“The couch?” she repeated as she joined me on the stairs. “He’s definitely bed worthy. Looks like he knows his way around a good cuddle.”
“We’re not even friends,” I muttered as we ascended the stairs. To change the subject I asked, “How were things with Eric?”
Shrugging, she stepped onto the landing. “He was okay, but we didn’t hook up. Afraid seeing you with Daniel has me wanting more.”
“What do you mean?”
We’d reached our bedrooms. She leaned against her doorjamb.
“There is obviously a real connection between you two. Like soul mates or something.”
If that was true, wouldn’t I feel it? And wouldn’t that make it even harder to lose him to the harvester? “He’s just a guy.”
“You’re either fooling me, or fooling yourself. I want to know what you have going on with the hot guy.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“I think you do. You just don’t know it yet. Good night,” she said.
She slipped into her room and I went into mine. I got ready for bed. I lay there for a long time unable to sleep. Daniel wasn’t just a guy. I wasn’t convinced he was just a Shifter.
Then what was he?
FIVE
The next morning I woke up exhausted. Everything was unusually quiet, and when I checked my clock, I saw that I’d overslept. Everyone else was probably already at the shop.
I showered and dressed in jeans and a hunter-green sweater. Pulling my hair back, I studied my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were striking, caramel-shaded, just like the guy had mentioned yesterday. I wondered what Daniel thought of them, then chastised myself. What did I care what he thought?
Grabbing my jacket, I headed down the stairs and crept into the living room. He was still asleep, stretched out on the couch. Lying there, he looked like any normal teenage guy. He appeared completely human.
I wondered if in his dreams he saw himself in wolf form or human form. Did we dream when we slept in wolf form? As my time approached, the silliest questions were arising.
As quietly as possible, I made my way to the kitchen, took a bowl down from the cabinet, and poured bran flakes into it. I set it on the table and placed a banana beside it, along with a note: Milk in the fridge. Enjoy your breakfast.
I froze. What was I doing? Acting like we were a couple with little secrets and private jokes. I started to crumple up the note, then changed my mind. I didn’t know what I was going to do about Daniel, returning to Wolford, dealing with the harvester, or my life in general. What I did know was that I was late for work.
I headed out the front door. As I started to go down the steps, a chill swept through me. It was different from what I’d felt when Daniel had watched me the day before. This felt menacing, ominous. I glanced around. I didn’t see any—
Movement. I thought I saw movement in the trees. Something shimmered, something dark. Then it was gone.
“Don’t get paranoid,” I muttered.
When I got to the shop, I went in through the back door and hung my jacket and backpack on a peg. Then I went to the counter area, where everyone was busy setting up for the morning rush. Most of the orders would be to-go as people took their warm drinks with them and headed to the slopes.
“I can’t believe you let him sleep alone on the couch,” Lisa said as she reached past me for a packet of coffee.
“I told you. I barely know him.”
“That’s never stopped me.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I laughed lightly. “It’s complicated.”
“So un-complicate it.”
Easier said than done. This was a conversation I really didn’t want to have so I turned my attention to filling the hot-water urn.
“You’re still in for Fantastic Friday, right?” she asked, obviously deciding to leave my love life for me to deal with.
I gave her a blank look.
“I’ve arranged for us to ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain at midnight.”
Everything at the slopes closed down at dusk. But Lisa had connections. “Oh yeah. Sure. I’ll be there.”
“With hottie?”
Who knew what opportunities for escape might await at the top of the mountain?
“Absolutely.”
But I didn’t have much opportunity to consider plans because Spike opened the front door and people crowded through it, anxious to get their hot beverages of choice. The morning was hectic as usual, and I had little time to wonder where Daniel might be. Although I was slightly disappointed not to see him among the sea of faces calling out orders. And that bothered me. That a part of me actually missed him, had been looking forward to seeing him. I didn’t want to accept him as part of my life and all the dangers that involved.
Maybe he’d wake up with a change of heart and go back to Wolford without me.
Yeah, right, Hayden. As long as you’re living in a fantasy world, you might as well believe that the full moon won’t come either.
By midmorning the rush was over. Spike kept only one of us on duty during the day—until the late-afternoon rush hit. Today, thankfully, wasn’t my day.
As I poured hot chocolate into my insulated mug, I considered trying to make another break for it, maybe convincing Spike to drive me to the next town, where I could catch a bus or something. Only I didn’t even know if the next town had public transportation. I’d been willing to chance it last night, but now I realized that, with Daniel’s determination, I needed a more concrete plan. Getting him off my trail wasn’t going to be easy. I needed to borrow Lisa’s laptop and research my options, maybe find a way to put him off my scent. Although considering how often he got close to me, my scent was probably ingrained now. I thought of him tasting my blood. I’d never known a wolf to care about blood scent. Daniel wasn’t like any Shifter I’d ever been around, but then my exposure to them had been pretty limited.
As I trudged back to the condo, fresh powder began to fall. The thick flakes stuck to my eyelashes then melted. Wolford would be covered in snow as well. The national forest was near the Canadian border. Cross-country skiing was a popular sport in the forest. We had a few mountains, too, where Shifters might ski, but they had never been opened to the public for skiing. That didn’t stop us from testing the powder or our own limits. It was the one time when I hadn’t minded being around other Shifters because the emotions reflected the thrill of adventure.