“It’s okay. I like her. She really knows how to push your buttons.” Addie said with a laugh.
His expression softened when he turned back to Addie. “We grew up together. She’s like the annoying little sister I never had.” He shook his head, then added, “Let me buy you a drink.”
“I thought I was supposed to be the one buying drinks tonight.”
“I only said that so you’d come out here tonight.” He said proudly and with a devilish grin, like he was the mastermind behind some grand, evil plan.
Addie couldn’t stop grinning. “Now that’s just rude. Vodka cranberry, please.” She said toward the bartender.
Across the bar was a raised platform where two men were setting up for a performance. One man held a guitar, and the other held a banjo, and the man on the left adjusted the microphone stand in front of him.
“How’s everybody doing tonight?” the man said into the microphone as he took a seat. The crowd cheered.
For the first time since arriving, Addie really surveyed the bar. More people had filed in since she had walked in, and she found herself surprised at the crowd these two men managed to attract. But then again, this was probably the only bar in River’s Bend, and this was probably the only thing to do on Friday nights.
“We have some new faces in the crowd tonight, so we’re going to start off with a classic.” Addie let out a squeak of surprise as the men on stage glanced over at her before they started playing. River’s Bend was a small town, but did she really stick out that much?
Addie had never been a fan of country music, but when expertly played chords filled the bar and the man crooned to a song Addie had heard on the radio, she couldn’t help but get into the music. These men were way more talented than she had expected.
“Wow, they’re really good!” Addie said, turning to Jason. He was looking at her and she hadn’t even noticed. She blushed, not sure what to make of the attention.
Jason chuckled. “I’ll be sure to tell them.” he said as he knocked her shoulder playfully and took another swig of beer.
Addie stared back, confused.
“The singer is my cousin.” He finally added.
“Wait, that’s your cousin?”
Well, that explained how they knew she was new in town. Jason must’ve brought her up to them like he’d brought her up to Claire.
She shifted her eyes back and forth between the man on stage and Jason. She could see a resemblance now, especially in the eyes. They both shared the intense, bright green eyes.
“Yep, and the guy with the banjo is Claire’s brother.” he nodded toward the pool table in the far corner of the bar. “And those two guys are our friends Rowan and Luke. We all come out every Friday to support the band.”
Addie half-smiled, and when Jason cocked his head, she realized it must not have reached her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about how nice it must be nice to have such a close-knit group of friends. It was always just me and my older sister growing up. And we fought like cats and dogs until she left for college. Now I barely talk to any of my family outside of the holidays.”
Jason cocked his eyebrow as he looked at Addie. And for a brief moment, Addie wondered if she had said something weird. She had that habit. She tended to over share without realizing it.
He looked at her, his gaze almost suffocating. Like he was reading her soul. She fought the urge to look away.
“It can be nice.” he said finally. For the briefest moment, his expression was unreadable. He cracked a smile so quickly afterward that she second guessed it though. “So, what’s a girl from New York City doing all the way out here in River’s Bend?”
The abrupt subject change wasn’t lost on Addie, but she didn’t feel like it was her place to push it. She understood that family and friends could be a touchy subject that some people wouldn’t want to talk about on a first date. Or, erm… first friend date.
Plus, there was something in the tone of his question that said he thought she was a city-slicker, and she wasn’t having anyone making assumptions about her.
Even if they were true.
And even if the assumption-maker was a sexy southern gentleman with green eyes and a cute smile that pulled her in, making her want to plop down in his lap and never leave.
“I actually spent most summers here growing up.” She said, sitting up straighter.
“Really?” Jason was clearly surprised. He leaned closer. It was probably only so he could hear her better over the music, but Addie smiled at how interested he seemed to be in what she was saying.
“Yeah, then I went to Appalachian State for college, then moved to New York City afterwards. I wanted to be a journalist but there aren’t that many jobs around here for that.” Addie took a sip of her drink. “So, I got a job out there, met Todd, and just kind of stayed because it seemed to make the most since.”
“And Todd is your ex-boyfriend?” Jason asked through a frown.
Addie nodded through the pit in her stomach. It didn’t feel right to talk about Todd in front of Jason. They were two different people from two different worlds, and she was starting to like Jason. He was kind and sweet and nothing at all like Todd. But… she couldn’t deny that Todd still played a big part in her life. She wasn’t even close to over him.
“He broke up with me two months ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
Addie shrugged. “It’s okay.” But then Jason looked at her like he could tell she was lying.
“Well, it’ll be okay, eventually.” she admitted, then smiled in an attempt to cover up her hurt. And then maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was something about the way Jason was looking at her, but suddenly she was spilling her guts before she even realized what she was doing.
“He said I was boring. That I didn’t step out of my comfort zone enough. So that’s why I came out here. It’s like an adventure. So I can be less boring.”
She looked down at the floor to escape his gaze, mentally cursing herself for admitting to a hot guy that she was boring.
