Authors: Kylee Parker
BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (147 page)
“We won the war,” I said to him. Kurt was coloring on the floor. Reid shook his head and pulled a face like it hurt to do that.
“No, sweetheart. You won the war.”
They’d given in because of what I’d done. Because any wolf that could draw that much power, Ted had said after, would be alpha. And I wasn’t even a wolf.
He’d stayed until we were all okay, but he wasn’t pack and he didn’t want to be.
In the fight we lost one wolf. Maria was scared to begin with, and she didn’t make it through. I cried for her. My heart ached like a part of me had been ripped off.
As soon as Reid was healthy we all gathered in our power circle. They howled for her. It was a ceremony that tore me up all over again. I didn’t know her well, but I would miss her, and I was in her debt. She gave her life of the pack.
It took Reid a full month to recover. Not just physically, but mentally. Being that close to death left a mark. I knew, I’d felt death, and I had that mark too. But I also know that we’d defeated it.
Reid was leaving for duty again. Life was going back to normal, like nothing had happened. Sometimes life threatening things would try to tear our family apart. But we would fight, all of us. Even me, even though I wasn’t a wolf. And we would beat the odds because we’d done it before.
When Reid walked toward the bus Kurt held my hand. He didn’t cry, he didn’t run after Reid.
“You’re being a big boy,” I said to him. He smiled up at me. He was only five, but his eyes showed the wisdom of an adult.
“You’re here, mommy. We’ll just wait for daddy to get home, and then we’ll be whole again.”
I nodded and fought the urge to cry.
My life would always be chaotic. I was married to an Army Ranger. I was married to a werewolf. I had a werewolf for a son, and things like knitting and baking just didn’t cut it in my life.
But I didn’t want it any other way. I may have been the only human in this little family, but sometimes it felt like I was the more animal than they were. And that was just fine by me.
THE END
Prologue
He’s a jerk. I hate him. I never want to see him again.
Unfortunately, that’s not possible. Because we live together.
Yup, that’s right – Stratton Müller, German native and perennial campus playboy, is one of my housemates for the year.
I never thought that we’d have anything in common…
So what if we banded together against the other housemates that night? That doesn’t mean anything at all.
After this year, we’ll just go back to hating each other. Right?
There’s no way I could ever fall in love with someone so arrogant and promiscuous.
So why can’t I stop thinking about him?
Sure, he’s gorgeous. And he’s amazing at soccer, and he speaks three languages. But that doesn’t even slightly make up for what a jerk he can be. He sleeps with a new girl practically every day, and expects women to drop at his feet. Plus, watching him carry on with his friends is a nightmare. It’s like all they can do is think of new ways to embarrass and horrify the female sex. I always swore that I’d never fall for that, but Stratton turned to be pretty different once we actually lived together...
Chapter One
Leda
I wiped the sweat from my brow as I hauled the last one of my boxes out of my beat-up Subaru wagon. Even though it was the beginning of September, it still felt like the middle of July. It always amazed me how much different the climate in Virginia felt from home, upstate New York. Staggering on the incline of the driveway, I put my hand over my forehead and looked up at the big house with wooden siding and a sloped, chalet-style roof.
The asphalt felt squishy below my feet and I frowned when I saw that it was melting in patches and sticking to my shoes.
“Auspicious start to the year,” I grumbled under my breath as I grabbed my purse and the smallest box from the pile. There weren’t any other cars in the driveway and I wondered how many of my roommates were home. I lived with 4 other guys, and they were pretty cool roommates because they all kept to themselves. My parents had been horrified to learn that their little girl was going to live with beastly men, but it had been the best decision I’d made since coming here for graduate school. Male roommates didn’t borrow (steal) your clothes, or get pissed with you if you skipped weekly brunch. Besides, my best friend Megan lived a couple of blocks away. If I ever needed girl time, I’d go hang out with her.
