Chapter 10 Sawyer to the Rescue
Sawyer to the Rescue
A crash echoed through the hallway, and I tensed, hesitating for just a second before bursting out of the bedroom, grateful Thorne hadn’t locked me in.
Shit! I was still naked.
This would be the first time Sawyer saw me naked, but it couldn’t be helped. Sorry, roommie!
Rounding the corner to the living room, I stopped short. Cole stood opposite of me, his hands up, and an expression of pure shock on his face. His pale gray eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.
I had a great view of Thorne’s flexing back as he blocked a furious Sawyer. “Hold on. You’re not getting near my mate. I don’t care if you’re her—” His words cut off as Sawyer spotted me.
“Step aside and let me see her, or I’ll rip out your fucking throat,” Sawyer growled.
The skin along my arms prickled at the deadly threat in his tone. I’d never heard him this serious before in the entire time we’d been friends.
“I’m okay,” I said. “No one is going to do any throat-ripping-out. Thorne, let me see my best friend.”
“Why the hell are you naked?” Sawyer asked, his face rapidly reddening.
Stepping forward, I brushed my hand down Thorne’s back, stubbornly ignoring the feel of his muscles and how much touching him turned me on.
“Let me talk to Sawyer, and then we can all sit down and figure this out.” I figured it was best to make him think he would get what he wanted. My real plan was to grab Sawyer and run like hell.
“Figure out what?” Sawyer said, huge green eyes glued on my tits. Despite everything else happening, his look of awe had me smiling.
“Well, it turns out he’s some sort of werewolf, and he’s worried I’m going to call the cops to report his freaky dick.”
The deep flush on Sawyer’s cheeks paled, his eyes darting from me to Thorne.
“Uh, yeah, we need to talk about that,” he managed to say.
“Let me get her clothes first,” Thorne snarled. He reached back, trying to tuck me behind his body. Scowling, I dodged. He was the one who said werewolves don’t care about nudity.
Rolling his eyes, Cole said, “By ‘let me’ you really meant let me. Of course.” With a longsuffering sigh, Cole strode from the room, returning a minute later with my clothes from the floor of Thorne’s SUV.
Snatching them from his hand, I pulled on my panties and jeans, hopping in place as I tugged the waistband up. My bra and shirt followed.
Fully dressed, I faced Thorne and Sawyer.
“So, can I get some privacy to talk with my best friend?”
Thorne’s jaw ticked. “No.”
“You can’t be serious,” I growled.
“Very serious.”
“Oh, fuck you,” I spat, shoving past Thorne and grabbing Sawyer’s hand, dragging him behind me as I stomped down the hall toward the small bedroom.
Behind me, I heard Thorne mutter, “Happily.”
Cole’s laughter followed me down the hallway.
Sawyer followed me obediently, and I pulled the door closed behind us. The instant it closed, he was on me, crushing me to his chest and burying his nose in my hair.
“Woah, hey, it’s okay,” I said, relaxing into his hold. For a long moment, he squeezed me, his cozy, nutty scent wrapping around me.
“No, it’s not, but it will be,” he murmured, releasing me and cupping my jaw, lifting my face to his so he could look into my eyes.
Sighing, I blinked into his emerald irises and relaxed. Everything was always okay when Sawyer was with me. Frowning, he rubbed his wrists over my neck in that familiar gesture, and then he tugged my shirt collar to one side and then the other.
“What are you looking for? He didn’t hurt me.”
“Did he bite you?” he asked.
Stiffening, I took a small step back. “That’s none of your business.”
“No, Autumn. Did he really bite you, like break the skin and make you bleed?”
Horrified, I reeled back. “Of course not!”
Sawyer’s exhale rushed out of him. “Thank fuck.”
“So can we make a plan to get out of here? I think together we can just force our way out. Right?” I asked, reaching up to rest my hands on his chest.
“You slept with him?” Sawyer asked, his gaze still flickering over my body. His fingers tightened on my arms, anticipating my answer.
“Yeah. He said he was a werewolf, and then his dick did this thing.”
“Knotting,” Sawyer filled in.
Cocking an eyebrow, I said, “How do you know that?”
His teeth bit into his bottom lip. “There’s a few things I haven’t told you.”
“Like what?” I asked quietly.
“I’m worried you’ll hate me.”
My stomach swooped. I wasn’t sure I could handle more revelations. The whole “werewolves exist” one was a lot already.
But this was Sawyer. We went to prom together. He held me when I cried after losing my pet betta fish, and again when I was let go of my first job. We fell asleep curled up together way more often than most people would consider platonic. He was my safe space.
