Page 12 of Stripped

What was wrong with everyone? “We're not really—”

She pulled away. “I know, but maybe you should be.”

With those words, she waved and left. I shook my head and shut the door behind her. Werewolves were strange.

Zane appeared beside me. He stopped, his eyes meeting mine. “You look like hell,” he said. “You should finish eating and go back to bed.”

I put my hands on my hips, mostly so he couldn't see them shaking. “I get that you're here to protect me and I appreciate that, but I won't be told what to do. I've lived on my own a long time, and I know how to handle myself.”

His expression hardened. “You ever had a concussion before?”

“My medical history is none of your concern. I'm going to finish breakfast, and then I'm going to work. You can go with me or you can leave.”

He studied me for a long moment, considering his options, I assumed. “I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here, but Axel is my alpha and my friend. It's important to him that you're kept safe, so it's important to me. I'll try to respect your right to live your life the way you want, but if you're at risk, I'm going to overrule you.” He stepped in closer, his body radiating tension and… Annoyance? “I'll keep you safe, even if I have to tie you to the bed to do it.”

He spoke the last in a low, rumbly voice that vibrated through me. If our situation was one degree different, I'd think he was flirting with me. Was Carly right about me never noticing when a guy was flirting? It didn't matter, because I wasn't interested in Zane. “I'm not an idiot or unreasonable,” I said. “If I'm in danger, I'll do whatever you ask, but I'm not going to quit working or hide in my bedroom just because I'm a little dizzy.”

He nodded and took a step back. “Good. In my opinion you should rest, but Axel didn't say anything about preserving your brain health, so I'll let it go.”

I felt like sticking my tongue out at him or kicking him in the shin, but the shakiness in my hands had spread to my legs and I really needed to sit down. I made my way to the table without pitching onto my face.

Carly smiled and winked at me. I wanted to ask her what she was trying to communicate, but Zane walked in. “Now that I've got clothes, I'm going to shower. We can leave when I'm done.”

He headed to the back of my place and I tried to ignore Carly's eyes on me, but I knew she wouldn't let it go until I'd looked at her. “What?”

She grinned. “He is volcanic hot and totally into you.”

“He is not even a little bit into me, he—”

“Can't take his eyes off you whenever you aren't looking, and he was the one who insisted on watching you while I made breakfast. Isn't that so sweet?”

“If you think stalkers are sweet. Sure.”

She was in no mood to be deterred. “Don't mess this up like you usually do, Abs. I'm telling you, he's into you and he's a good guy, nice, even if he doesn't have much of a sense of humor. Just flirt back, quit being so mean to him.”

I almost choked on my grits. “I'm not being mean to him. He's the one who barged into my life and started bossing me around.”

“He's here to look out for you, and I think it's sweet that he wants to take care of you, that he's worried about your brain health.” She sighed. “I just want you to be happy, Abby.”

“I am happy.” So what if I was no closer to my goal of moving to Denver and seeing the world? So what if I couldn't sleep sometimes because I missed my parents so much? That was just life.

Carly frowned. “No. You're not. The girls and I think you're lonely, Abby. You should be living your life, chasing your dreams, making love to hot guys, not taking care of a club that's falling apart and worrying about us. We can take care of ourselves, you know.”

“Of course, you can,” I said, even though I didn't actually believe it. “But I can't go to Denver with nothing. I just need more time, to save up some more money, and I'll go. I promise.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “I know you're my boss and I'm supposed to be respectful, but that's a steaming load of bullshit.”

“Ready to go?” Zane asked, stepping into the living room, which was about two feet from the table where we were sitting.

I hopped to my feet, the room going blurry. I swiped at my eyes surprised to find wetness there. This concussion was making me crazy.

“I'm ready,” I said.

“Me, too,” Carly said. “I'm ready to clean the hell out of The Booty Carousel.”

Zane gestured her toward the front door and wrapped an arm around my waist. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure you don't fall over and hurt yourself.”

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