“Hello?” I called out as I entered, peeking around the foyer at the massive shoe pile by the front door. There was no answer, but I heard something squeaking in the kitchen. “Hello?” I repeated, dropping the box and my purse on the ground. The box landed with a crashing sound and I winced.
Turning the corner, I saw a tall, shirtless guy kicking around a soccer ball in the kitchen. He had an amazing body, and I felt my mouth go dry as I shamelessly checked him out. He was deeply tanned, with light brown hair that was tousled and messy. I felt my stomach plunge as he turned around.
Shit
, I thought.
Stratton
.
“Hallo!” He greeted me with a slight German accent. “You are Leda?”
I nodded. “Right,” I said. “Hi, Stratton.” It took every ounce of my willpower to look away from his body and enunciate correctly. “How was your summer?”
Stratton grinned boyishly, his blue eyes twinkling. “Fantastic,” he said, nodding enthusiastically. “It was the World Cup.”
“I know,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “We heard about it here, too.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t think you cared about such nonsense, Leda,” he said, raising his eyebrow at me. “Sports are for idiots, right?”
I felt a slow blush creep up my face and cover my cheeks. “I never said that,” I protested.
“Yeah, sure,” Stratton teased. He kicked the soccer ball straight up in the air with his toes and bounced it off his knees, alternating his right and left leg. There was a beat in the conversation and for a moment it seemed like he’d forgotten that he was talking to me. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and sighed loudly.
“Who are you staying with?” I asked. Stratton didn’t hear me. He kept tapping the ball up into the air with the slightest touch of his knee and the occasional headbutt.
“Hm?” Stratton turned to me, the ball captured safely in his hands. “What was that?”
I frowned. “I asked who you were staying with,” I repeated. “Which one of my housemates?”
Stratton grinned. “Oh, Leda,” he said, clucking with his tongue. “I live here!”
My stomach dropped. “What?” I cried out, squinting at him. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” he said nonchalantly. “What, you think I’d be naked in your kitchen otherwise?”
I blushed hotly as the image of Stratton naked flashed through my mind. “Forget it,” I mumbled. “I have to go grab my stuff.”
“Bye, Leda!” Stratton called, thumping the soccer ball against the ceiling.
I didn’t answer; I was too furious. How could he have moved in? The landlord didn’t even say anything to me about it! Ducking into my room, I pulled my phone out of my purse and dialed Megan. She answered before it even rang once.
“Hey,” she said by way of greeting. “Are you back? Want sushi?”
I shook my head. “No,” I said. “But yes, I’m back.”
Megan laughed. “And you sound so happy to be here, too!”
I rolled my eyes and used my free hand to hold my mass of dark brown hair off my sticky neck. “Stratton moved in,” I said quietly, facing the wall so he wouldn’t hear me through the closed door. “I just got here and he was shirtless in the kitchen, kicking a soccer ball around.”
“Ohmygod,” Megan said in a rush. “Stratton Müller?”
“How many other Strattons do we know?” I asked in irritation. “Of course it’s Stratton Müller.”
“He’s so hot,” Megan gushed. “I wonder if he’ll hang out shirtless all the time?”
“I don’t care,” I said in exasperation. “I hope he doesn’t. I hope he moves out right now.”
“Hey, what’s so bad?” Megan asked. “He can’t be that annoying.”
“It’s not that he’s annoying,” I replied. “It’s that he’s such a slut. I hate the idea of girls coming over here all the time. It would be so distracting!”
“I get that,” Megan said. “But really, that’s why you’re so mad?”
I sighed. It was obvious she’d forgotten what happened at the beginning of last year. “It’s just annoying,” I said. “And I don’t want to deal with it. I liked my
old
housemates.”
“Yeah, because they were boring as eff,” Megan retorted. “You looked like a social butterfly next to those dudes.”
There was a muffled crash in the hallway and I heard Stratton’s charming accent call out, “Sorry!”
I shuddered. “I changed my mind about sushi,” I said darkly. “I’ll meet you in thirty.”
