Page 58 of As The Shifter World Turns

Micah

“Come home with me.” I hated to sound so needy, especially when I was knotted to Archer, but there it was.

“I can’t. I’m not done here.” He held my arm around him, his back to my front as we spooned on his bed. “If I could, I would. You know that, right?”

Running into Liam had not been unusual. I’d known him from when he sold his place and we kind of hit it off. But we weren’t even close to what you’d call friends and yet when he asked how I was doing, I decided it was a good time to spill all the misery that was my lonely heart. It was not my best moment.

“I saw Liam the other day.” And wish I hadn’t because nothing I was about to say sounded anything at all close to non-controlling.

“I always forget you know him. Did he tell you how awesome I’m doing?” he chuckled.

“Sort of.” I kissed his shoulder. “He said that if you wanted to come back early, you could.” His body tensed and I instantly regretted saying anything. This was not my business. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said jack shit.” I kissed his shoulder again. “I just miss you so.”

His voice had a hint of steel as he replied, “It's not your place. He’s my boss and you're my...” His voice trailed away. He wasn’t wrong. “I might not be as old as you or have my work shit together like you, but I’m not a kid.”

Fuck. I hadn’t even thought of it that way. I’d been so freaking worried about my feelings. My feelings… what a joke. I was the one that couldn’t properly bond with his wolf. His feelings should be front and center.

“You shouldn’t have gone to my boss. My private and work life are separate.”

“I didn’t mean to. We both were at the same coffee shop and we chatted about my work and he asked if I was okay and I told him the truth… I wasn’t. I missed you. I hadn’t meant for it to come out or to get in your business.”

My knot started to deflate. I wasn’t ready. As long as we were bound together, it felt like we could talk about all of this and it would be okay, which made no sense, but there it was.

“Let’s just forget about it and enjoy your weekend here.” At least he wasn’t pulling away, which he could do easily enough. My knot was all but gone.

“Just know that even though I’m being needy and pushy, if you say the word—tell me you can’t do this and can’t be with me because of my unicorn—I won’t be a jerk. I’ll understand.” Gods, those words hurt coming out.

He moved my arm and climbed out of bed. “Let’s just forget about it and enjoy the weekend,” he repeated, only this time with his teeth clenched.

“Forget about what?” I shrugged and tried to sound nonchalant but it came across as fake happiness. It must've satisfied him that I was listening because his body visibly relaxed. “You taking a shower?”

“I was thinking about it. Wash my hair and then order me Thai food?”

“I’ll even condition it.” I climbed out of bed and padded over to him.

“You’re the best.” His smile was genuine. Maybe I hadn’t ruined things.

“You’re only saying that for the pad see ew,” I teased as I walked past him and to the bathroom.

“Wrong,” he called behind me. “I’m only saying that because of the head massage.”

If that was where we were, I’d accept it. I’d take what I could get for as long as I could get it.

Ivor

I clambered up the stairs to the roof as I needed fresh air and wished Archer was here. Going to college, working part-time, comforting Neil after some guy at soccer recognized him and then turned up at Sunshine Manor was a lot. And with Archer being away, I had no one to confide in about how exhausted I was.

Neil refused to let me tell Archer what had happened. He didn’t want to worry him and thought if we spilled, Archer might charge back to town and who knew how his boss would react. Not well, I guessed.

I was doing food shopping for Neil as he didn’t want any delivery people knocking on his door or even leaving stuff on the porch. Some nights I stayed at his place. Daire was distracted by Sunshine Manor business and had only justfound out about Neil’s maybe stalker. Yeah, maybe stalker ‘cause it turned out, the guy was a friend of Daire’s.

Wanting to kick that grizzly’s butt wasn’t my smartest idea but if he hadn’t had his head somewhere other than on his shoulders, maybe all the crap Neil had gone through could have been avoided.

That’s assuming it was a misunderstanding. If it wasn’t, I’d pay to watch Daire’s bear kick the guy’s ass.

But right now, I needed to be alone. Daire was slumped in front of the TV watching a gardening program, Neil was working at home, Micah was away, Archer wasn’t back for another week or so, and I didn’t see Ryder’s car. Didn’t want to run into my boss. The same boss who’d asked me out and I’d been all squirrelly and said it wasn’t a good idea. “You’re my boss,” I’d said.

I reached the roof and discovered I wasn’t alone. “You’re my boss,” I repeated as Ryder glanced up while he was sniffing the flowers on Daire’s jasmine bushes.

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