Luckily she had enough sense about her to leave out how she had hoped her adventures in River’s Bend would influence Todd to take her back. Her plan sounded super pathetic now.
When she looked up, Jason’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. “He said you’re boring? What an asshole.”
She shrugged. “I guess I’m just not fun and outgoing enough for him.” She looked down at her lap to avoid Jason’s gaze. The look of concern in his eyes would surely put her over the edge, and she didn’t feel like crying over Todd tonight. Especially not on Jason’s shoulder. He didn’t deserve that.
Jason’s arms wrapped around Addie tight, before she could protest. He held her like that for a moment. “He’s a loser. You’re very interesting. He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.”
Addie laughed in surprise into his shoulder. “You don’t have to take my side to make me feel better. And besides, you don’t know me well enough to know if he was right or not.”
Jason pulled back and looked at her with a serious expression. “I already know you well enough to know that Todd’s an idiot. I bet you’re plenty adventurous and plenty fun.”
She beamed up at him. It had been a long time since she’d felt an emotional connection with a man, let alone a connection so instant and with a man so attractive. Jason was kind and sweet and protective and attentive. He acted like she was interesting and beautiful, so much so that she kind of started to believe it.
And she thought he was interesting too. Already she wanted to stay in his arms forever and listen to him tell her everything about his thoughts and dreams and past.
Part of her was scared at how quickly she’d developed feelings for him. Since their first meeting at the grocery store, she couldn’t get him out of her head. It wasn’t only his good looks, though that certainly played a part in it. It was his sense of humor and how he’d laugh
ed at her stupid joke about Bigfoot and then added onto it with another joke. It was how he’d seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say and he didn’t judge her for her card being declined. They just seemed to jive on a level she hadn’t really experienced before.
She just she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to commit the feeling of his arms around her to memory. Happy moments had been few and far between the last few months.
Jason pulled away, his eyes dancing. “Let’s play darts,” he said, not giving her time to argue as he pulled her through the crowd and to the other side of the bar.
“I don’t know how to play darts.” she responded, embarrassed. If he insisted they play darts, she was about to demonstrate first-hand how awkward she was.
Without missing a beat, he shrugged. “I’ll teach you. It’s easy. You’ll do fine.”
He picked up the darts and handed her half.
“It’ll be an adventure.” he added, comically wiggling his eyebrows. She grinned at his little performance.
“First rule: try to hit the middle,” he said as he confidently threw a dart.
It hit the wall beside the board and Addie tried to hide her laugh. She expected big, strong, confident Jason to be a pro at bar games. Maybe she wouldn’t make a fool of herself if he was so bad at this. Or rather, they’d make a fool of themselves together, and that didn’t sound all that terrible.
He rambled on a little more explaining the rules of the game, and Addie only half listened. It was hard to stay focused as he kept throwing darts as “warm-up”, occasionally hitting the board, but more often than not hitting the wall beside the board.
She also couldn’t help getting distracted watching him because, though he sucked at darts, he sure did look good doing it.
“So those are the rules. Got it?”
“Oh, um, sure, I think so.” Addie said. He smiled a crooked smile like he knew what she was thinking, and it wasn’t darts.
“Take a few warm-up shots if you want.”
Addie nodded as she took the darts from Jason’s hand and stepped up to the board. Feeling exceptionally unathletic, she clumsily wound back her arm, closed her eyes, and threw the dart as best as she could.
The dart hit the board with a satisfying thwack. Addie opened her eyes to see the dart had landed just an inch or so below the bullseye. Jason turned to her, mouth wide open in surprise.
“What the hell, Addie? You let me believe you were just a cute little journalist, and then I find out you’re actually a professional darts player?”
Addie threw her head back and laughed, partly at his dumb joke and partly at her surprise at not sucking at something physical.
Jason wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. “Forget the game, I want to see you make a bullseye.”
“We’ll be here all night.” Addie said, laughing.
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, making her dizzy. Maybe she was drunk.
From the vodka?
No, she realized. From Jason. He was smooth.
Addie turned around to face him and cocked her head to the side, trying to decipher his intentions. She felt a connection with him, and it was obvious he was feeling something too. But it seemed like his feelings had moved awfully fast and she wasn’t sure what to make of that. Was he thinking and feeling the same things she was? It seemed unlikely.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll try to make a bullseye. But only if you buy me another drink.” She pecked him on the cheek.
Jason’s eyebrows shot up as his hand touched where her lips had met his cheek. “Another vodka cranberry, please!” he yelled over his shoulder at the bartender.
Addie giggled and moved to pick the darts off the board.
It took a few dozen tries and another drink for both of them, but a dart did indeed eventually hit the center of the board.
Both Jason and Addie threw their hands in the air and cheered. Jason picked her up in a giant hug.
“I knew you could do it!” he exclaimed as he kissed her forehead, sending the butterflies in her stomach into overdrive.
