Inevitably Yours

We all trudged through the woods, having left the car about a mile back from the spot where the bonfire was supposed to be. I rubbed my bare arms, wishing I had brought a sweatshirt.

“You need to shift more,” Tommy said. “You wouldn’t be so cold if you were in sync with your wolf.”

“Thank you, doctor,” I said. “That doesn’t help me currently.”

“We’ll hang out near the fire,” Christy said from my other side. Sunni looked at me over her shoulders. We were all taking silent bets on how quickly it would be before Christy snuck off with Aubree. She wouldn’t admit just how much she liked him to everyone else, but we saw it. I at least knew they were mates.

Finally, we heard voices coming through the trees. “I can see light,” Matt said from next to Sunni. After a few more minutes, we broke through the trees to a clearing with a giant fire going in the center. I could feel the heat emitting from it immediately.

“Let’s find seats near the fire,” Tommy suggested.

“We’ll get drinks,” Matt said. He and Sunni headed to find something for us. Christy was looking around anxiously.

“He’s around here somewhere,” I told her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her with Tommy and me toward the warmth of the fire. We found a good spot and settled onto the grass.

“Feel better?” Tommy asked me as we started to warm up.

“Yea,” I smiled. “Hopefully, they found drinks.” My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out hopefully. That hope was dashed quickly when I found it was just my mom letting me know my parents weren’t waiting up for me. Tommy also had his eyes on his phone.

“Everything alright?” I asked him.

“Oh, yea,” he laughed lightly, shoving it in his pocket. “Just something dumb.” He looked around like he was looking for someone.

“What’s going on with Tommy?” I linked Chirsty.

“You don’t know?” she replied. I shook my head as our eyes connected. “His on-again-off-again girlfriend is giving him s**t. Personally, I think it’s because he is friends with you, but he won’t tell anyone why.”

“Me?” I asked. Christy smiled. Someone growled behind her before grabbing her around the middle and pulling her up. She squealed and laughed as Aubree raised her off the ground.

“You have to be careful out here in the woods. A wolf will get you,” he laughed, setting her back down. He sat behind her, keeping her in between his legs.

“You aren’t as big and bad as you think you are,” she teased. A can of soda lowered in front of my face. I looked up to see Jaxx standing directly behind me.

“Oh, thanks,” I said, reaching to take it.

“Who is this?” Tommy asked, eyeing Aubree and Jaxx.

“This is Aubree and Jaxx,” Christy introduced them. “They’re from Wild Paws.”

All the guys nodded at each other in greeting. Jaxx sat down behind me but not quite as close as Aubree was to Christy. Tommy frowned.

“I’m going to find Sunni and Matt. They should have been back by now,” he said, getting to his feet. I frowned as he walked away, not wanting to be left alone with the others. Christy was already twisted around in Aubree’s lap, talking to him animatedly while he smiled warmly at her. His hands gently skimmed up and down her sides like he was finding any small way to touch her until she accepted him.

“I give it five more minutes before they disappear into the woods,” Jaxx whispered into my ear, leaning close.

“I don’t think she is going to leave me,” I told him. I didn’t quite believe the words, though.

“Pfftt,” he laughed. “That’s the beauty of best friends. We keep each other company while they sneak off for their private fun.”

“That is her fairy tale ending, isn’t it?” I said. Suddenly, I felt like the heroine’s best friend whole falls for the male lead’s best friend in any romance novel. I decided it would be odd to watch a story unfold from the sidelines.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” he smiled. “At least for me. I think we get along swimmingly.”

“I didn’t say it would be bad,” I countered.

“But you still won’t give me your number. You know I begged Christy, right? She came over to Aubree’s last Sunday, and I begged her. On my knees, hands together, shamelessly begged,” he told me.

“Why?” I asked. He scooted marginally closer to me; I really hoped he was joking.

“You’re really smart and nice. You care about your friends, or you wouldn’t be here. I think you’re interesting,” he said quietly. “Girls like you are worth getting to know.”

I looked back at Christy and Aubree, who were whispering to each other. Jealousy rolled in my stomach. She looked so happy and relaxed. It felt like brief, fleeting moments like that had occurred for me, but they were long gone now. Jaxx inched closer to me.

“You don’t have to be so guarded,” he said. “If this is your best friend’s fairy tale, I am not the villain.”

