ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (221 page)

He shook his head. A night like tonight? What made tonight any different than other nights for a human? His animal was way too close to the surface and he tried to push it down.

“Can I show you to a seat?”  Lisa asked. Bruce slid his eyes over the café, taking in the people sitting around the small round tables, talking, eating, drinking. Finally he spotted her.

Her hair hung loose down to her waist and it shimmered in the light, the red showing. Her green eyes sparkled and she was smiling, broad and beautiful. Bruce felt the pull toward her. He’d been looking for her, and there she was.

Only then did he notice she was with someone. He sat with his back to Bruce. He. And there was only one man she’d been talking about lately. Bruce’s mood blackened when he recognized Drew. He watched them, watched her laugh when he said something.

She wore a green shirt he hadn’t seen before, and it made her eyes stand out. He glanced at her legs underneath the table. A skirt. Jealousy vibrated through him, and he closed his eyes.

“Bruce?” Lisa’s voice came through to him and he opened his eyes and looked at her. She’d been talking to him, it was clear from her expression that she was waiting for an answer.

“I see my party,” he answered gruffly, ignoring whatever she’d asked before, and walked between the tables.

Jenna saw him just before he arrived at their table. Her face fell a little, her smile drained away. Bruce was irritated that he’d had that effect on her. It was the opposite of what used to happen when he’d walk up to her before.

“Bruce,” she finally said when he reached them. “What are you doing here?”

Drew turned.

“Hey, man,” he said and stood up, shaking Bruce’s hand. Bruce fought the urge to use his power and squeeze harder than he should have, stopped himself from showing his dislike. When he glanced back at Jenna her eyes were on him and she looked serious.

“I thought I’d have a quick bite, and then I saw you here. I came to say hi.”

Jenna shook her head slightly, enough to show Bruce that she didn’t believe him. Drew was smiling but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“That’s kind of you, Bruce. We’ll talk tomorrow, though, okay?” Jenna said. It was a dismissal. Bruce looked at Drew, challenged him with his eyes. Drew looked away. In the animal world, looking away was a sign of submission. Drew didn’t know what he’d just done.

A small victory, but it was good enough for now. It made Bruce feel better.

“I thought I’d join you guys, if you don’t mind,” he said and pulled out a chair to sit down. Jenna took a deep breath.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked Bruce and stood up, not waiting for an answer. When he looked at Drew, the other man just shrugged, so Bruce got up and followed Jenna to the back where a door led to the restrooms.

“What are you doing?” Jenna asked.

“I told you, I was in the area—“

“Don’t, Bruce. You’re not making this easy for me. I’m trying to just find out what the hell I want in life, and you’re pushing into places where you’re not welcome.”

Her words made him wince. Not welcome? He took a deep breath.

She saw his reaction and her face softened.

“You know what I mean. I just want to spend some time with him. I’m not going to know if I really want to be with him or not, if I don’t know who he is. We all know each other well enough to care in this town, but we also don’t know each other at all. Give me a chance to fight my own fights. You’ve been watching me since you arrived in this town.” 

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he finally said. Not the truth, but he wasn’t about to tell her that he wanted to stick around so he could drive Drew away. He wasn’t going to tell her that the thought of her with another man made him want to break something. He couldn’t tell her that you could live side by side with someone and still lose them.

“That’s very sweet of you. You know I appreciate you looking out for me. But Drew and I are on a date. I’m not trapped under that tree anymore, Bruce. You don’t have to keep saving me.”

Bruce opened his mouth to answer her, but he had nothing to say. She nodded when he failed to produce anything, and walked away from him. He stayed behind, watching the sway of her hips, the curve of her waist, the way her hair hung straight down her back. He watched her walk to another man.

He hung around the back of the café for a while, just watching them. He wanted to wait for Drew to come to the bathroom so he could threaten him. He wanted to whisk Jenna away and put her somewhere out of reach. But he couldn’t do either of those things. So when Lisa came to ask him if he was okay, and if he’d like her to bring him a drink at the table where Jenna and Drew sat, he shook his head.

“I think I’m going to call it a night,” he said. “I’m not feeling too great.”

She nodded and he left the café. He walked out into the night air and felt Jenna’s heat slip away until he had no tie to her.

He ran. He used all that pent up frustration and energy, all that jealousy and anger, and he ran it out. He ran into the trees, and the forest was alive around him. He weaved through the trees and it was like nature bended all around him, making space for him.

When he was high up enough into the mountains, he let the beast loose, and he changed shape. As a bear his movements were different, bigger and bolder, but he still moved through the trees at a speed that was faster than a normal animal would have moved.

He worked his way up the side of the mountain, further than he’d gone before. The trees became denser, the trunks so close to each other Bruce had to squeeze through. But he did and moved on.

Movement caught his attention through the trees and he froze. He sniffed the air and caught the smell of another animal. A smell he knew. When he weaved through the trees and finally reached a clearing with a small stream, there was another bear.

He sniffed the air again, and his nose told him what he’d suspected. It was Lori, the other bear. When he was close enough to her, she looked up. She sniffed the air too, and when she realized it was him she kept on eating. She was tearing into some pink flesh, blood darkening her muzzle. Bruce walked up to her and sat down. He wasn’t going to take of her kill, but he wanted to be around someone.

So he sat high up in the mountains, away from the people he loved. Lori was a horrible woman in human form, and as a bear she was annoying at best. And still, right there in the woods, high up against the mountain, he shared the night with her because it was the only person that understood in some small way what it was like to not fit in.

