Page 82 of As The Shifter World Turns

And really I couldn’t be the one to help him decide if he should or shouldn’t go any further with Martin. That was up to them. And really what had they done? Nothing. Martin freaked Neil out when they met at soccer and again when he came looking for me. Then the guy was upset at Neil—and he had good reason—for taking Toby to the park without telling him. And he now understood what Neil did for work. It was either the beginning or the end of their friendship. I couldn’t call it a relationship.

“I’m sorry you had to pay.” My freaking new debit card had been rejected on the online order. The bank assured me it would work. But it didn’t. “I really thought I had enough cash.” Like eighty bucks more than the two dollars I had in my wallet.

“That’s been happening a bunch lately.” He wasn’t giving me side eye or being judgy. No. He was being factual and he was right. This wasn’t the first time I had less cash than I thought.

But then again I was used to spending what I wanted and this new budgeting thing was not my strongest suit. “Yeah. I need to be more careful.” I let out a sigh. “But I will pay you back.”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” he said. “Seriously. I’m happy to buy if someone flies.” He got the saying wrong, but I understood. He hated going out and to him, me picking it up was worth the expense. It still wasn’t fair. And had the delivery not been backed up, we’d both have opted for that anyway.

“I need to be better. Maybe I’ll do that envelope thing on social media where all your money has a separate little plastic pocket in a… who am I kidding. That would be me losing a binder.” I did need a plan though.

“What if… and don’t be mad, but what if it’s not you being careless and buying too many lattes without thinking about it?”

“What else could it be?” I grabbed a spring roll.

“Someone might be taking it.”Shit!I hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe that new guy? Your friend Wesley?” Wesley had become more than a friend and Neil knew it.

“Wesley? No. He wouldn’t steal from me.” It couldn’t be him. “No. It’s not him. Absolutely not.”

“When was your identity stolen?”

“A while ago. Before I met Wesley, so your argument sucks.” But fuck now I was wondering.

Neil pressed on. “When did the money go missing? And didn’t you say it felt like he sought you out at the nursery?”

“Yes, but in a good way. Notthat’s the guy who’s my mark and I’m going to take him for all he’s worthtype crap.” Shit, Neil could be right and I hated that I was considering the possibility. “It’s… a maybe,” I conceded.

My phone buzzed. “Speak of the devil.” I tapped it open. It was a selfie of Wesley with his hand forming a heart and the words,Thinking of you.

“No. I can’t believe I even entertained that idea.” I turned my phone toward Neil. “Does this look like someone who's trying to drain my bank account?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Remember when Kellan was charming?”

Ivor

I needed to get out of here. On any other day, visiting my parents wouldn’t feel like an escape. On the contrary, it would’ve felt like walking the freaking plank. But today I was so ready to escape from all of the chaos that was my life.

I looked at my phone. They’d be picking me up in less than half an hour. I only had to make it that long without running into Ryder or worse—Kellan.

No part of me understood Kellan’s appeal. He was trash. There was no other way to describe him. He used Ryder and would continue to use him until Ryder decided he’d had enough. And even then, given his track record, Kellan would still find a way to weasel into the stag shifter’s life.

What a fool I’d been to think Ryder would choose me. The tickets… the date plans… they’d lulled me into finally thinking we could do this—we could make something of our attraction… something potentially long term.

But no.

All it took was one text from Kellan and off he went. An “emergency” my ass. Unless he was in Ryder’s apartment having just sliced off his finger or something, Ryder did not need to be involved in any “emergency” the asshat was part of.

He probably had a hard dick and needed someone to fix it, would be my guess. Not a true emergency. He could grab lotion all by himself like the freaking rest of us.

I threw my backpack on and went out to the porch to wait for them. My parents did not like to wait. Even my walk from the porch to the street might be too long for them. If they didn’t need me for a fittingto a stupid wedding of one of their stupid friend’s stupid kid’s weddings they wouldn’t even be here. I didn’t even know the kid. But my parents preferred to keep up appearances like a freaking boss.

Shame that theirwhat will the neighbors thinkattitude didn’t extend to helping me out with my college and living expenses.

I stuck an ear bud in one ear, pulled up the get-ready-for-bed app and turned it on. Please let it get me relaxed and in the right frame of mind to spend an entire weekend with my folks.

The calming music with the underlying beats thrummed on as the minutes ticked by when who should come up the path but Ryder. So much for calming down. My heart was racing a thousand beats a minute. I wanted to run up to him, envelop him in my arms and tell him I missed him. But also… I wanted to tell him how pissed I was that I’d opened my heart to someone that didn’t want in.

“Ivor… I’m sorry about—” I just held up my hand.

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