by Parker Foye
My truck.
Jim moved his hand slowly to his pocket and suppressed a cringe. He didn’t care so much who drove his truck, but the thing was recognizable. It was big and black with a lot of chrome, and had custom plates reading JAYWEST.
Teddy shoved his hand out farther, and Jim blew out a raspberry.
That sound made Teddy bark with laughter for some reason.
Perplexed, Jim filed that reaction away for later in case he needed to make Teddy laugh again.
If the secret were going to get out, at least the rumors could be based on a strategic move by Jim and not by something Carter had said. Jim might not have been leaving, but he wasn’t sending Teddy out on his own, either. He fired off a text to Jamie. If you’re around and can do some stalking, Teddy’s running errands. Watch him?
“Don’t ding my baby,” he then muttered, handing Teddy the keys and rooting his wallet out of his pocket.
“Where are my pants?” Teddy asked after palming the credit card Jim handed over.
“Over the hamper in my bedroom closet. You need some help putting them on?”
“No, because you would want to help take these off first.”
Jim nodded solemnly.
“You are horrible.”
Jim shrugged. He was needy and touch-starved, and wouldn’t lie that he wasn’t.
Teddy sighed. “What do you want with your steak?”
“The usual stuff, I guess. Can you really cook?”
“I do all right in the kitchen. When I can’t figure stuff out, I have no problem with calling my mother. She tells me all her cooking secrets, as long as I don’t share them with my sister.”
“Ouch. That’s pretty cold of your mother.”
“Nah. My sister’s a bad cook, and my mother doesn’t want anyone thinking she’s the one at fault for dishes not turning out right.”
Jim tapped his foot impatiently and canted his head toward the door. “Hurry up. You could have been back by now.”
“Whatever.” Teddy strolled away, laughing, but the situation wasn’t funny to Jim. He was already starting to sweat, and the beast inside him wasn’t comfortable with his mate going off adventuring on his own.
He twined his fingers and rocked side-to-side to slake off his excess of energy. “Could follow him,” he muttered. He probably could have kept up in his coyote form, but he also ran the risk of Teddy spotting him and spazzing the hell out. He wasn’t quite ready to tell him that he was a part-time canine. If he could manage, he didn’t want to tell him at all until after Teddy had decided that he couldn’t live without Jim.
Jim snorted and shoved off the sofa onto his feet. Dragging his fingers through his hair, he paced in front of the coffee table. “Hurry up!” he yelled toward the stairs.
He could hear Teddy’s quiet laugh an entire floor away.
“Not funny. Not a joke.” He pressed his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed, still pacing. “Come on, Teddy. Put some hustle in your step.”
“Remember what I said about bossiness?” Teddy called back.
“Sorry. I’m trying.” The man and beast parts of his consciousness weren’t in one accord. His coyote half thought Jim should be more assertive, but canines didn’t tend to understand concepts like “baggage” or the fact that Teddy obviously had some.
Jim dug his phone out his pocket again. He dialed his mother’s number, put the cell against his ear and kept pacing.
Teddy zipped past, waving as he went, and was out the door, shouting something about “that coyote had better not be out here.” The front door slammed behind him.
Jim stopped himself from following. He needed to get a fucking grip.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” his mother asked upon answering. “No, wait! Let me guess. You’ve got some pack business you need me to handle and you don’t want to ask about it in person because you’re afraid I’ll make you change the oil in the tractor or something.”
“Mom,” he warned.
“That’s your usual M.O., right? I mean, gods forbid a boy actually call his mother to say hello.”
“We live in the same town and you see me all the time. I don’t need to call you.”
“I could keel over and die, and you wouldn’t care.”
“You’re being overly dramatic. You’re as healthy as any young guy in the pack.” And probably meaner when she needed to be. Mom didn’t take shit from anyone. “I’ve got a problem.”
“Of course you do. Is this a pack problem, a business problem or a personal problem?”
“Personal.”
“Ooh. Let me heat up my coffee.”
“Come on, Mom, don’t make a big deal out of this.”
“Well, you’ve got to let a woman brace herself accordingly, Jimmy. You never tell me anything. I hear about almost everything of importance through the pack grapevine. News about you is always speculative. You’re secretive.”
“Yeah, well, that’s why I’m calling.”
“What. Did. You. Do?”
“Why do you assume it’s anything bad? I don’t like your tone. You’re always assuming I did bad shit.” He walked to the front door and watched Teddy back down the driveway. Once he’d righted his steering and had the truck moving forward, a gray-furred canine padded past the fence and after it. Jamie was good at not being seen when she didn’t want to be.
“You don’t call me unless you did something, so what did you do?”
Jim planted his hand to his neck and paced some more in front of the door. “I, uh... After you and Dad met, what happened when you realized he was your mate?”
“He moved in with me.”
“When?”
“A day or two later. That’s about average. Why?”
“I needed a reality check. I think I want to move someone in.”
“Really? Who? I didn’t know you were interested in anyone from the pack.”
“I’m not.”
