by Black, Tasha
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Eva,” his grandmother said fondly. “And I’m glad you remember my dressing.”
The two went inside, arm in arm, and Ryan followed.
The house was full of happy people celebrating in the glow of the fireplace and the chandeliers. Eva was a wonderful entertainer. The Cortez home was beautiful without being fussy and Mrs. Cortez knew everyone in town from her wide-ranging charity work.
Though Eva herself would never have called it charity work. She was always helping out, and she had an almost magical way of getting others to participate. Fundraisers for the firehouse, school book fairs, town garden clean-ups, bake sales and other events always seemed to be infused with Eva’s cooperative spirit. And she was always happy to lend a hand, and so delighted when others joined her, that even the most distasteful tasks wound up being fun when she was organizing.
Ryan remembered a park clean-up after a particularly wet summer. He had dreaded attending, but Eva’s cheerful text letting him know how much she looked forward to seeing him was impossible to ignore.
And at the end of the day, they’d all had a blast, getting covered head to toe in mud while trying to rescue a bicycle tire from the creek. A mud-soaked Eva had banged on Mr. Stein’s door when they were finished. Old Eli Stein lived quietly in a cottage next to the creek, Ryan would never have had the nerve to knock as he got the distinct impression the man liked to keep to himself.
But as soon as he stopped cackling at them, Mr. Stein let them all hose down in his backyard and then treated them to a pizza dinner for cleaning up “his creek.” The group bonded over pepperoni and tales of Mr. Stein’s military service, and at the end of the evening Ryan went to bed tired and happy and grateful for the whole experience.
Ryan looked around, wondering if Mr. Stein might be at the potluck.
Instead his eye caught a flash of dark braids.
Addison.
He had expected her to arrive a little later.
Ryan weaved through the crowd in Eva’s entry hall to find Addison, until he spotted her standing beside the living room fireplace, gazing out the window.
Grandma Stevenson was at her elbow already.
“Hello, Addison, dear,” Grandma Stevenson said.
“Oh, hello,” Addison said, turning and taking them both in.
Her eyes darted down to her feet when Ryan smiled at her.
His heart began to sink. Had he lost her again already? She had kissed him back like she meant it yesterday.
“Eva’s planning charades for tonight,” Grandma Stevenson said, her eyes twinkling. “You’ll play, won’t you? Ryan needs a partner, and I’m too old.”
Addison looked up with a horrified expression on her face.
No, no, no…
But it was clear. He had overstepped by kissing her and now she wanted nothing to do with him.
She’s not ready.
“I’m going to get a little drink,” Grandma Stevenson said. “Can I bring you something, dear?”
“I’m fine,” Addison murmured.
Grandma Stevenson headed for the kitchen, leaving Ryan and Addison alone in the crowded room.
Ryan searched his mind for anything that might help his cause.
But there was nothing but the yawning abyss of his hunger for her, and her fear.
Honesty is the best policy, Grandma Stevenson’s words echoed in his head.
“Addison,” he said carefully. “I’m so sorry.”
She glanced up at him, her dark eyes so beautiful in the firelight.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you yesterday,” he said. “I don’t want to mess things up between us. Your friendship means a lot to me. I just, I feel like we have a connection.”
“A bond?” she asked tremulously.
Shit.
She knew. She knew what the mate bond was. Of course she did. Her friends shared everything.
He had to tread carefully if he didn’t want to scare her off. If she was already feeling timid, the last thing she needed to hear about was an unbreakable, lifelong commitment.
“A connection,” he repeated. “Anyway, I should never have acted on it. I’m sorry, and I hope we can forget it happened.”
An expression of pain marred her lovely features for a moment, and he felt a pang in his own heart.
“Are you ready for charades?” Andrew Farthing asked Addison with a big cheerful smile.
“Sh-sure,” she stammered.
“Okay, we’re all teaming up,” Andrew replied. “You two will be a great team. Here you go. You just have to make up a team name and put your own name on top.”
He handed them each a blank name tag.
Addison stared down at hers.
“Well, come on,” Andrew said. “We’re starting up in the family room.”
He headed off and Addison trailed along in his wake, not allowing Ryan the opportunity to ask what had made her so sad or to try and make it right.
It’s probably better this way, he tried to tell himself. At least you won’t try to kiss her again.
15
Addison
Addison was nearly shaking as she followed Andrew Farthing into the other room.
She had flat out asked Ryan about a bond between them and he had denied it.
She’d thought last night that maybe it was worse not to know where he stood. But now she knew she had been happier when there was some slight hope that she was his fated mate.
Her stomach churned as she replayed their conversation, and his assertion that he wished he could forget kissing her.
And now she had to play charades.
Addison wasn’t big on performing in any way. And party charades were the absolute worst. From the moment Grandma Stevenson had suggested the game Addison had been in a cold sweat of dread.
And now she had to play with Ryan.
She could sense his big presence behind her, feel the vibration of his footsteps somehow in the crowded room.
Forget him, she told herself furiously. Let him walk his stupid footsteps into another woman’s heart.
The family room was stuffed with people.
