Page 74 of Just One Bite
“This is at the top of my important list.” He grins from ear to ear. “I think my girlfriend is overdue for a date.”
Girlfriend.My heart flutters. There’s no one here to watch that admission.
Once Parker is gone, he takes all my confusing thoughts with him.
Then it’s just me and Giselle.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Parker
“What’s wrong?” Her hand lands on mine.
Neither of us are on the swing. We’re together but younger, sitting in the flowers.
I wipe the wetness from my face. “She’s gone.”
I don’t tell her who. She just knows like she always knows and wraps her arms around me, and I cry in her lap.
I’ve gotten used to waking up to Olivia in my bed over the last week. There’s no sex involved, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to sneak out in the morning like I’m a one-night stand. Since she got her role in the Doxlothia company, she’s gotten up even earlier than before.
“Will you at least call me later?” I joke as she puts her things into her bag in the dim light coming from underneath my door.
She smiles. “I’ll see you later.”
I sit up on my elbows, wiping the sleep from my eyes. “You need to sleep more.”
“You’re telling me?”
“Yeah, I’m telling. You’re not going to show up at my doorstep at one a.m., and then sleep till five a.m. again. You’re coming over early, and we’re going to bed together so you can get a full night of sleep.”
Every night like clockwork, she appears at my door looking groggy and tellingme she can’t sleep. I’ve started to wait for her. My bed is small, but I miss her when she isn’t there pushing me off the side and stealing the blanket.
“Okay.”
I had no idea it would be that easy.
“Good. I’ll see you later, then.”
Once she leaves in the morning, I can’t sleep anymore, so I go to the rink to practice. The stars above know I need it, anyway. Olivia is the best thing I have going in my life, and everything else continues to be a shitshow, including getting the team ready for the season.
That’s not the worst part.
There’s still the issue of the council. It's been over a week since the nomination and we still aren't sure who put my name in. None of the werewolves on the council were happy with the announcement, except for Gavin, who got more excited at the thought of me joining the more we talked about it. Luckily, Gavin didn’t take much convincing about the smear campaign with Olivia’s sisters being bullshit. Man doesn’t really care about rumors. He’s used to it because of his father’s work, and he was a big help in keeping the packs calm with the politics of it all. He told me what to say if any of the news people ask.
I’ve been dodging dirty looks from Cane my whole life, but now things are on another level with the nomination. Regardless of who did it, I still have to deal with the consequences. That’s why after practice I put my suit on and stand among at least ten people trying to talk to me at the same time.
“Don’t you clean up well,” Zant says, and I straighten my tie. “Big smile for the camera.”
He motions to the row of people with cameras. Some are from the newspaper, and others are a few journalists from the city. Doxlothia news is the Vviveren’s news, considering it houses the kids of the biggest leaders in the world.
“Mr. Owens, with your new step toward leadership, do you think you’ll participate in this year’s Hunt?”
“No.” I have no intentions of leaving Gavin’s pack, and I’m still trying to convince Olivia to let me mark her.
“What do you think your mom would think about your nomination for the council?” a blonde reporter asks me.
I expect questions about her, but my chest tightens at the mention.
