5. Briony

Evander stood up for me.

I don't know what to do with that information.

He stood up for me, in front of Will and Kelly.

And I… I ran away.

I scoot away from the van as fast as I can, my feet moving fast enough to be interpreted as a run.

I'm just trying to get as far away from him as I can.

Because he stood up for me.

In public.

I guess this is technically the second time. That realization, though, doesn't make it any better.

It almost makes it worse.

The walk up to my house feels longer than normal. I'm regretting every second of the long driveway right now, because it means that I'm just increasingly conscious of Evander sitting in the pack's utility van, lingering behind me on the street.

The engine is still running. Why won't he just drive away? Is he going to wait for me to get to my door? Why…

The engine cuts off.

I hear the door slam, and I scoot faster. I'm almost at the door when Evander's footsteps behind me make me freeze.

He jogs up behind me. "Hey. Wait."

I turn and sigh. "What do you want?"

"What happened back there?"

I stiffen. "What do you mean?"

"At the restaurant... with Will. You gave up," Evander says. He looks frustrated. At me.

For what? I stare at him, my jaw on the floor. "What do you mean, I gave up?"

"I mean that you gave up," Evander says. "You, the woman who decided to haul off and yell at me at the Blue Moon Bash. When Will tried to be a dick, you just… quit."

"What was I supposed to do? Haul off and punch him in the face?"

"Yes!" he practically shouts.

I see the shutters open as Susan, my next-door neighbor, peers through them. "Get in here," I hiss, grabbing his hand.

I pull Evander Alderwood into my house, slamming the door behind him.

Oh no.

I didn't want Susan to see the pack's beta on my porch arguing with me, but I definitely didn't think this through.

Because now, Evander Alderwood is in my house. For the second time.

I gulp.

He's too big for this space. I've always known that he's a big guy, but in my little house, he feels… too much.

He's too much of everything. Too tall. Too big. His blue eyes are too bright, flashing in the darkness of my poorly lit entryway.

Honestly, he smells too good to be real. Like, what is that? His scent curls around my nose, and I feel like I'm being pulled by it. The wolf part of me shudders, and I want to run through the woods with him…

Wow. Stop it, Briony.

He's not some hot guy that I can just… lust after. He's Evander Alderwood. Will's friend. The beta of the Oakwood pack.

And a total jerk.

"Why did you give up?" Evander asks softly.

Oh no.

Inside my house, his voice reverberates. It kind of rumbles through me, sending shockwaves of lust up through my spine.

He's too attractive. This isn't fair. I hate him. I'm supposed to hate him. I don't want to like him whatsoever.

And most of all, I don't like that he's… caring.

"I don't want to argue with Will anymore."

"Anymore?"

Huffing, I look down at my feet. "No. We broke up. You know this. I'm sure he told you that I'm a miserable bitch who dumped him after he begged me to stay together."

"I've heard Will's version of the story. But I don't want to hear his. I want to hear yours."

I glance up at him.

Evander's blue eyes look almost electric. He's staring at me with so much intensity, it feels almost palpable. My skin prickles, like he's touching me.

Oh no. Don't think about Evander touching you. No, no, no.

My nostrils flare as I take in a breath. "He was there with Kelly."

"And you used to be friends with her, right?"

"Kinda hard to be friends with someone after you caught them being fucked by your boyfriend."

It takes Evander a minute to process the information. His eyes widen when he understands what I'm saying. "No way."

"I knew you'd take his side," I say softly. I turn, ready to grab the door. "You can go…"

"No, Briony. That's not what I'm saying. I believe you. I'm just…" he scrubs his hand over his mouth. "I just didn't know Will had it in him."

"Yeah. Well. Neither did I," I say softly.

Suddenly, the air between us ripples with awkward energy. I pick at a spare thread on my skirt. "Okay, I guess?—"

"He's a fucking asshole."

We speak at the same time, so it takes me a second to register what Evander is saying. "Huh?"

"He's a fucking idiot, Briony. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. He didn't tell us that…"

"Of course he didn't," I snap. "The Frat Pack has to keep looking after itself, right?"

"Briony…"

"Whatever," I sigh. "You can see yourself out."

"Wait," he says.

His hand, however, is also on my arm.

If I thought his voice was electrifying… I had no idea.

His hand on my arm? It's like holding onto a live wire. I can practically feel the electricity radiating from his palm.