Grandma Stevenson sat on a plush sofa with a small plate of hors d’ouevres in her hands.
“Get your team names in the hat, we’re going to draw to see which team goes first,” Andrew yelled.
“What should our team name be?” Ryan asked quietly.
His raspy voice near her ear sent shivers down her spine.
Addison ignored them.
“How about the Icebergs?” she suggested.
Ryan looked a little taken aback.
“Sure,” he said gamely, jotting it down and placing their tag in Andrew’s hat.
He scrawled his name and team name on his tag and then handed Addison the pen.
She wrote her name and team name as neatly as she could, willing herself to find some of that peacefulness her roommates were always commending her for.
“Okay, let’s give it a shake,” Andrew said, making a huge show of rummaging around in the hat.
Addison held her breath.
The chances that their team would be pulled first were small. There was really nothing to worry about.
“The first team is…. Leather and Scales,” Andrew called out.
There were some murmurs and then a very attractive couple wove their way to the front of the room.
“Oh, I get it,” Andrew said. “Leather like your jacket and scales like musical scales. Our resident rock star, everyone - Johnny Lazarus and his lovely bride, Neve.”
Johnny Lazarus, holy crap.
She knew he hailed from Tarker’s Hollow, but she was shocked to find someone she’d just seen on the cover of Rolling Stone actually spending time in the small town.
Addison tried not to stare at the legit rock and roll legend as he waved off the cheers.
His wife made a funny little bow as if to make up for his humility. She was ravishing, and they couldn’t have looked more right
together.
“The first category tonight is idioms,” Andrew said. “Which of you will be acting and which will be guessing?”
“Oh, Johnny’s the performer in the family,” Neve said immediately, garnering a laugh from the gathering. “I’ll do the guessing.”
Johnny rolled his eyes and then gave Neve a lascivious smile.
“Here you go, then,” Andrew said, offering Johnny a second hat.
Johnny grabbed a slip of paper. His eyebrows lifted.
“Nice,” he said.
“Are you ready?” Andrew asked.
“Sure,” Johnny said.
“Neve, cover your eyes,” Andrew said.
She obligingly covered her eyes and Johnny pulled her tight to his chest to be sure.
Andrew held out the slip of paper and moved around the room.
“It’s more fun this way, if you all know what he’s trying to do,” he said.
The slip of paper said:
A storm in a teacup
“Okay,” Andrew said, folding up the slip of paper again. “Let’s go.”
Johnny released Neve from his hold, and someone moved over so she could sit beside Grandma Stevenson on the sofa.
Johnny stretched and rubbed his hands together.
“Is this part of it?” Neve asked.
Everyone laughed.
“Timer hasn’t started yet,” Andrew reminded her. “But it’s about to. Three, two, one - go.”
Johnny stuck his hands in his pockets and walked back and forth in front of the sofa.
“Uh, walking, pacing,” Neve guessed.
Suddenly Johnny stopped and looked up.
“Sun, sky, clouds,” Neve yelled.
He wiped his hand on his head and then hunched over and pretended to hurry.
“Midnight, dark, scary,” Neve said.
Johnny stopped and pretended to pull something out of his pocket. He held it over his head and smiled, then commenced walking slowly again.
“Umbrella, rain,” Neve said.
He stopped and stared at her.
“Rain, rainy, raining, rainbow,” she listed frantically.
He jumped and began running, still holding his imaginary umbrella.
“Oh, it’s a storm, a big storm,” Neve said.
Johnny stopped and tapped his nose.
“Storm?” Neve asked.
Johnny nodded.
“Okay, storm is the first word,” Neve said. “What’s next?”
“Thirty seconds,” Andrew announced.
Johnny pretended to hold something in his hands and took a sip from it.
“Cup, glass, mug,” Neve called out.
Johnny stuck out his pinky and took another sip, this time blinking his eyes madly.
“Fancy, expensive, rich,” Neve said.
Johnny pretended to pull something out of the cup.
“Tea bag, tea,” Neve said.
Johnny looked up excitedly and tapped the imaginary vessel with his other hand.
“Cup, mug, teacup,” Neve said.
He tapped his nose.
“Storm, teacup?” Neve asked.
He stared at her a moment.
“Oh! Is the phrase ‘a tempest in a teapot’?” Neve asked.
Johnny looked to Andrew.
“Yes, we’ll accept that,” Andrew said. “We were looking for storm in a teacup, but tempest in a teapot is close enough. Well done, you two.”
Everyone clapped and Johnny pulled Neve off the sofa and into a very sexy kiss that went on just a tad too long for polite company.
Someone whistled and the others laughed.
“Okay, okay, lovebirds,” Andrew teased as they moved to the back of the room.
He thrust his hand into the hat again and pulled out another piece of paper.
Again, chances were still very small - nothing to worry about, Addison told herself.
“Next up is the… Icebergs,” he said. “Come on up!”
Ryan took Addison’s hand and she hated herself for getting flutters in her chest.
They moved to the front of the room.
“Now which of you—?”Andrew began.
