers for her spa and her wife. I see her all the time. She's good people.”

“What's the plan?” I asked as the elevator doors slid open to reveal a delivery van parked directly in front of us, the back doors open.

“I'm getting you to the nearest car rental joint. That's what Shelly said.”

I looked at Axel to see if he had a better plan, but he shook his head. “Okay, then,” I said. “Let's go.”

Axel and I climbed into the back of the delivery van and sat on the cold metal floor. It smelled like flowers and stale water and had no windows. “Stay as far back as you can,” the kid said. “In case they can see in through the front windows.”

He slammed the door shut and, a moment later, got into the driver's seat. “Hold on tight,” he said, grinning back at us.

There was nothing to hold onto, but Axel wrapped an arm around my shoulders like he could hold me in place. The kid started the engine and ripped out of there so fast we both went sliding to the other side of the van. “Hey,” I shouted at him. “Drive like you always do or they'll get—”

But it was too late, he'd already pulled out onto the street, likely drawing the attention of every pap within a two-block radius. Axel and I slid to the other side of the van and then against the back doors as he floored it.

“This was a better idea than faking your death?” Axel asked, pulling me tight against him like he could protect me from the idiot driving the delivery van from hell.

“Still do,” I said as we slid back to the other side of the van.

Luckily, there was a rental car place just a couple miles from my condo. The kid let us out of the van and rushed off without a word of apology for his insane driving. Axel and I looked around and didn't see any paparazzi, so we hurried inside. I rented a sensible, basic truck - I'd have to ask Shelly to sell my car — and we left LA as fast as we could.

On the way out of the city, Axel called the rental company he'd used and told them where to pick up the truck he'd gotten for my move that was no longer happening. That done, he leaned back in the seat and started fiddling with the radio dial. I didn't complain, since we'd already established that we liked the same music. And we rode to Colorado in relative peace, only stopping three times to eat and making it back to Mule Creek just as the sun rose on a new day. My butt was sore, my stomach was growling, and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open by the time we rolled into town. Axel and I had taken turns driving, but it had been a long drive and I was beat.

I hit the blinker to turn onto Krista's road. “Keep straight,” Axel said. “You can't stay with Krista while she's under house arrest.”

My stomach sank. Was I homeless now, too? “Where can I stay? Is there a hotel around here?”

He snorted. “You can stay with me until you get your own place.”

“With you?” My heart picked up speed with something like panic. “That seems like a really bad idea. Surely there's someone looking for a roommate or a couch mate or something.”

“This is a small town. Most all the rooms are full and no one here knows you, they wouldn't want a stranger in their space.”

“What about Clarissa?” I asked. “She knows me, sort of. Does she have room?”

“Not unless you like sleeping in the bathtub. Here, turn left. Plus, Clarissa keeps odd hours and she's…Well, you don't want to live with her. Just come home with me and we'll find you a place to live as soon as we can.”

I felt sure I was missing something, but I was exhausted. We'd figure it out later. “Fine.”

“Here,” he said a few moments later. “Pull into this driveway.”

I pulled in and gazed up at the small log cabin. It didn't look much bigger than my condo. “This is the alpha's digs?”

“Don't need much,” he said. “It suits me.”

He got out and grabbed my suitcase from the trunk in the same time it took me to work my stiff body out of the driver's seat, stand, and stretch. “Come on in,” he said. He grabbed my hand, but I jerked it away. This all felt like too much. I was in his town and I was about to be in his house. It felt like a relationship and I didn't do relationships with big, gruff mountain men. Axel and I might be sexually compatible, but that's all it was. I would stay in Mule Creek until I got my wolf under control and then I'd move on. Until then, I needed some space.

He led the way into his house and it wasn't any bigger on the inside than it had looked on the outside. There was a decent-sized kitchen with an island, but no dining room table or couch, just a king-sized bed and a big-screen T.V. “Um,” I said, looking around. “Where am I going to sleep?”

He gestured to the bed. “There's plenty of room for both of us. You ready for bed now or do you want to eat first?”

“Food first. You got anything that won't take long to make?”

He nodded and headed into the kitchen. He pulled a plastic container out of the fridge, sniffed it, and held it out to me. “Smells like lasagna. Sound good?”

“Don't you know what you have in your own fridge?”

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