Page 21 of Pit Stop

Like he knows me.

Like he can smell me.

I don’t know what any of it means, but it’s making me fucking nervous. So much so that I take my glasses off toward the end and peer off into the blur that is now my life.

When the last person gets up and shouts into the microphone that it’s time to mingle, Delphine shoots up and drags me across the room.

I go unwillingly, feeling slightly nervous at this introduction.

Honestly, I want Mav here with me. I want him to wrap his arms around me and protect me. But Mav and I can’t happen. That’s not a thing.

“Hi there!” Delphine practically screeches.

I wince and peer up through my glasses at the guy before me. He’s big, and with his jacket discarded, his tattooed muscles are clearly bulging as he takes a sip of his water. Why the hell would someone like this come to a wolf poetry slam night?

I don’t get it. Especially because the whispers are ferocious among our small clan. A lone shifting wolf away from his people is fodder for gossip.

“Hi,” he says, his eyes moving to Delphine. She’s gorgeous with her long, wavy black hair and her dark blue eyes, but for some reason, this guy’s gaze moves to me and won’t leave.

I shift on my feet, wishing I could disappear into the floor. He’s hot and smells really good, but despite that, he’s not doing anything for me.

Damn Maverick and his pheromones that have me all twisted up. I can’t even look at another guy without him right there, in the forefront of my mind, telling me that I want no other.

“What’s your name?” he asks me, almost a growl, and I shake my head, not sure what to say.

For some reason, I want to tell him something different, something so unlike my own.

“This is Skye and I’m Delphine,” she says for me.

She stretches out her arm and he finally moves his gaze away from me to glance at her waiting hand.

“Right,” he replies, not even bothering to shake it. Guy seems like a fucking dick, like he has a chip on his shoulder.

“Skylar, you’ll do. Let’s go,” he tells me and then nods toward the exit. I stare at him in confusion, and Delphine nudges me.

“He wants to go fuck,” she whispers far too loudly.

I shake my head, not wanting to go.

“He didn’t even get my name right!”

“So what?”

I shake my head, the vision of Maverick calling me by my name over and over flitting through my mind. “Um, no thanks,” I murmur, feeling myself shrivel slightly from the attention he’s giving me. I don’t like being on display like this.

His eyes narrow and he blinks at me. “You saying no? To me?”

I nod and swallow, feeling my throat click as I do. I want nothing more than to go home, to my safe space, to my books.

I want to disappear inside one and not return.

I would have loved this attention a week ago, would have gladly followed him outside to get railed, but now I don’t want to. I really fucking don’t.

“Fine,” the guy says and then turns his gaze to Delphine, tracking up and down her form. “Guess you’ll have to do.”

She perks up, excitement rushing through her. “Oh, really? Great!”

I tug on her arm and pull her into me. “The guy is an ass,” I tell her, and she grins.

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