She pulled her messy hair into a high ponytail and slipped her feet into a pair of brand new flip flops, but still, he only leaned against the tailgate and looked at her.
When she pulled a thin purple and pink flannel around her shoulders to ward off the cold morning air, he finally, finally broke the silence.
“I never wanted to talk to anyone but you. I just never knew how.”
“So spill it. What are you thinking right now?” she challenged him.
“I want to lock your arms against the side of this truck and fuck you until you don’t remember your name. I want to call Hunter and see how he slept. I want to check on Maris and Sadey and make sure they’re okay. I want to call Bryson and see how his night was delivering calves. I want to know why the fuck Sam didn’t contact me. Why the fuck he let me live this half-life, thinking he was dead. Why the fuck…?” He lowered his gaze to the ground. “Why the fuck he didn’t come find me and tell me everything was okay, like he always did when we were kids. He was the one who always made everything all right. And you. I want to ask you if you’re okay just about every thirty seconds, and this isn’t me. I’m not the man who worries. I’m the man who just gets shit done.”
“The old you was the man who got shit done. The new you does that, too, but you’re an alpha now. The new you cares. That’s not a bad thing, Wes. It’s a good thing.”
“Well, it’s fuckin’ annoying.”
Summer let off a laugh. “Feelings are annoying?”
“Yeah, they’re the worst.” He didn’t look grumpy anymore, though. There was a twinkle in his blue eyes and the smallest smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“Truth or dare,” she said.
“No. You used to play this when we were together, and it always got me in trouble.”
“Wuss.”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head and doing an about-face. He pulled the folded blanket from the bed of his truck and made his way to the back door to put in inside.
Summer tried again. “Yellow—”
“Don’t say it.”
“Bellied—”
“Summer!”
“Coward.”
“Shhhhhheeyit. Truth,” he growled.
“Do you still like me?” Summer arched her eyebrows up as high as she could.
“I meant dare.”
“Nope, you said ‘truth,’ gotta answer it. You know the rules.”
Wes let off a snarl and slammed the door closed. “I think you should go first.”
“Yellow—”
“Just go first, and I’ll answer it after I think for a minute. That’s a big question, and I know you. You set booby traps with your questions. If I answer it wrong, you’ll bleed me or leave, or maybe both. There’s no answer that keeps me out of trouble on that one, woman. Truth or dare.”
Summer sighed. “There’s no wrong answers with me anymore. If it’s an honest answer, I respect it. Wolf has taught me a lot. You don’t go begging. You appreciate honesty. However a person feels about me now…well, I can’t rightly blame them, can I?”
Wes canted his head like a curious animal. “Truth? Or dare?”
“Dare.”
Wes twitched his chin up slightly and dropped his gaze to her T-shirt. “Strip out of them clothes and go for a swim.”
Shocked, Summer ghosted a glance to the cold river behind him. “Naked?”
“Woman, I’ve already seen you naked.”
“Years ago! I’m different now.”
“You’re better now.”
“Wait, what?” she asked, stunned.
Wes sauntered forward a few steps, closing the gap between them. Low in his throat, he repeated. “You’re. Better. Now.” He gave off a cocky smile. “Besides, I saw you naked last night when you Changed back.”
“I told you not to look! In my head! I told your animal not to look!”
“Well, I looked,” he said remorselessly. The oaf! “And quit looking at me like that. You know me better than anyone. You already knew I would ignore that dumbass suggestion. Your tits look even better now that you’re a werewolf.” His grin got obnoxious. “You’re welcome.”
“Oh, you’re taking credit for my nice tits now? Because you bit me?” She huffed a breath and bumped his shoulder hard as she stomped past him. “You’re an asshole!”
“I never claimed to be anything else, though, and you just said you appreciated honesty! What are you doing?”
Summer peeled her shirt over her head and turned, walked backward for a few steps so she could throw it at his face. It smacked him right in his shocked expression, and she couldn’t help but snicker as the shirt fell to the ground without him even flinching or trying to catch it. “Boobies,” he whispered in a drunken voice.
“God, you men are all the same.” Summer turned and made her way to the river, unbuttoning her jean shorts as she went.
“Wait, what does that mean? Have other men seen you? Naked?”
“Hundreds,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m serious!”
“What, it bothers you that I’ve probably been with men while you were MIA? Jealous lout. You shouldn’t have left me to my own devices then. I have needs.”
A snarl ripped through him. “Did they touch you?” He was close behind her now, and that should’ve raised her hackles, but it didn’t. “How many boyfriends?”
“I’m not playing your macho, possessive games, Wes. As many as I wanted.” God, she was such a liar. What man was gonna put up with her the way she was now?
His footsteps stopped behind her as she shimmied her shorts and panties down her legs.
“Do you have a boyfriend now?” he asked. It sounded like his teeth were gritted together.
“Yes, at least a dozen.”
“There’s lies all in your voice. Summer!” He jogged in front of her and gripped her shoulders gently. “What happened?”
“Stupid boy. Nothing happened! Look at me.” She gestured to her face. Oh she knew what she looked like. One silver eye, one brown. “You think these eyes drew men in? You think the snarl in my throat, or my temper, or my confusion, brought all the boys to the yard? It didn’t. You cursed me to be alone, jackass. My needs didn’t exactly get met. Why do you think I got desperate enough to go to therapy?”
He shook his head, his eyes wide in confusion. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to be good enough for a man again someday.”
He released her arms and shook his head. “You are good enough. Always were, always will be.”
“No, Wes, I wasn’t.” Summer softened her voice because she knew him. Knew how bad he was at processing feelings or thinking about futures. “Going into a relationship broken will only hurt the other person. If you go after a person too early, you’ll make them pay for what others did to you. You’ll make them pay for your own insecurities, your own hatred of yourself. They will feel everything—all the uncertainty you feel. I knew how bad off I was. How damaged. If, someday, I got lucky enough to find a man again, I want to take care of him. Not hurt him with what you did to me. I don’t want him to pay for your mistakes. And also, I don’t want to compare him to you, because no one can match up.