Page 37 of Wolf Found

“I was going to make tacos, so dinner won’t take too long.” Graham said it like it was an excuse to stay, but he was drifting toward the coat hook. “But I left my notes at home, and I want to work on those chocolate croissants Sawyer likes so much.”

He was going home, so he could do even more work. Ash rolled his eyes and shooed them both toward the door. “Go scour your recipes. Have fun. I’ll be home before seven.”

Gavin poked his head out of the back a few minutes after they left, and looked around the quiet shop. Tuesday afternoons were often pretty dead, so it was no shock. Gavin, though, nodded decisively and came out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. “I thought they left.”

“Yep,” Ash agreed. “Just you and me till closing.”

“Maybe literally,” Gavin said, waving at the empty shop. “But that’s okay. I wanted to have a quick talk with you before tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Gavin looked around, as though he hadn’t just confirmed repeatedly that the shop was empty, and then hopped up to sit on the counter. “Joey and I finally had a talk.”

By which Gavin probably meant he’d gone out to the guest cabin and insisted they talk, and not later, but right then. Joey had always been one to put off things he didn’t want to think about.

When Ash didn’t say anything for a long time, Gavin nodded like he’d gotten an answer to a question and continued. “He agreed with me that things aren’t really working out, and I’m going to take him down to see the Shane pack tomorrow.”

“You’re spending your day off taking Joey to Denver? That sucks, Gavin.” His instinct wanted to offer to do it himself to spare his friend the trouble, but he didn’t think he could. He couldn’t imagine spending hours with Joey after the way he’d reacted to Ash rebuffing him.

He’d practically accused him of a crime, and since things with Graham had only gotten deeper since then, he doubted Joey had come to terms with Ash’s response.

It was still disappointing. Joey, of all people, should know Ash hadn’t been interested in Graham when he was a child. Every bit of Ash’s adoration had been focused on Joey at the time.

“Dez isn’t gonna do it,” Gavin said. “Sawyer can’t stand him. Even if you were willing, I wouldn’t ask you. And Hannah and Graham can’t drive even if I would have asked them.”

He was right. That had neatly eliminated every single member of the pack other than himself.

“M’sorry,” Ash mumbled as the bell over the door jingled.

Gavin rolled his eyes and turned toward the door. The expression that crossed his face was... complicated. Probably a lot like Gavin’s relationship with the man who’d entered the shop.

Miles Parker was a sheriff’s deputy in Kismet, and he and Gavin had been seeing each other off and on for most of the time the pack had lived in town. Usually off was around the full moon when Gavin was reminded that he was a werewolf and Miles wasn’t. But then Miles would inevitably come back into the shop, give Gavin his million-watt smile and ask for a London fog, and five minutes later they’d have a date scheduled.

Miles was obviously a little frustrated by the yo-yo of Gavin’s affection, but he was a smart man, and he could see Gavin was worth the effort.

They had been in an off phase for a few weeks, and clearly Miles had decided to end that.

“I’m gonna go work on the dishes,” Ash announced and marched into the kitchen, ignoring it when Gavin called after him that he’d already done them. The dishes weren’t the point, and Gavin damn well knew it.

Ash wet a rag and cleaned all the counters, though that had likely already been done too. Still, it was good to have all that closing stuff done, so he could mostly count money and lock the door at six. Maybe he’d be able to get home before seven.

He heard Miles leave eventually, and when he went back out, Gavin looked even more conflicted and guilty.

“When did you agree to go out?”

Gavin shot him a glare but looked away almost instantly. “Tonight.”

“Because you’re stuck going to Denver on your day off.” That earned him a sigh and a nod from Gavin, so he went on. “I’d say you should go now, but I take it he had a shift to finish?” Another nod.

They were silent a while, both cleaning up behind the counter, when Gavin threw the rag down in annoyance. “It’s not like I mind being a were, you know. We’d all be dead if Dez and I hadn’t changed.”

“We would,” Ash agreed. He wasn’t sure what to say. He knew Gavin was bothered by the circumstances of his turning, but Ash literally hadn’t been in the room at the time. He’d been busy bleeding out in the hallway, where the alpha had thrown him.

Whatever had happened, it had shaken Gavin to the core. Having been born a wolf instead of bitten, Ash knew damn well he couldn’t hope to understand and left well enough alone when Gavin said he didn’t want to talk about it.

“I just hate it sometimes too, even with all it’s given me. Given us,” Gavin finally said, voice almost a whisper, like he needed to be ashamed.

Ash turned and looked at Gavin, where he was hunched over the front counter, staring at it as though the answer might be inside it. “You have a secret. You can’t tell Miles unless you know the relationship is for good and he’s completely trustworthy.”

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