Page 24 of I Hate Myself for Loving You
“Don’t…”
Hearing the regret in his voice, Avery stopped short, hoping he’d spill the beans. For a mere second, she’d heard the Lassiter that once sat on a park bench with her and told her it was no big deal that she was so skinny. Someday, boys would be crazy about her. The Lassiter that held her hand when she’d cried because one of the animals she’d fallen in love with at the animal shelter had died.
“Don’t what?” she asked, soft and almost hesitant to hear his answer.
His jaw ticked, his face hardened. “Nothing.”
Being a vampire was nothing? Nothing?
Was being a werewolf? her conscience whispered.
Oh, the secrets and lies they’d created.
For some reason, tears stung her eyes. Tears for who they once had been, for who they were now. For all of the reasons they couldn’t talk the way they’d once done so adeptly.
On impulse, Avery reached up, cupping his jaw, running her thumb over the rigid line, trying to smooth away the tension. Pulling his tall frame close, she gave him a brief kiss, skimming his lips with her own and moving away with haste before she said,
“I don’t know you anymore, Lassiter, but I’d like to.”
His arms went to gather her close, but she pressed a finger to his lips and moved out of them, knowing what would happen if she let him hold her.
“For old time’s sake, I’m ready whenever you are, Lassiter,” she whispered, hearing the sad tinge to her words.
Squeezing his arm, Avery turned and walked back toward the Adams house.
Her heart thrashed in a painful rhythm with each step she took. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to remember.
It hurt period.
* * * * *
“We have to talk,” Avery said to Max while they sat in the kitchen, sharing a cup of coffee. Her restless night’s sleep had led to a morning filled with questions and still no answers. She did know one thing, she had to tell the Adams pack. No matter how she felt about Lassiter, they deserved to know the truth.
“Go for it,” Max said with a congenial smile over his steaming mug of coffee.
Licking her lips, Avery took a breath of air. “Lassiter Adams can’t be an Adams.”
Max’s chuckle was something Avery hadn’t expected. “I figured as much. How’d you find out for sure?”
“It doesn’t matter. Can I ask you a question that’s gonna seem way out of left field?”
Sipping his coffee, he nodded. “Of course. Shoot.”
She sighed. There wasn’t any beating around the bush about it. She’d just ask and damn the consequences.
“Do you believe in vampires?”
His dark eyebrows rose. “Well, I guess I can’t say as I don’t. I mean, it would be hypocritical if I said I didn’t, seeing as I’m what JC calls a dog, right? I’m a werewolf. So are you. I exist, so I’m sure other paranormal beings exist, too.”
Avery shifted in her chair and rubbed her neck. “Wanna know why I know Lassiter isn’t related to you?”
Max’s handsome face frowned. “If you two had some sort of kinky liaison and he confessed during a good round of shenanigans, then, no, I don’t think I want to know.”
“Max!” JC yelped from another room. “Inappropriate, buddy!”
Avery’s jaw dropped as she fidgeted in her chair. “What do you mean by that?”
“It means I’ve seen you look at him when he’s not looking. Even in the height of your frenzied protests, you looked like you kinda dug him. He looks at you the same way. It doesn’t make me any less pissed that he’s here, tearing the shit out of my land, but it’s there just the same.”
