Chapter 16 #2
The phone rang again, and the ringtone somehow sounded angrier.
“Come on. They’re gonna be here later, and I just want to walk with someone.”
“Why don’t you walk with Adam when he gets back?” I asked, pressing the button to silence the phone.
“Yeah, maybe when he gets here, but you’re here now. So let’s go.”
The phone rang again.
“Hold on,” I said, holding the phone to my ear. “Adam?”
“What the fuck?” he screamed, his voice a slightly higher pitch than before. I held the phone away from my ear as he continued yelling. “The asshole hung up on me!”
“He’s just missing you.” I glared at Austin, who rolled his eyes.
“He sure has a funny way of showing it.”
Austin pulled me toward the door, and I hurried Adam off the line. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
The other end went dead silent.
“Okay?” I asked, expecting some kind of answer, but the connection went dead. “Austin.”
“What?”
“When he gets back, you need to try to get along better with him. He may just be your kuu mate, but he also cares about you.”
“Whatever,” he grunted, letting out a heavy breath.
“Where are we going?”
“There’s a barbeque restaurant where I saw a bunch of werewolves last time. I thought maybe I’d take you there for lunch after we browse the town a bit. I need to pick up some things from the hardware store.”
“Oh, Roscoe’s been wanting to go to that barbeque place since we got here,” I said, locking the door behind me. “Are you sure you’re okay going into public? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine.” He kept his eyes forward. I could tell he was forcing himself into this situation, and while I was elated he was trying, I didn’t want him to be a mess of anxiety.
“If you start to get nervous, tell me and we’ll leave.”
Austin nodded without another word.
Later that afternoon
“Oh God, I’m so stuffed,” I muttered before a loud belch left my throat. “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much in my life.”
Austin was sitting on the couch next to me with his feet up on the coffee table and a contented look on his face.
He hadn’t said much since we got back; in fact, most of our walk and time at the restaurant had been spent in silence.
It wasn’t uncomfortable, and I didn’t expect him to turn into a chatty Cathy after just one day.
This was going to take some time, but at least he made the effort.
Muffled angry chatter from outside grew louder, and Austin’s ears pointed upward before turning toward the door. He didn’t react at all; instead, he turned up the television volume.
“Sounds like they’re home,” I said right as the door swung open.
“Hold on, I got another one fer ya,” Roscoe said as he followed a very irate Adam inside. “Did you hear about the dairy cow that jumped over the barbed wire fence?”
“Make him stop. Now,” Adam said as he walked into the living room, throwing his backpack on the other loveseat. He eyed Austin and me. “You guys look comfortable.”
I patted my stomach. “We ate a big lunch.”
Roscoe sniffed the air and furrowed his brows. “You went to the barbeque place without me? You know how much I wanted to go, but you got all pissy about money.”
Adam sat on the loveseat, glaring daggers at me. “You guys went out to eat? Together?”
“It was just lunch.” I looked over at Roscoe. “And I didn’t buy, but the prices are pretty good. Maybe I’ll take you there this week.”
“All right. I’ll forgive ya,” Roscoe said with a grin, his tail wagging.
Adam stood up and walked over to us before burying his nose in Austin’s mane. “You actually took a bath?”
“Yup,” Austin replied, tearing away from the tv show.
“You smell good.”
“You smell like Darryl.” There was a slight annoyance in his tone.
“Oh, come on, don’t give me that look,” Adam said, crawling onto Austin’s lap. “I heard you missed me.”
The werewolf tossed me a sideways glance, and I nodded for him to respond.
“Yeah.”
I started to understand what was wrong with their dynamic.
When Austin and I were together, I didn’t keep trying to talk to him; instead, I waited for him to initiate the conversation.
Roscoe did the same thing, which was why Austin had preferred being around him the last week or so.
Adam, on the other hand, had this loose party mentality where he was always the center of attention.
He was good-looking and outgoing, so he never had an issue picking up human guys or werewolves, but his extroverted personality clashed hard with how reserved and nervous Austin was.
“How about we have some fun?” Adam gave the werewolf another sniff. “How’d you get your fur so soft?”
“Cody brushed me and used the big guns.”
He turned to me. “You brushed him?”
“He was really poofy.”
“Hah,” Roscoe cut in. “Turned it on high, huh?”
Austin nodded.
Adam slid off Austin’s lap and walked into the hallway without saying anything, rather turned left toward the back door.
I got up and started after him but stopped to give Roscoe a kiss. “Meet me in the bedroom in a bit.”
“Oh boy,” Roscoe said, scrambling off the loveseat. “I’ll go clean myself up just fer you.”
Austin remained where he was, his attention back on the TV show as if oblivious to what was going on. Part of me wondered if he was doing it on purpose, or if his lack of concern was unintentional. For now, I needed to find a way to get them talking.
I pushed the back door open just as Adam sat on one of the lawn chairs surrounding the fire pit.
“Hey,” I said, sitting in the chair across from him. “Sorry about Roscoe.”
“Is there something wrong with me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Roscoe didn’t touch me the whole time we were gone and now…” He trailed off, looking down at his hands. “Am I ugly or something?”
“For fuck’s sake,” I said, crossing one leg over my knee. “You’re probably one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met.”
Adam smiled. “You think so?”
I nodded. “The reason Roscoe didn’t do anything is… well, I kind of got jealous and made a stink about it.”
“What’s the big deal? We fuck werewolves. That’s our thing.”
“How would you feel if Austin and I slept together?”
“I’d feel sorry for you.”
