8. Daniel #2
Gray eyes me, head tilting. "You okay?"
"I think I fucked up," I admit.
Leo drops his cards immediately. "Details."
Wes glances up at us. "You boys look like you're about to have a heart-to-heart. You want privacy?"
"How long before you close?" I ask him.
"It's last call." He nods toward the empty booths. "Fifteen minutes, tops."
"Perfect."
Gray tosses his cards onto the counter and thanks Wes before following me toward a corner booth. Leo downs the rest of his beer in one swallow and grabs another on the way.
We slide into the booth. The leather creaks, and the low neon light paints the table an amber red. Leo stretches his arms across the backrest, looking like he owns the place. Gray sits straighter, nursing his drink carefully.
"So?" Leo prompts, leaning forward. "What'd you do?"
I drag a hand through my hair. "It's… complicated."
"Everything with you is complicated," Leo mutters. "Spit it out."
I tell them everything.
Reassembling the espresso machine. Hearing footsteps and expecting my sister.
But it was Mara—small, flushed, half-asleep in some paper-thin sleep shirt that should've been illegal.
The conversation, the way she looked up at me with those eyes—not just hazel, not green, not gold, but something in between. So fucking pretty.
The way my body reacted before I could think. How I'd touched her forehead, her throat. How her skin had warmed under my caress.
Gray's expression doesn't change much, but Leo's eyebrows climb.
"Oh shit," he says when I get to the part about touching her nipple.
"Yeah."
"You touched her?" Leo asks, sounding half-shocked, half-impressed.
"Not like that." I pause, grimacing. "Okay, maybe a little like that."
Leo whistles low. "Damn."
Gray glances toward his drink. "You like her."
I don't answer right away. The silence stretches. The truth hums in my throat, heavy and undeniable.
"I don't know," I finally say. "I mean, she's my sister's best friend. She was engaged—I thought she'd already moved in with her pack. Then she says there was an issue with the paperwork, and before I can ask more, I'm—"
"Playing with her tits," Leo supplies helpfully.
"Yeah," I mutter. "That."
Gray sighs, rubbing his temple. "Well, fuck! I guess she's the kind of girl you'd lose your mind over. And I've seen how you look at her. She's pretty."
Leo grins. "She's hot."
"Also that." Gray nods solemnly.
"She's Tess's best friend," I remind them, voice low. That's the part I can't get past. The one line I shouldn't even think about crossing.
We all feel it—the ghost of my sister sitting between us. Tess has always been protective of her people, and Mara? Mara is hers.
"Yeah," Leo says after a beat, "but she's also her own person. You didn't force anything. You caught a moment. Happens."
"It shouldn't have."
Gray meets my gaze. "You need to talk to her. Tomorrow. Pretending it didn't happen will just make it worse."
He's right, of course. I know he's right. But all I can think about is how my hand felt against her skin, how her voice had gone soft when she said my name. How she'd trembled when I told her her shirt was see-through.
I drain half my beer, trying to wash the memory out of me. It doesn't work.
Leo's still watching me, his grin tempered now, quieter. "You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"I thought about her tonight, too."
That earns my full attention. "What?"
He shrugs, a flicker of guilt crossing his features before he hides it behind a smirk. "When I was with Nina."
Gray groans. "Jesus, Leo."
"I'm being honest," he says, hands raised. "I don't know what it is about that girl, but she's in my head. The scent. The eyes. That thing she does when she looks up from her lashes, like she doesn't even know she's doing it."
I press my fingers to my temple. "You're not helping."
"Just saying," he says lightly. "Mara seems sensible. Sweet. Not the kind of girl who flirts back for the hell of it. You should talk to her. Figure it out before you drive yourself insane."
"Before we drive ourselves insane," Gray adds dryly.
Leo laughs. "Speak for yourself, monk."
Gray gives him a look. "You're the one who literally said you thought about her mid-sex."
"Hey, I didn't say mid. Could've been pre-game. Or post-game."
"You're disgusting," Gray mutters, but he's smiling faintly.
The tension breaks, laughter spilling between us. The heaviness in my chest feels a little bit lighter.
When we finish our drinks, Wes waves from the counter. "Closing up, boys."
"Thanks, man," I call back. "See you tomorrow."
We step out into the cool night air. The street is mostly empty—just the hush of falling snow and the distant thrum of a car engine somewhere down the road. The moon hangs low, bright enough to silver the tops of the trees.
"So, one car or both?" I ask.
"You just chugged your beer, lover boy. At least this one has had water in his system. We can pick up the SUV in the morning." Gray nods at Leo. "You're driving."
I toss him my keys. He catches them easily. "Yes, Dad."
Gray rolls his eyes and slides into the back seat. I take shotgun, stretching out my legs.
The drive back to the lodge is quiet for a while. It's a silence that doesn't need to be filled. Just the sound of tires on gravel, the low hum of the engine.
Then Leo says, "So, Gray's smoking again."
Ah, fuck. He only smokes when he's stressed. I thought this trip would really help mellow him out.
"Is that true?" I ask, but Gray doesn't answer.
Leo grins. "He said he quit. But I saw him sneak one before we came here."
Gray groans. "You snitch."
"Just keeping my boy honest."
"Honest, my ass."
I can't help it—I laugh. The sound startles even me.
By the time we reach the lodge, the tension has turned into something familiar. Comfortable. The three of us—a mess, but a functioning one.
Leo cuts the engine, turns to me. "Hey, D?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't overthink it. She likes you."
I raise an eyebrow. "You don't know that."
He smirks. "I know women. Trust me—that look she gave you earlier? That was interest."
I shake my head, stepping out of the truck. The air up here smells cleaner, sharper—pine and cold earth.
At the door, Leo claps my shoulder. "Night."
"Night, Leo."
"For what it's worth, I get it," he says quietly. "Mara's… different. When she looked at me, I felt it too. Like something hit me in the ribs. I think she has that effect on all of us."
I glance over at him, surprised by the honesty.
"She looks at you differently," he adds after a moment. "Like she's scared of what she feels. That's not how she looked at me." Then he grins, stepping back. "Anyway. Don't screw it up."
He disappears inside, leaving me alone on the porch.
The wind rustles through the pines. Somewhere far off, a wolf howls—a sound that always feels half-lonely, half-alive. I lean against the railing, tipping my head back to look at the stars.
I tell myself I'll talk to her tomorrow. I'll keep it professional. Rational. I'll apologize for what happened tonight and make sure it never happens again.
Or…
For Tess's sake, I can't think about the or.