Page 71 of The Strongest Wolf

“I’d intended on it.” He sighs. “But I was too distracted to drive. Had to stop.”

I wrap my arm around my raised knees and rest my chin on top. “Something else happened with your pack?”

“No. The woman I like ignored my phone calls.”

The woman he… oh.

I narrow my eyes in confusion. “No, I didn’t.”

But even as I’m denying it, I peel the phone from my ear and glance down at it. And there, in the top left corner, is the symbol for a missed call. I wince as I raise it back to my ear. “Shit, sorry. When did you call?”

I could check, but I don’t want him to stop talking.

“A few hours ago,” he says.

He thought I’d ignored his call. No wonder he sounded relieved when I answered.

I think back to what I was doing a few hours ago. “Oh, I must have been busy cleaning.”

Silence.

“You blew me off toclean?” His voice rises in disbelief.

I swallow a smile, even as a wave of sadness sweeps through me. “The cabin felt… different without you, so I cleaned.”

His silence is longer now, and I tense as I wait for his response. “Are you telling me you missed me?”

There’s nothing to suggest what he thinks about that in his voice, but there’s a tension that wasn’t there before. My answer is important to him.

After a moment, I nod, even though he can’t see me. “You were doing all the cooking, and with you gone, I—”

“Sierra.” Galen’s voice is soft, but there’s a serious note I’m not used to hearing from him. “Did you miss me?”

More than I’ve ever missed anyone.

I clear my throat. “If I told you I did, what would you think about that?”

When more springs squeak, I close my eyes and envision him stretched out on a narrow motel bed. It will be the sort of nondescript room you’ll find all over the country, and he’ll have one jean-clad leg crossed over the other, and one arm pillowing his head as he gazes up at the ceiling.

“I would tell you that the reason I nearly crashed four times and snarled at every person who crossed in front of my truck was because I missed you, too.”

He nearly crashed because he missed me.

“Oh,” I breathe, clutching the phone a little tighter as I bite my lip to stop the new grin that wants to break free. “That’s nice.”

“Me snarling or nearly writing off my truck?” Amusement warms his deep voice.

“The missing me part. I’m sure the people you snarled at deserved it.”

He barks out a laugh, and it feels so good hearing his happiness that I couldn’t stop my lips from curving into a smile even if I wanted to. “Is that a movie I hear in the background?”

“Yeah, we’re having a movie night at the packhouse,” I tell him.

More springs squeak, and I like to think he’s relaxing in bed because of me. “What are you watching?”

“I don’t know.”

I feel his confusion through the handset. “You don’tknow?”

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