In the background, the band was wrapping up their final song. Addie looked at the clock on the wall. Almost closing time.
Wow, time sure flew by. She hadn’t had this much fun since…
She frowned and pulled away from Jason.
“What is it?” Jason asked, with the most genuine look of concern on his face. It only added to her heartbreak.
“I just… I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with you tonight.”
“And that’s... bad?”
Addie shook her head and let out a soft sigh as she processed what she was feeling.
“Not bad. I just like you a lot, but I guess I’m not quite over Todd yet.” She pulled away, avoiding Jason’s eyes.
Moving to River’s Bend was turning out to be more complicated than she thought. She had moved out here to try to impress Todd, to try to make him love her again… and here she was, second day in town, falling for Jason. Falling hard. She felt vulnerable and unsteady, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
“That’s okay. I’m okay with being just friends.” he said after a moment. Addie could see the disappointment on his face and her stomach turned at the thought that she had caused it. This was only supposed to be an innocent date to get her mind off Todd. She never would have agreed if she’d known how much they would hit it off. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She didn’t mean to hurt him.
“I’m sorry. I just got out of a relationship where I gave so much.” Too much. “I’m afraid there isn’t anything left of me to give.” She paused, searching his face. “You’re a great guy and deserve someone willing to give you everything.”
He nodded and smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. And then he looked toward the stage where his cousin and friend were packing up.
“I’ve got some stuff I need to work through too, you know. We can work through it together.” His voice was so earnest and hopeful that it broke Addie’s heart.
She wondered what he was alluding to. Maybe it was something to do with his friend group. That had seemed like a sore subject earlier.
“I really enjoyed tonight,” he said, unconsciously reaching his hand out to touch her arm. “I still want to hang out again sometime. As just friends, if that’s what you want.”
Addie gave him a smile. That was a good start. They shouldn’t date right now, but she didn’t like the thought of not seeing him again. If he was okay being friends, she’d take it.
“Just friends,” she repeated.
Chapter 3
The forest floor beneath Jason’s paws was damp with morning dew. The thick tree canopy prevented glimpses of the sky, but Jason knew it had to be close to sunrise because the music of the forest was changing. The nocturnal chirping of cicadas was slowly transitioning into birdsong.
Jason paused to stretch and yawn, then continued his patrol of the woods–his woods–like his wolf demanded of him. The sound of a familiar truck engine radiated from somewhere far down the mountain. Jason stopped in place, his ear involuntarily twitching toward the sound.
Up ahead was a small clearing. He slowly padded out into the first rays of morning sunshine and laid down in a huff.
The last week had been hell.
He was exhausted. Every night for the past week, he’d struggled to sleep. He got a couple hours of shut eye per night—if he was lucky. His wolf was far too anxious to allow his human side to rest.
Normally being in his wolf form was an escape from reality. Like an embrace of pure instinct, where he could let the wolf take over and get away from his stupid, insignificant human problems. His wolf wasn’t concerned about bills or work or whatever other problems arose in Jason’s day-to-day life.
Well, normally. His wolf wasn’t an escape this time, because even his wolf couldn’t get Addie out of his mind.
A pair of birds landed on a tree branch above, u
nconcerned with the giant brown wolf laying below. One was chirping, singing her morning song, while the other preened his feathers, then moved onto his partner’s. Jason’s eyes tightened as he watched them. His wolf internally growled in envy.
What the hell? They’re just birds, wolf.
Frustration bubbled up in Jason’s middle. This wasn’t who he was. He was normally easy-going and steady. A strong, dominant wolf shifter. And now he was letting some human woman affect him like this. Her presence — or rather, her lack of presence — was driving him and his wolf nuts.
He shouldn’t have invited her to Harvey’s. She was supposed be a casual date, or maybe even a one-night stand if he was lucky. And now things were complicated.
Who was he kidding, though? He’d known she was special from the moment she adorably rammed her cart into his at the grocery store. His big, dominant inner wolf had practically rolled over in submission at the sight of her. Long dark hair and big brown eyes. Curvy little body and full, pouty lips.
The human in him may have initially thought she was just an attractive woman, but his wolf had known all along.
They always said that’s how mates worked. As wolf shifters, you just know. Jason had doubted it, but now he understood.
Jason closed his eyes, feeling the gentle morning breeze ruffle the fur on his back. An image flashed through his mind of Addie running her hands through his fur, smiling down at him and enjoying the quiet morning sunshine beside him.
The wind picked up, blowing dead leaves across the ground and bringing with it the scent of the forest: pine, earth, and… another wolf.
Jason jumped up, snarling, and the two lovebirds above him flew off. He frantically looked around, searching for the source of the scent. Searching for the other wolf who had dared to encroach on his pack’s territory.
The sound of leaves crunching echoed through the clearing. Something approached from the other side of the woods. Jason crouched low and watched, ready to pounce. A low growl emanated from his throat, as a warning that he was prepared to fight.
Greystone Alpha Page 2