I laughed a little at that. “I guess you wouldn’t be.”

“So what do you say? Would it be the worst thing if I called you once in a while?”

You shouldn’t feel like you can’t do what you want because of me…

Michael’s words floated through my head. I had no idea what I wanted anymore. Michael seemed like he was pulling away little by little, never wanting to have any actual conversation. Everyone seemed to think it was best if I just moved on and started dating. The question that remained was, how do you move past heartache like that?

Jaxx observed me carefully while I thought. I moved my gaze from Aubree and Christy to the fire in front of us. It was already shrinking in size as no one was paying attention to it. The cool wind was picking up, sending shivers up my arms again.

“Here,” Jaxx said, shrugging off his jacket and laying it over my shoulders. I was immediately surrounded by his lingering heat trapped on the fabric and his woodsy smell.

“Give me your phone,” I said. I wouldn’t think about it anymore; overthinking stopped me from realizing how I felt about Michael.

“Really?” he asked happily, pulling it out of his back pocket. He scooted even closer to me, handing me his phone from behind. I added my name and number to his contact list, then handed it back. “Thanks,” he said happily.

“We’ll be back!” Christy announced, standing up and grabbing Aubree’s hand.

Jaxx and I both held back our laughter until they had strolled away. “You lose,” I said finally. “That took longer than five minutes.”

MICHAEL

I laid in my half-unpacked room, staring up at my ceiling. Eros needed to stretch his legs desperately, but the area we moved to was primarily human. This pack was very different than Stary or the other northern packs. I had to watch how often and where I shifted now. Melvin was supposed to arrange a space to train as soon as he was set up in his new job. My mom was supposed to stay home for now and take care of the house.

My phone rang, and Quinn’s name blinked onto the screen of my phone. I hadn’t talked to her much, and I felt guilty about it. I contemplated answering, but my desire to hear her voice won over. “Hey, Blue.”

“Hey. I was worried I was waking you up,” she said softly.

“No,” I told her. “You can wake me up any time.”

“What are you up to?” she asked.

“Just lying around. You?”

“Practicing,” she answered. “Or at least trying to.”

I laughed. “What are you practicing while on the phone with me?”

“Wrestling scoring,” she answered. My interest peaked at that. Had she been recruited for the stat girls and not told me?

“Really?” I asked. “How did you decide to do that?”

“I have Mr. Ganbar first period, and he asked me to. It seemed easy at first, so I agreed, but now I am not so sure. The first tournament is next weekend, and I am really nervous,” she explained.

“Why are you nervous?” I asked her.

“Well, we stayed after school to score for some matches in the wrestling room, and we all got lost. I know how important this job is, and I am afraid I will mess up really bad,” Quinn answered.

“I bet you are better than you think you are.” I smiled, thinking about that little blue head sitting on the side of the mat watching me wrestle, then my stomach clenched. There was no way that could happen.

“Mr. Ganbar emailed us some videos to watch and practice with. I have no idea if I am doing them right or not. I’ve done one of them three times, and the scorecard looks different on each go around.”

“I could help you,” I offered, trying not to think about my girl never watching me compete.

“That is a little hard when we are on the phone,” she pointed out. I got up and went to my desk, grabbing my laptop.

“Send me the videos. I’ll watch them as you do and you can ask me questions. I can explain what is happening. If you understand the movements, you’ll get the scoring better. All the girls eventually start catching on. Sometimes, they are better coaches than the actual coaches.”

“Really? You can do that for me?” she asked.

“Anything for you,” I told her. Anything to forget about life for a while and just talk to her.

I gave her my new email address, and when she sent me the video links, we worked through each one slowly. I explained everything that was happening from both sides of the match.

This would have been a dream way to spend my Sunday afternoon in any other circumstances. If I were back in Stary Pack, I would have sat her in my lap and messed with her the whole time. I could imagine the scrunched-up adorable face she would have made in frustration. I would have made it clear that she was my stat girl and only mine to the entire team, too. But that horrible weight was there to remind me that wasn’t our reality. I could help her, and we could talk about wrestling, but she wouldn’t be on the sideline cheering me on.

By the time she had to get off the phone, she seemed to be more sure of herself and understand the sport a little better. I grabbed my headphones and slipped my shoes on. I needed to work out and distract myself from these feelings. I couldn’t even count the days until I would get to see her again because I had no idea when it would happen.