“Ryan,” Addison said before he had the chance to finish the question. “Ryan will act out the clue. I’ll guess.”
Ryan whipped around to give her a dirty look, but she glanced down to brush something invisible off her skirt.
“Great,” Andrew said, holding out the hat full of clues to Ryan.
Ryan selected one and smiled.
“Close your eyes, Addison,” Andrew said.
Addison put her hands over her eyes just as Ryan pulled her tight to his chest, nearly breaking her nose.
“Ouch,” she muttered.
“Are you okay?” he whispered to her.
“Fine,” she said, hating him for trying to be nice.
The room was making noises over the phrase.
“Okay, Addison, you can open your eyes,” Andrew said. “Remember, this is an idiom.”
She nodded.
Grandma Stevenson patted the spot next to her on the sofa and Addison sat.
“Three, two, one, go,” Andrew said.
Ryan smiled at Addison.
She smiled back in spite of herself.
Then he turned, bent and clapped his hands together.
Addison watched.
Grandma Stevenson elbowed her. “You have to guess,” she hissed.
“Uh, bend, clap,” Addison hazarded.
Everyone laughed.
She wanted to crawl under the sofa.
Ryan squatted down and kept clapping.
“Squat,” Addison said.
He pretended to catch something in his arms.
“Ball, football,” Addison guessed.
Again, everyone giggled.
Ryan squeezed his eyes shut and held the pretend thing close to his face.
Oh.
It was a puppy licking him. He had obviously been calling to it.
She decided to mess with him.
“Um, cat, baby, ferret,” Addison suggested.
Ryan kept pretending to be licked.
“I don’t know… foal, hamster?” she asked.
The room was in hysterics.
Frustrated, Ryan dropped the imaginary puppy and got down on his hands and knees.
God, he looked good on his knees.
Stop noticing, she chided herself.
“Crawling? Groveling?” Addison guessed.
He stuck his tongue out and panted a little.
“Rude? Disgusting?” she asked.
Grandma Stevenson cackled and patted Addison’s knee with delight.
Ryan began to pant more loudly.
“Oh dog,” Addison said.
Ryan looked at Andrew in despair.
Andrew shook his head.
Ryan sighed and cradled his arms, rocking something invisible.
“Baby?” Addison asked.
Ryan panted and then rocked the baby.
“Dog baby,” Addison said.
“Ha,” Grandma Stevenson barked.
Ryan panted and rocked the baby again, looking desperate.
“Oh, puppy,” Addison said.
Ryan smiled.
“Ten seconds,” Andrew called out.
Ryan hopped up and gazed deeply into Addison’s eyes. Then he formed his hands into a heart shape.
For a moment she simply soaked in the sight of the man she lusted after giving her this loving look.
Everything about him said love.
But it wasn’t real. It was just charades.
She choked back the bitter feeling.
“Heart,” she pretended to guess.
He stepped closer, holding his hands out in the heart shape.
“Valentine, stalker, creeper,” she guessed.
Everyone was laughing now.
“Hands, shapes, symbols,” she said.
Ryan threw himself at her feet, grabbed her hands and kissed them.
�
�Is that against the rules?” Johnny asked.
“We’ll allow it,” Andrew said. “I’d like to see where he’s going with this.”
Addison was frozen in place. Ryan’s warm mouth was all over her hands as he knelt at her feet. She was overwhelmed by the sensation.
He stopped kissing her and held up his own hands in a heart shape again, his eyes begging.
“Love,” she heard herself say.
He smiled at her and then panted lightly.
“Puppy love,” she said.
“Yes,” Andrew crowed. “But you were over time. Sorry guys. I didn’t stop you because - well, that was incredible entertainment! ”
Puppy love. The irony was painful. Ryan saw her as a little kid. Of course that was what he thought of her feelings.
Rationally, she knew he hadn’t picked the idiom. But it still hurt.
As the crowd cheered, Addison got up and tried to slip out of the room as quickly as possible.
She made it to the doorway when J. D. MacGregor, the pack beta, placed a hand on her elbow.
“Oh, hey, Mac,” she said.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, hoping he couldn’t see her pain. “I just wanted to find the powder room.”
“I’ll walk you,” he offered.
They headed back into the hall and he walked her to a door under the main stairs.
“Puppy love, huh?” he asked.
“It was a bit on the nose,” she said bitterly, unable to stop herself.
“Listen, go easy on Ryan, if you can,” Mac said. “He’s a good man. And God knows I’m all too familiar with unrequited love myself.”
Classic male viewpoint. Addison was in love with a man who didn’t love her back, but she was supposed to go easy on him?
“Don’t worry,” she said lightly. “I can handle myself.”
Mac nodded, looking a little sad.
Addison took a closer look at the professor. For all his golden hair and rumpled good looks, his careworn smile told her he was suffering.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’ve made my mistakes and I’ll own them,” he said mysteriously. “But yes, Addison, I’m okay. And Ryan will be too. The main thing is to follow your heart. You can’t force things to make another person happy.”
Wow, there was a lot to unpack there.
She nodded and patted his arm.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Mac said, indicating the door. “See you back at charades.”