“Oh.” Mom’s voice had the heaviness of realization about it. “Well, Jimmy, all I can tell you is that if it’s right, you’d know. Are you going to tell me who? Even if I don’t know who they are, I like knowing names.”
Jim stepped away from the door and moved toward the stairway. He needed to make the bed so Teddy would actually want to get back into it. “His name’s Teddy.”
“Teddy,” she whispered. “Doesn’t ring a bell. What’s he do?”
“Well, yesterday he waited tables and screwed up a lot of my orders. Who’s to say what he’ll be doing tomorrow, right?”
She snorted. “Be nice. You can’t make him quit, dear, if that’s what you’re thinking. If he really is your mate, he’ll be the one person in your life who’ll be less inclined to let you boss him around.”
“He certainly talks back enough,” Jim muttered and yanked the bedsheet up to the headboard. “Anyway, Carter made some half-assed threat to expose me, and I don’t know what to do with him.”
“Who? Teddy or Carter?”
Jim grimaced. “Either.”
“Where’s Teddy now?”
“Went to the store and to his place to pick up some things. He wouldn’t let me go with him, and I swear, I thought the coyote in me was gonna tear through my skin.”
She chuckled. “I think he’s your mate, all right. You’ve got it bad, boy. And regarding Carter...well, would you really care so much if people learned you had a mate?”
“Not just any mate, Mom. A man. Think back. When’s the last time anyone in this pack publicly dated a man? Of course, I don’t believe for one minute there isn’t some shit happening on the down low. Statistics say there has to be, especially given the dearth of female coyotes around here, but no one’s ever out with anything.”
“Well, I can’t think of anyone, but tha
t doesn’t mean anything.”
“Or it could mean a lot.” Jim smoothed out the bedspread and then tossed the pillows toward the head of the bed. “People might say I shouldn’t hold the job anymore since I don’t have a mate who can give me an heir. Some might perceive my relationship to be some kind of fucked-up bat signal of weakness.”
“Okay, Jimmy. First of all? There’s no reason you can’t have a child, biological or otherwise. I’m sure Jamie would love to help you fill your house with kids you can adopt, and the last I knew, you weren’t infertile.”
“Mom.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“My point is valid. Also, you don’t have to be with a woman to borrow some of her parts. Second of all, every alpha goes through his trials. There’s always at least one big thing that blows up during their tenure that makes the collective fur of the pack stand on end.”
“I don’t remember anything happening when Dad was alive. Papa, either.”
“That’s because they were very good at reminding people who was in charge and that they were in charge for an excellent reason.”
Jim dragged his index finger through the dust on top of his alarm clock and forced some air through his lips.
“Am I saying things are going to be easy?” Mom said. “No. No, I’m not saying that. But you have people to support you.”
“Seems easier to slide him into the pack under the radar.”
“Easier for who? Listen, I’m not gonna tell you how to run your life, but you called me. You wanted my opinion, so I’m giving it to you.”
Jim grunted and went into the closet to grab the laundry basket. He figured he should get used to doing his own laundry for a while.
“Does he know you’re a coyote?”
“No, all right?” Bounding down the stairs with the basket under his arm, Jim ground his teeth. “He doesn’t know. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’d freak out at the mere mention of a dog. Carter was outside in front of the garage earlier, and Teddy nearly climbed to the moon.”
“Full moon’s coming.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Jim snapped, then, leaning against the open washing machine, he pinched the bridge of his nose again. “Look. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to yell at you, but this has been chewing at me all day. I don’t know why I waited until now to do this. I should have brought him home three weeks ago.”
“What stopped you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I figured he wouldn’t be interested.” He shook half a scoop of high-efficiency soap powder into the detergent tray and snapped it shut. “I don’t want to spring this shit on him the way Lane DeBoers did with his wife. She ran off, and he couldn’t find her for almost a month.”
Jim had been sympathetic at the time. Until that moment in his laundry room, however, he hadn’t been able to really empathize. Fights didn’t scare him, but the thought of Teddy walking away made him feel like he’d missed a stair again. It wasn’t his body he was worried about breaking. His concern was for his heart.
“Things worked out for Lane. And Jim? In the end, how Teddy finds out may not be up to you,” she said. “You want me to tell him?”
The fact Jim had to ponder the question at all made his gut lurch. He couldn’t have his mother fighting his battles for him. He was a goddamned pack alpha. Though his role may have been inherited, he deserved his job. The pack was organized, safe and no belly went unfilled. He didn’t collect dues the way other alphas did. People needed to be in a pack, and he didn’t see the point of taxing them for the privilege when he had money of his own already.
“I’ll tell him if you want,” Mom said softly.
“No.” Jim turned off the laundry room light and walked into the kitchen.
He needed to find something to clean or some trash to take out, or he was going to go stir-crazy until Teddy got back. He’d be that clingy, annoying boyfriend who called or texted every five minutes to see where he was, and he didn’t think that would endear him to Teddy any.