“Well, we did, and I kind of liked it,” I lied, gauging his reaction. Sure enough, had his skin been lighter, it would have flushed as he bit down hard on his upper lip.
“Are you going to fuck both of them now at the same time, you fucking slut?”
“Whoa, calm down!”
“I’m not going to calm down! You fucked my kuu mate,” he shouted, shooting up from the chair, which flipped backward. “He’s bathing, and he’s making you breakfast and taking you out to eat! What the fuck, man? He doesn’t do any of that shit for me!”
“We didn’t actually have sex.”
“You’re a lying, back-stabbing fa—”
“I’m proving a point,” I interrupted before Adam could finish that slur.
Adam paused and took a deep breath before setting his chair upright. “Sorry, I don’t know why I snapped like that.”
“It’s because you feel the same way about Austin that I do about Roscoe.”
Adam’s gaze shifted to the ground as he sat on the chair.
“Austin’s in a very vulnerable state of mind right now, but he’s trying, even if it seems like he’s not. When you go back in, just sit next to him quietly and see what happens.”
“Just what exactly are you implying?”
“Nothing! It’s just, after being with him alone for a day, I learned things are going to take time. The guy’s been trying to isolate himself for a while, and it’s hard to get him in the mood to talk. If he starts to feel comfortable, he’ll start talking.”
Adam leaned forward, eyeing me suspiciously. “What exactly do you know?”
“Not more than you do.” I lied again. It wasn’t my place to tell Austin’s story. “Just trust me on this.”
“I think I need a break from werewolves. Roscoe was—” He paused and ground his teeth. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“He grows on you.” I gave the half-turn a sly smile. “Like a fungus. To be honest, I think that’s what keeps things interesting between us. We’re so opposite that somehow it just works.”
Adam stood and stretched. “Let’s go out somewhere. I found a bar downtown that doesn’t look too bad.”
“We’re not allowed to drink, remember? And you’re not even old enough.”
Adam grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the chair. “The mayor said it was illegal to sell alcohol to werewolves. I saw a half-turn in town earlier sucking down a frozen margarita, and goddamn it, Cody, I want a drink after all this.” He held up a fake ID. “You’re buying.”
I shot him an uneasy glance but thought about it a little more. Another opportunity was about to fall into my lap, and with how tense things had been between us lately, a guy’s night out at a bar might work in my favor.
“Fine. I’ve got a little extra money, and we don’t get to spend nearly enough time together. Roscoe’s going to be disappointed. He’s kind of sitting in the bedroom waiting.”
“Good. He can experience what he put me through.”
“That was fun,” Adam slurred, holding onto me for balance as we made our way to the front door. “But that music suuuucked.”
My phone vibrated, and I took it out to examine the caller ID. It was unknown, so I tapped reject and dropped the phone back into my pocket.
“At least the booze was cheap.” I couldn’t help but grumble at how little Adam was able to pace himself. It was all or nothing with that half-turn, and since I was buying, he didn’t mind running up the tab.
“Did you even drink?”
“Of course, I just know what moderation means,” I said, trying to turn the knob, which was locked. “Huh. I guess they went out somewhere.”
“Doubt it.” Adam hiccupped before letting out a squeaky belch. “Austin’s probably in the garage.”
“You need to go to bed.” I fumbled with my keys before unlocking the door.
“I’ll go to bed when I’m damn ready,” he said, stumbling forward. I caught him just in time. “I think I’m ready.”
I led the unstable half-turn to his room, set him on the bed, and then removed his sandals.
“Good night,” I said, turning to leave, but not before he caught my arm. “What?”
“Thanks for the drinks.” He let go and collapsed onto his pillows.
“Yeah,” I muttered as I left the bedroom.
Disappointed was an understatement. Every time I tried to carry on a conversation with him, he’d get another cocktail and disappear.
Adam had no issues working the room, dancing and flirting with at least half the guys there, all the while leaving me to fend off every person with a thing for half-turns—which was just about everyone.
Oddly enough, I was more popular with the women, and one of them in particular had creeped me out.
I checked each room of the house, but it was empty.
“Austin?” I called out. “Roscoe?”
No response.
After flipping on the light switch to the dining room, I eyed the door leading into the garage. Since Austin had taken over that space and made it clear he didn’t want anyone in there, we all obliged him. Tonight, though, I let curiosity get the best of me.
Upon opening the door, I noticed a large, conical tarp-covered device sitting in the middle of the workshop.
Austin’s tools and raw materials were placed neatly on hooks and shelves, and several work benches lined the walls.
He really took pride in this area; I smiled at the thought of him sitting on one of his benches, tinkering with something.
Tight straps secured the tarp to whatever was under it, so I carefully undid them and let the cover fall. The smile on my face shifted the opposite direction. My jaw clenched with rage.
“What the fuck, Austin?” It was a copper still surrounded by jars of what looked like moonshine. So this was what he had been doing this whole time? Running an illegal booze operation?
My cell phone vibrated again, and I took it out to see the same unknown number. Shortly after I rejected it, the phone rang again, and I grew concerned. I accepted the call and held the phone up to my ear.
“Hello?”
A moment of silence before a very familiar and angry voice lashed my ears through the speaker. “Good evening, Dakota,” the mayor said with cheerful howling in the background. Was that Roscoe?
“Oh! I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know who it was.”
“I’ve got a question for you.”
“Um, okay.”
“Do you know where your werewolves right now?”
“They’re not my—”
“Answer the question,” he interrupted.
“I don’t know. I came home, and they were gone.”
“Meet me at 728 North Avenue. The gate will open upon your arrival.”
“Are they with you?”
The line went dead.