Chapter 29 #2
“He has this weird way of talking people into it without sayin’ much. I knew a human guy once who was straight as a board. After an hour surfing with Darryl, they disappeared somewhere, and later on he was limpin’ back to his hotel with one of Darryl’s towels around his waist.”
“I’m calling bullshit.”
“I swear, it’s true! Surfers go to the beach to ride the waves, but they always end up ridin’ Darryl.”
“Was he really as carefree as you said he was earlier? That doesn’t seem like him at all.”
“Yeah, he was a lot more fun before… Well, you know.”
I opened the door and we stepped back inside. The toilet flushed and Austin crept through the hallway toward the living room.
“Austin?” I asked, waiting for Adam to emerge, but he didn’t follow. “Did you go to the bathroom all by yourself?”
He didn’t respond, tears welling in his emotionless eyes as usual. After staring at nothing for a solid minute, he finally sat down on the sofa.
“Maybe he’s getting better,” I said, turning to Roscoe who grabbed a plate of cold bacon from the table. “What are you doing?”
“A little test,” he said, holding the plate in front of Austin’s nose. “Ya hungry big guy?”
The blond werewolf’s stomach growled, and Roscoe sat the plate in his lap before backing away. We observed him for about five minutes, hoping he’d start eating, but he showed no interest.
“Nope. He’s still fucked. No werewolf I know can resist a plate of bacon.”
“Well, he’s going to the bathroom on his own. That’s a start.” I stood behind the sofa, rubbing Austin’s ears. “I sure hope they can help him.”
“He’ll either snap out of it, or he’ll end up stayin’ out there. Nothing we can really do.”
“We were just starting to get close.”
“That’s somethin’ I’ve been wondering about. How close did you guys end up gettin’?” Roscoe eyed me from the side.
“He was opening up about everything, showing some real emotion.” I let out a slight chuckle. “He even said he was in love with me. That’s something you’d never expect to hear from Austin.”
“Ahh,” Roscoe said in his usual tone. “I figured as much.” With a smile, he padded toward the kitchen. I followed, watched as he opened the cabinet and grabbed the half-empty bottle of habanero sauce. “I’m gonna make him something special fer breakfast.”
“Roscoe, no,” I shouted. “We had a long talk about it, and we came to an understanding.” I snatched the bottle out of his hands. “Can you just say what’s on your mind instead of trying to kill people with hot sauce?”
“I’m makin’ breakfast.”
“You already made breakfast.”
“Second breakfast.” He grabbed the bacon grease-covered frying pan and a large bowl. “I’m in the mood for hoecakes. Ever have those?”
I pushed myself between him and the stove. “I’ve noticed a pattern here. Every time you’re upset, you eat.”
“Yer wrong. I ain’t upset.” His stomach growled as he gently pushed me aside. “I’m hungry.”
“Do you love me?”
Roscoe’s eyes shifted, but he kept his face forward. “That’s a loaded question.”
“Really? Seems pretty straightforward to me.”
“We should just enjoy the day,” he said, turning the burner to medium. “It’s real pretty outside.”
My face grew hot. That had come off a bit forced, and I kind of understood why he avoided answering. Things would get awkward regardless, and I wasn’t sure how I’d react to it. To lighten the mood, I quickly changed the subject.
“So… What the hell is a hoecake?”
Later that evening we all gathered around the fire pit, and Austin gazed silently into the flames with Adam in the chair next to him.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Adam said, breaking the silence. “I want to get him to the ferals tomorrow, but I don’t know where they are.”
“Neither do we,” I said, looking over at Roscoe. “We still have Austin’s beer in the garage refrigerator. We might be able to attract them.”
“Uhh…”
“You drank all the beer, didn’t you?”
“Darryl helped!”
“What else do they like?” Adam asked. “We’ve got those porterhouse steaks in the freezer.”
Roscoe slinked forward in his seat, showing all the signs of a dog that had just chewed up an expensive duvet. Adam and I glared at him.
“Sorry! I get hungry when I’m stressed.”
“And happy. And sad. And horny,” Adam added. “Maybe you could talk Willa into another barbeque discount.”
Roscoe’s ears perked up.
“You’re getting nothing,” I said. “In fact, you’re not even allowed to help us carry it into the woods.”
“What if we don’t find them tomorrow, and we have to sleep out there?” Adam asked. “And Boss Hog decides to have a midnight snack?”
“I ain’t gonna eat any of it.” Roscoe gritted his teeth. “Could I at least eat the French fries? They don’t keep well.”
“We’re not ordering fries,” I said.
“They come with the meal. Yer gettin’ the meal, ain’t ya?”
“We are getting meat.”
“No soda?” Roscoe asked. “Remember how much they liked the bubbles?”
“It’ll go flat by the time we find them. We’ll pick up some two liters at the store.” The bit of drool hanging from Austin’s mouth made me remember something else. “We should get a few bags of white cheddar popcorn, too.”
“We’ve got like five bags of that stuff in the pantry,” Adam said.
