Page 26 of Love in Unexpected Places

He froze when he saw Meredith staring at him.She was smoking a cigarette, and she arched a brow as she puffed out a small cloud of smoke.“Where are you sneaking to?”

Sullivan slumped against the wall.“You scared the shit out of me.”

“Good.You’re lucky I was the one who saw you.You know what would have happened if it had been one oftheirsupporters.”

Unfortunately, Sullivan did.He really was lucky that Meredith was an ally.He didn’t want to have to explain himself because this had nothing to do with their fight, but it would be good for someone to know where he was.“I’m headed to the pack.”

Meredith frowned.“Why?”

“I’m seeing someone there.”

Her eyes lit up, and he briefly wondered if he was going to regret this.

“Oh, Michelle told me about him,” Meredith said, sounding delighted.

Sullivan groaned.He was going to kill Michelle.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, but you knowwhoI’m talking about.What was his name again?Matthew?”

“Matty.”

“So you admit he’s why you’re heading out?”

“Why am I friends with you and Michelle again?”

“Because you can’t afford to have more enemies.”

Meredith and Michelle meant well, so Sullivan wasn’t offended.Did he wish that Michelle hadn’t told Meredith about Matty?Yeah, he did, mostly because he had no idea what was happening between them yet.He’d clear that up tonight, though, and he liked the thought of people knowing that he and Matty were together.

“I’m happy for you,” Meredith said as she threw her cigarette on the ground and squashed it with her heel.“And I’m not saying you shouldn’t go out there and see your boyfriend, but you have to be more careful.”

“I know.I promise I will be.”

“Somehow, I don’t think you’ll keep that promise.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to me before I can be happy with Matty.”

Meredith nodded.“I get it.We’re doing this so that we can be free to be ourselves and love who we want.”

She was right, although only in part.Sullivan was standing up to the leaders because he didn’t want them to hurt any more people.Did he want to be free to be with Matty?He did, but that was secondary.The main reason to stop the leaders was that they were monsters.

Meredith squeezed Sullivan’s shoulder as she walked past him.He wrinkled his nose at the stench of cigarettes coming from her, but he couldn’t berate her for being stressed and trying to deal with it by smoking.Frankly, it was a miracle that no one in the coven had turned to anything stronger than tobacco.They were all miserable and terrified all the time.

“I’m happy for you, and I know Michelle and the others are, too,” Meredith said.“Go be with your boy and have fun for me, too, all right?I don’t have a cute man to run to when things get too much here.”

Sullivan reached for her hand and squeezed it.“You will eventually.”

“Or maybe I’ll find a cute girl.”

Sullivan winked.“There are plenty of cute girls in the pack.”

“I’ll definitely have to come with you sometime.Maybe once this mess is over, we can actually become friends with the pack.”

Sullivan thought they were already on their way to doing so, but it was hard when they didn’t know what would happen to the coven after everything.If everything went well, Braden would be the only leader left standing, and there was no way to know how many members the coven would lose.There might not even be enough of them to continue being a coven.Maybe Sullivan needed to talk to Chance about it.The people they were asking for help within the coven would want to know they’d have a safe place to land if they lost their home.If they didn’t, they might side with the leaders.They were evil, but they were an evil the coven knew, and that was easier to accept than the unknown.

But Sullivan didn’t want to think about any of that tonight.For now, his focus should be on Matty, and even though it was hard not to think about the situation he was leaving behind, he told himself that one evening wouldn’t make any difference.If anything, it would remind him what he was fighting for and what the future held for him.

He had to be alive when the dust settled.He wouldn’t have it any other way, not now that he had Matty.

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