“There’s nothing you could say that would make me hate you. I know you.” Firmly, I pressed my hand to his heart. “Promise.”
Sawyer took my hand and pressed it to his jaw, closing his eyes at the contact. When they reopened, he was determined.
“I’m a werewolf, too.”
The world fell out from under my feet, and I grabbed his jacket to steady myself. “Come again?”
“I’m one too.”
My sweet best friend, my roommate, who I spent every day of my adult life with, was also a supernatural monster. The guy I ate cereal with most mornings turned into a canine once a month.
Cool. Cool cool cool.
He held me steady as my brain processed. Things slowly slotted into place. The full moons away. The way he liked to smell my hair. The way he seemed to know things he shouldn’t.
Sawyer was a fucking werewolf.
It wasn’t until Sawyer started wiping his thumbs across my cheeks that I realized I’d started crying. The whole thing was unreal and frankly ridiculous.
Giving a little hiccup, I moved to the bed and sat so I could rest my head in my hands.
“Are you fucking with me?”
Sawyer crouched in front of me, peering up into my face with absolute sincerity. “No, baby. I would never lie to you.”
“I mean, you kept this whole thing from me. And if you’re telling the truth now, and this is all real, then it means I should have known. And then I wouldn’t be in this situation at all.”
Sawyer flinched.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I mean, I noticed you were gone on the full moon. I guess I should have known!”
“You figured out I was gone at the full moon?” Sawyer asked with a hesitant, strained smile.
“I’m not an idiot, Sawyer. I know how to read a calendar.”
“You’re brilliant,” he said, reaching up to cradle my face again. “So do you believe me?”
“No. It’s ridiculous,” I said automatically. Pausing, I looked into his eyes, filled with hurt. “I trust you. And I definitely experienced something not-human with Thorne.”
Sawyer tensed, his throat working. He was very unhappy with the fact that I slept with Thorne. And that seemed significant, even if I couldn’t quite see why.
“If you say you turn into a wolf,” I reasoned out, “and you’ve disappeared at every full moon for as long as I’ve known you, then I’d be stupid to still deny it.”
His eyebrows rose, face brightening.
“So I guess I believe you as much as I can without actually seeing it happen.”
His beautiful lips curved into a smile, and he stroked his thumb down my cheek again, removing the last evidence of my tears.
Bracing myself, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sawyer hesitated, biting the inside of his cheek. I knew that look. My stomach dropped. There was more he wasn’t telling me.
“Sawyer?”
“I was worried you’d reject me. I meant to, eventually, but every time I thought about it, it wasn’t a good time.”
The idea that I would reject him stung. Frowning, I brushed my fingers through his hair, pushing his curls back.
“There’s no way I would have dumped you as my best friend because you howl at the moon once a month.”
Leaning into my touch, Sawyer took a deep breath. I could feel some of the tension leaving his muscles. A decade of keeping a huge secret from me must have been difficult.
He rose, moving to sit beside me. Eagerly, I curled against him, letting him hold me. After all of this emotional turmoil, I needed him as my solid anchor. And as he squeezed me, I felt my body start to regulate itself.
Sawyer cleared his throat. “Autumn, now that you know my secret, please tell me everything that happened with that guy. Is he the guy who freaked you out in the store the other day?”
Nodding, I quickly recounted the times I’d seen him, the apology sandwich, and our dinner. When I got to the truck, I tried to dance around saying what happened, but Sawyer knew me too well.
“You slept with him. And realized he wasn’t human.”
“Yeah.” I wanted to burrow into his chest and disappear.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, my voice rising. I wasn’t sure I’d like what else he had to say. He was too nervous, too anxious.
“I really don’t want you to be his mate,” Sawyer finally said, his voice strangled.
“Just because he called me that doesn’t make it true. And I certainly didn’t sign up for anything.”
His lips ghosted my forehead as he spoke. “I’m afraid he might be right. You had a huge reaction the first time he touched you. That could have been a fated mate bond revealing itself.”
“Oh.”
“But you don’t have to accept him. You can reject the bond. I’ve heard it’s unpleasant, but it’ll get better with time.”
“Do you think I should?” I asked, surprising myself with my own reaction. Was I actually considering being with Thorne?
“I can’t lose you,” Sawyer whispered.
“You won’t.”
His chest expanded with a slow, deep breath that he held for a few seconds before letting the air hiss through his teeth in a wince.
“I need to be totally honest with you.”
I stayed silent, letting him work through his turmoil. The room was silent, and I imagined Thorne and Cole pressing their ears to the door, wondering how our discussion was going.
“I’ve had feelings for you for a long, long time. And I never told you because I didn’t want to risk our friendship. Not just because maybe you didn’t want me, but because if you did, I’d have to tell you I was a werewolf. Cause of the whole knotting thing. You know?”