Roscoe’s eyes widened as he turned to the smaller werewolf and shook his head.
“What?”
“We do?” I asked. “I didn’t see any.”
“Roscoe hides them, but I smelled one of the open bags on the top shelf behind the oatmeal.”
I shot Roscoe another glare.
“I know we talked about my junk food problem, but it’s just popcorn. Plus, you hide shit all the time. You think I don’t know about yer coffee?”
“What about all the cupcake snacks in your closet behind those old-people discs?” Adam asked.
“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.” Roscoe nervously cleared his throat. “And they’re called records. Why were you in our closet?”
“Because you have that weird sex stuff, and I was curious.”
“All right,” I said, clapping my hands together. “We’ll have barbeque, and all of Roscoe’s junk food to trade. That’ll save us a trip to the store.”
Roscoe let out a dog-like whine.
“And you’re no longer allowed to go grocery shopping without me.”
“I am four times yer age, young man!” Roscoe protested.
“We can’t be blowing our budget on food we don’t need. I know werewolves are pretty resilient, but eating all this stuff can’t be good for you.”
“I’m as healthy as a horse!”
“And you weigh about as much as one,” Adam chimed in, looking down at the lawn chair Roscoe sat in. “Every time you sit out here, those legs bow so much that Darryl and I were taking bets on when they’d give out.”
Lately, I hadn’t been noticing as much weight gain since I was around him all the time, but now that it was front and center, it was all I could see. It wasn’t like I was grossed out or anything—in fact, his extra girth was really nice to cuddle with at night.
Roscoe looked down at his gut and gave it a pat with both hands. “Almost ready for winter.”
“Do werewolves hibernate?” I asked.
“This one does,” Roscoe answered. “Mmm, I can’t wait. Hot chocolate. Turkey. Cookies. Oh!” He stood and gave a wide, toothy grin. “I just got an idea you might enjoy, Cody.”
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I’m feelin’ festive all of a sudden.”
He opened the door and disappeared inside.
“I guess that’s my cue,” I said, about to stand and follow Roscoe, but Adam put up his hands.
“Wait. Can we talk for a little bit?”
“Sure.” I lowered myself back into the seat.
“I haven’t been able to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I remember what I did to him. He was acting so sweet, and I don’t know what came over me.”
“What happened, exactly? How did you end up in the woods?”
Adam’s ears fell. “When Austin took off his costume, I got annoyed and left the party. I was already feeling like crap, but I’d just been wanting to go into the woods lately, like something was calling me.
I think Austin knew I was about to turn.
That’s why he followed. Have you ever had swollen gums? ”
I nodded, remembering my first night as a half-turn.
“The only thing that helped ease the pain was sex. It was kind of weird the way he changed, like he was doing this stuff out of instinct. Our bodies were completely in sync with one another, and after I finished turning, I heard a woman. She asked if I wanted to do what you could do, and she told me how to do it. Everything after that was fuzzy except the moment I grabbed Austin’s dog tags and everything went white.
He screamed, Cody. It was like I’d stabbed him or something, but the voice kept telling me this was what he wanted. ”
Adam patted Austin’s head, and the larger werewolf’s tail swayed a bit. That was the first reaction I’d seen in a while.
“Do you remember anything after that?”
He shook his head. “Just fragments of what seemed like a dream. Fire. Crosses. Voices. Then when I was out of the woods, I realized it wasn’t a nightmare.
” Adam looked up at me and wiped his eyes.
“Darryl told me what you did. I never had a friend that would let me borrow his shirt, let alone risk his life for me.”
“You’re like my little brother,” I said, scooting my chair next to him. “You can be a real pain in the ass, but I still love you. I don’t want you to leave, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Either of you.”
“I always thought you were this lame nag, always bossing us around.”
I smiled, waiting for him to finish, but he just looked at me.
“But?”
“But what?” he asked. “You’re a lame nag, always bossing us around.
” I let out an annoyed groan, and he wrapped his thicker arm around me.
“But I still love you, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you either.
” He pulled away and scratched his head.
“Would you even be considered a big brother now that I’m taller than you? You’re the new pipsqueak of the house.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, then jumped out of the chair when Roscoe yelled something incomprehensible from inside.
He screamed again, and I dashed through the door, nearly colliding with him as he frantically flailed about.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked, trying to grab his arm, but he kept running in circles, covering his crotch.
“Bad idea! Baaaad idea!” He ran into the bathroom and turned on the tap before shoving his dick under the faucet.
It looked like he had painted it with red and white stripes using gel food coloring.
“Oh my God! That’s worse!” He pulled away and ran back into the bedroom, leaving behind a strong scent trail of peppermint.
“What did you do, Roscoe?”
“I wanted to make ya a candy caa-aane.”
“Did you pour peppermint oil on yourself?”
Roscoe nodded with a whine.
“You really are an idiot.”
“Ye-e-e-eees!” Roscoe cried out with tears in his eyes. “It won’t stop burnin’! Help!”
“Good thing it’s just oil. Get in the shower, I’ll go grab the dish soap.”