“I’m gonna tell him.” He picked up the handles of the garbage bag. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Good. While I’ve got you on the line, if you’re not so busy tomorrow, can you come by and snake the drain in the guest room shower? Love you, bye!” She hung up.
“Shit.”
Chapter Ten
As he carried his overnight bag up the garage steps and into the kitchen at Jim’s house, Teddy watched the other man’s expression carefully. Jim was leaning against the counter right by the door as if he’d been waiting to hear Teddy come in.
He hadn’t known what size bag to pack, and didn’t want Jim to think he’d gotten the wrong idea.
In fact, Teddy wasn’t quite sure what the right idea was or how much he should have brought over. He’d settled for an extra pair of clean jeans, two shirts, his work uniform, some socks and underwear, his spare toothbrush and a tube of deodorant.
Jim straightened up from the counter. “That’s all you brought?”
Teddy furrowed his brow. “Uh. The groceries are in the truck. I’ll get them in a minute.”
Jim closed his eyes. “No, I mean the duffel.”
“Um...yes?”
“It’s not very much.”
“I figured I wouldn’t need much.”
Jim grunted and stepped down into the garage. “I guess you’ll have to go back for the rest.”
“No, that’s not creepy at all,” Teddy called after him. “For all I know, you’ll lock me up like that guy in Misery.”
“I’m not a super-fan. I’m trying to be your boyfriend.”
“My...boyfriend.” Teddy pulled some air through his teeth and shifted his weight.
Teddy hadn’t had a “boyfriend” since college. He’d gotten hot and heavy too quickly and too often with men who were older and who’d tried to mold him into being what they had needed. He hadn’t been confident enough to understand that walking away didn’t make him weak. He hadn’t paid attention to the warning signs then, and still didn’t trust himself to see them. He avoided relationships the same way he avoided getting hit by cars.
“Teddy, you all right?” Jim moved to him with his hands up in the universal gesture for “I’m harmless,” but he so wasn’t. He was making Teddy question his readiness to make a connection.
I should be by now, shouldn’t I?
Jim stopped a foot away and extended a hand toward Teddy’s chin, but he didn’t touch.
Teddy looked down at it, perplexed that the man was withholding.
“Can I?” Jim asked.
“Oh. Yes.” Jim must have thought he wouldn’t be amenable. If Teddy were putting out that vibe, he didn’t mean to be.
Jim glided his fingers beneath Teddy’s chin and drew light circles on the sensitive flesh. “What happened? You went really rigid like you’d seen a ghost or something. Did someone bother you?”
Teddy grabbed Jim’s fingers. He was barely touching him, and yet Teddy’s knees were threatening to buckle from the thrill. “I’m thinking too hard. Trying to figure this out. Why aren’t you dating anyone?”
Furrowing his brow, Jim rubbed the back of Teddy’s hand against his cheek. “Why do you ask that?”
“Because you’re more attractive than any man should have a right to be and you can string a sentence together. What’s wrong with you that you’d be single?”
“I could ask you the same thing. Want me to?”
“Yes.” Shaking his head hard, Teddy took a step away from him and pulled in a breath. “I mean, no. I don’t want you to, but maybe you should.”
Jim’s nod seemed to come on a delay, but that was understandable. Teddy probably wasn’t making a hell of a lot of sense. “Why don’t you put your bag upstairs? I’ll get the groceries. I’ll tell you while we unload the bags.�
�
Teddy got moving without saying another word. He needed a moment to screw his head back on straight.
He dropped his bag near the dresser in Jim’s room, and then paced in front of the bed for a few minutes to keep his mind from wandering. Promising himself he’d walk away if Jim started to stifle. He could do that. He knew when to go.
Nodding with finality, he bounded down the stairs and headed to the kitchen in time to see Jim setting groceries on the counter.
Jim turned at his arrival and held up a ginger root. “What’s this?”
Stunned into stillness, Teddy blinked at him for a few beats.
“Please don’t make fun of me. What is it?”
“That’s ginger.” Teddy took it from him, scratched the tender skin and held it near Jim’s nose. “Smell it. Maybe it’ll help with that rumbling thing going on in your chest.”
Jim’s nostrils flared as he breathed in, and then his eyes crossed.
Teddy chuckled and set the root on the counter along with the garlic he’d purchased. “Yeah, it’ll clear your sinuses if you take too big a sniff.”
“Thanks for warning me in advance. What are you using it for?”
“Salad dressing. I tend to whisk up something from scratch every few days because I have allergies to certain preservatives and I’m one of the rare assholes who gets fuzzy brains after consuming anything with red dye.”
“How the hell did you find that out?”
Teddy peeled open the tape on the butcher-wrapped steak parcels. “I signed up for some clinical studies when I was in college. They paid a little, which was great, because I hated to ask my folks for cash.”
“Ah.”
“Did you go to college?”
“I did three years at NYU. Business major.”
“Oh.” Teddy couldn’t imagine Jim in the city, but obviously he hadn’t been a leather-wearing Prince of Darkness all his life. He’d probably even been practically mundane once upon a time. “Why’d you stop?”