I was so far past shocked, all I could do was giggle. Another tear squeezed from my eyes.
“Are you telling me, this whole time, that you liked me as more than a friend but you didn’t want me to figure out you were a werewolf?”
Sawyer mumbled something unintelligible.
The reality of our situation came into focus, and another ridiculous laugh bubbled up in my throat.
“I’ve been fucking in love with you since high school, and if you were just honest with me, we could have been happy together, and I would know about werewolves, and, and—” I paused, and my breathing sped up enough I felt lightheaded. “There’s no way that this is real.”
“Autumn,” he said softly but firmly.
“Absolutely bonkers. No way,” I babbled.
“Autumn.”
With a sniffling hiccup, I looked at him, his brows furrowed and eyes hard.
“It’s real. And we love each other.”
Swallowing, I sucked in a shuddering breath and nodded.
With hesitant motions, like he was soothing a wild animal, Sawyer slid his fingers into my hair and tilted my face up. His other arm stayed wrapped around me, keeping me steady. I was boneless in his hold.
His thumb brushed over my throat and up to my jaw before settling in the hollow of my cheek. He studied me with such intensity, my stomach flipped and heat gathered low in my stomach. I fought the urge to squirm.
His gaze moved from my eyes to my lips and back up.
“Please, please tell me I’m not too late. Forget that guy.”
My lips formed “okay”, even when my voice couldn’t catch.
Sawyer nodded, confirming.
Everything happened in slow motion. His face dipped, mine angled to meet his, and our lips brushed together.
He was soft and gentle, and it felt like home.
While kissing Thorne had been heat and need, kissing Sawyer was unfiltered affection, comfort, and a profound sense of belonging.
It felt like my heart was tumbling end over end.
Gasping, I broke away.
“Wow, I can’t believe we just did that,” I mumbled, clinging to him so I didn’t float away.
Sawyer grinned. “I can’t believe we waited this long to do that.”
It didn’t seem like the right moment to bring up the whole grinding on his lap situation, but maybe Sawyer was thinking of it, because he licked his lips, his hands going to my hips.
“Look, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. And I’m so, so happy we’re doing this.” I motioned between us. “But I did just go on a date with another guy, and there’s that whole bond thing I gotta reject. I don’t really understand the logistics of that. So for now, can we take things slow?”
“What have we been doing for the last decade?” Sawyer murmured, kissing the shell of my ear. “But I’ll wait however long you need.”
“I appreciate it. I think right now, we need to figure out what to do. I’m not sure that big guy will let me go without a fuss. And I’d really like to go home.”
“We’ll just walk out there and not let them stop us,” Sawyer said, as if it was that simple.
“He tied my wrists with rope the first time,” I said.
Eyes darkening, Sawyer’s fingers dug into my skin and a grumbling growl echoed from his throat.
“Woah, there,” I said, petting down his chest with a flat palm. “He was worried I’d call the police, remember?”
Sawyer still looked murderous.
“But now that I understand more, I can promise to not call the authorities. So actually, he should let us go, I think.”
“He won’t want to let you go. His instinct is to protect you, meaning keep you away from everything and everyone. But I’m not going to give him a choice.”
Frowning, I pulled back. That wasn’t protecting, it was hoarding. Sawyer wouldn’t get like that, would he?
“I’m going to be honest with him,” I decided. “Let’s go home.”
The idea had me shivering as I climbed off the bed. Clasping Sawyer’s hand tight in mine, we exited the bedroom. The hallway was surprisingly empty. Thorne waited in the living room, but Cole was nowhere to be found.
When we stepped into the room, Thorne leapt to his feet. “Are you okay?”
“Listen, Thorne,” I said.
He eyed my hand in Sawyer’s.
I cleared my throat and continued, “I understand now. And I’m not going to call the authorities about you being a werewolf. Especially since my best friend is one, too.”
Thorne’s lip curled, and Sawyer’s hold on my hand tightened.
Scowling at them, I raised my voice. “I’m going home. I need time to process all of this. You may text me, but don’t come bother me. No stalking. I’ll talk with you when I’m ready.”
My instinct was to ask “okay?” but it wasn’t up for debate. He had no choice but to accept my decision. Squaring my shoulders, I marched toward the door.
Thorne stood still as a statue.
“Whatever you need,” he murmured.
At the door, I glanced back and took in his tense expression, jaw ticking, as he watched us leave.
The last thing I heard was Cole hollering from the hallway, “See ya later, Autumn!”
Sawyer’s arm tensed around my shoulders as he ushered me out of the house and to his old car.