Chapter 4

The night with Drew was better than Jenna had expected, Bruce’s appearance aside. Drew was a perfect gentleman. He’d dressed into clean clothes – jeans that weren’t faded and a butter colored shirt that made his skin seem tan even when it wasn’t. His hazel eyes smiled at her most of the night, and it was pleasant.

Jenna liked having someone that really thought she was something special, even if she couldn’t completely return the sentiment.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jenna said when she returned to the table after telling Bruce off. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

Drew shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You guys have been close for a long time. I see it as a big brother, looking out for you.”

Jenna wasn’t sure if that was accurate, but if Drew was going to be nice about it and see it that way she wasn’t going to argue. So she smiled and changed the topic.

And learned a lot more about Drew than she thought there was to him. He was interesting, with hobbies like carpentry when he didn’t work at the lumber yard. They laughed a lot, and when the night came to an end he got the check.

“Thank you for tonight,” Jenna said when they’d walked home and she stood in front of her door. “I really enjoyed tonight.”

“So did I,” Drew said. “Thank you for coming out with me.”

She nodded and turned to open her door, but Drew caught her arm. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, gentle and warm, but he held on enough that she couldn’t just pull free. She looked at him and he was suddenly closer, his eyes darker than usual and they bore into hers.

“Drew…” she started but she didn’t know where she was going with the sentence. He didn’t answer her. He inched closer to her face, eyes on her lips, giving her enough time to stop him if she wanted to.

She didn’t stop him. Instead she closed her eyes and waited for his lips to come down on hers.

When he kissed her, it was sweet and sensual. His lips were soft and full on hers, and he stayed there, not moving, still giving her the chance to get out of it if she wanted to. It wasn’t electric. It wasn’t mind-blowing. It was sensitive and… nice.”

When Jenna didn’t pull away, Drew lifted one hand and cupped her cheek. He kissed her more urgently, moving his lips now, and when he opened his mouth she did too so her lips stayed on his. His tongue slid into her mouth and she met it with her own. Something in her body awoke, something that had been asleep for years.

It was a twinge in her stomach, a movement inside of her. The simple realization that she was a woman, and Drew was a man, and he was kissing her, his body inching closer to hers.

She was the one that broke the kiss. Not because it wasn’t what she wanted, but because suddenly there was more that she wanted than before. And it confused her.

“Goodnight, Drew,” she breathed, and her breath was shallow, her voice soft.

“I’ll see you around,” Drew said and smiled.

“I’m sure you will,” she answered and returned his smile. He stepped backwards before he turned around, and then he stepped down her porch and walked to the road. He turned and looked back to her, and she waved before she went inside and closed the door.

She leaned against it with her shoulder, pressed her head against the wood, and sighed.

She’d hoped that the night with Drew would have made things clear for her, that it would show her that she didn’t feel anything for him. But now she was more confused than ever. She liked him. He was a nice guy. Maybe this thing with him – whatever it was – wasn’t wild and reckless with fireworks and dreams, but it was nice. It was comfortable, and Jenna wanted to see him again.

She pushed away from the door and walked to the bedroom where she got changed into pajamas. She couldn’t help feeling like she’d just made things a lot harder for herself. But she shook her head. No, she was making it easier. Drew was nice, and now there was some sort of attraction for him, which was more than she’d been able to say before.

This wasn’t supposed to be complicated, and really, it wasn’t. Not as long as she kept reality in check, and stopped thinking about things that could never be.

The sun was high in the sky when Jenna finally woke up. It had been months since she’d slept in. It felt awkward having the sun fall across her floor at that angle, knowing that a lot of the day had already passed.

She got up, showered, and got dressed in jeans and a button-up blouse. When she was done she cleaned, washed the handful of dishes, and set out to town.

A weekend was always nice in Williamsburg. A lot of people had the day off and the villagers were all around town, talking and laughing. The air hummed with potential.

Jenna stopped in at the florist.

“Morning, Mae,” she greeted the old lady behind the counter.

“You look beautiful today, Jenna,” Mae said with a croaky voice.

“You always say that.”

“It’s always true. You’re blossoming into a beautiful young woman. Ha! Blossoming!” Mae laughed at her own joke and then came around the counter with the cash register. “What will it be today?”

Jenna looked around at the flowers that stood in buckets of water on the floor.

“Chrysanthemums,” she said and pointed at a collection of orange flowers. Mae smiled and picked them up, waiting for the water to stop dripping before she moved away from the bucket.

“You’re mother’s favorite,” she said and smiled sadly. Jenna nodded. She paid for the flowers and left the store, making her way up the path that led into the trees on the ridge. The forest was quiet, and the trees stood tall, trying to reach above each other for the sun. The light that hung between the trees was almost dusky and the smell of fir and pine hung in the air.

Jenna walked to the grave. Her mother’s gravestone was still new and polished unlike her father’s dust covered stone. She put the flowers down in front of her mother’s grave, and took a step back. Her parents’ headstones were side by side, as it should be. She took a deep breath and fought the urge to cry. The suffering was over, they were happy now. She had to be happy for them.

She heard movement behind her and looked over her shoulder. She was alone in the small cemetery and the trees beyond were quiet, only the leaves rustling in the wind.

She was just about to turn back to the graves when she heard it again. She narrowed her eyes, lifted a hand against the sun, and scanned the trees. Something in the air changed, the atmosphere became almost static, and fear crept up on her.

She took a deep breath and blew it out again. If something happened to her here, now, no one would hear her scream; there would be no one that could help her, fight away vicious animals, whatever was out there.