“Deal,” Megan replied before hanging up.
I decided to abandon unpacking and just go have a fun night with my best friend. I hadn’t seen her all summer, and I knew that we had a lot to catch up on. I checked my reflection in the glass hanging on the wall; it was both disappointing and relieving to see my slightly crooked oval-shaped face with wide gray eyes and pale skin. My mass of dark hair was working its way out of the sloppy bun that I’d carelessly fixed this morning, and I stuck my tongue out at my reflection for emphasis.
Oh, well. It’s not like Megan cares what I look like.
But Stratton does
, I immediately thought, blushing.
Why couldn’t I have picked a cuter outfit for today?
The house was curiously quiet as I grabbed my purse and slunk down the hallway. The kitchen was empty and I heard music pulsing faintly from the basement. When I got in my car, I felt a huge sense of relief wash over me. I realized that although I hadn’t been home for more than half an hour, I’d spent the whole time thinking about Stratton. That had felt like a very, very long half hour.
The familiar scenery filled me with a sense of nostalgia as I drove through the sleepy outskirts of Charlottesville. Megan lived in her own apartment (lucky brat) on the other side of town, but it still only took me about fifteen minutes to get there. “Our” sushi place was a little café near her apartment complex. We’d been going there weekly since we first started as grad students the year before. The staff knew us by name, and it was kind of a retreat. Megan and I had made a pact never to take anyone else there.
As usual, Sushi Maki was completely empty. The waitress nodded at me and gave me a friendly smile, and she gestured for me to take the usual spot in the back booth. A few minutes later, Megan walked in.
“Girl!” Megan yelped, running over to me and wrapping her arms around me. She smelled like her usual blend of Prada Candy and cigarettes. Her fragrance was as soothing to me as that of my own room, and I was so happy to be around my best friend again.
“I know,” I said into a mouthful of her blonde hair. We sat down and stared at each other.
“So,” Megan began, taking a sip of water. “What’s the deal with Stratton?”
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “I just got home and he was there. He said that he’d moved in, and I guess he replaced Ray.”
“Who was Ray?” Megan furrowed her brow.
“He was Korean, with glasses,” I offered, taking a sip of water. “He stayed in his room all the time and then his mom came to visit for like a month, and ran our electricity bill up to $450.”
“Holy shit,” Megan breathed. “So maybe Stratton’s an improvement?”
I shook my head. “I’d take Ray’s mother every day of the year than Stratton for a month. It’s going to be miserable.”
Megan looked at me sympathetically. Over the summer, she’d gotten an intense tan and freckles stood out on her perky upturned nose and cheeks. Despite being my best friend, Megan and I were total opposites in some ways. I knew without asking that she’d spent the summer worshiping the sun and chasing guys.
“It’ll be fine,” she said finally. “And you can stay with me when it’s not fine.”
“Okay,” I said dutifully. “So what’s up with you? How was your summer?”
Megan grinned at me. “I think Tyler’s going to propose,” she shared. “He’s been acting really weird lately, and we talked about getting married over the 4
th
.”
I frowned. “Really? You didn’t tell me that,” I replied.
“I’m sorry.” Megan made an apologetic face. “I meant to, I was just really busy this summer.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s fine, anyway. Tyler.”
“Right,” she said, flipping her long blonde hair over a shoulder and inspecting her split ends. “We talked about getting married over the 4
th
, and now I’m thinking he’s going to ask me. Maybe he’ll ask me for homecoming.”
“What did you talk about?”
She paused. “Well, I asked him if he ever thought about a future together. And he said sometimes, which kind of made me mad. But then I asked him if he thought he was going to end up with me, and he said ‘I haven’t seen anything that makes me not want to.’ Isn’t’ that weird?” Megan smiled. “But I think it was a good talk.”
“I don’t know, why wouldn’t he just say yes?” I knitted my eyebrows together. “Men are so weird.”