It makes me shiver, and my breath punches out of me with a soft sigh.

Evander is staring at where his hand is on my skin.

Gently, I tug my arm away.

"Sorry," he murmurs.

"It's okay."

"I'll go," Evander dips his head and turns to the door.

"Thanks."

He's got his hand on the doorknob when he pauses and looks back. "One last question."

"Okay?"

"Why don't you like me?"

I blink. "Besides the fact that you're one of Will's best friends?"

"Yeah. Aside from that."

I frown. "Evander… Do you really want to know?"

"I do."

I exhale slowly. "I have a rule. After Will. No assholes." The rule is meant to apply to people I'm going to date, but it could cross contexts as well.

"That's fair," he sighs. Then his eyes widen. "You think I'm an asshole?"

"I definitely don't think you're not an asshole," I say quietly.

His mouth droops into a frown. "I know that I can be… a lot," he frowns. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry for being an asshole."

"That's… thank you?"

Evander laughs. "I feel like it's the least I can do."

"How about you promise to not be an asshole anymore?"

He smiles.

I've seen Evander smile a lot. He's always laughing and joking with the Frat Pack.

But I've never seen him smile at me.

The smile directed at me is… a lot. It ripples over me, causing my chest to clench and my heart to hammer against my ribs.

Evander's smile has the same effect as a nuclear bomb. In its path, I feel completely bowled over.

"I can promise that," he rumbles.

Somehow, he makes the word promise linger.

"Oh. Okay. Good," I say briskly. "We'll just have to see about that tomorrow."

He frowns. "What's tomorrow?"

"The kids need to get to the school. First day. So, can we use the van to pick them up in the morning?"

He nods. "Yeah. I'll be here. Coffee in hand."

"Sounds good. Um. See you then?"

"See you then."

Evander reaches for the door then, and as he's leaving, I call out. "Mocha."

He looks back at me. "What?"

"For coffee. I like mocha," I say, nervously running my fingers through my hair.

Evander gives me that smile again.

"Mocha it is."

In the morning,he's outside of my driveway. In the van.

With a mocha in his hand.

I take it and sip, closing my eyes in joy. "Wow," I whisper. "Where is this from?"

"I… made it."

My eyes fly open in surprise. "You made it?"

Evander looks a little bashful. "Yeah. I have an espresso machine back at the cabin."

"And you just… made this?"

He shrugs. "I like a good cup of coffee."

I sip it again. "I'll say." My phone dings, and I gasp. "Oh no. We need to hurry. I think there's a downed tree in the road on the way."

Evander puts the van in drive. "I didn't hear about anything this morning at the alpha's house."

"I just got the text from Lola, who's on the road crew. She says it just happened."

Evander squints at the clear sky. "How?"

I shrug. "Who knows? Trees just fall sometimes, I guess."

"Still. Usually, there's at least a storm or wind or something."

"I'm not a tree interpreter, Evander."

He grins. "You mean a forester?"

"Yeah. That."

Laughing, Evander turns on the road that leads to the fox compound. "You're cute, Briony."

My cheeks burn. I don't respond.

But, soon enough, the road winds up to the fallen tree.

The road crew is out, and they're putting chains on the log, which has to be at least six feet in diameter. I sigh. "Guess the kids won't have their first day today."

Evander parks the vehicle. "Nah," he says. "I've got this."

"Ev…"

He's gone.

Through the windshield, I watch as he gets out to talk to the road crew. Lola, one of my friends, gives him a harsh look as he motions that he's going to push the tree.

I snort. "Yeah right. Overestimating yourself much?"

Everyone kind of shrugs, then gets out of his way.

Evander braces against the tree, and begins to push...

Holy.

Cow.

I can see his back muscles bulging and flexing through his thin cotton shirt. His jeans, bless them, cup his ass like a second skin. I can see the muscles of his hamstrings and glutes strain as he presses against the tree.

"He still can't move it," I mutter.

But then, the tree starts to roll.

And rolls.

The whole way off of the road.

Evander gives the road crew a brief nod, ignoring their slack-jawed shock, before getting back in the van.

He smirks at me. "Can't keep the kids from school, right?"

I don't know what to say. It was really impressive, but more than that…

I'm insanely attracted to him right now.

"You moved that tree."

"Yeah."

"Like it was just a box of cookies."

Evander puffs up slightly. "I mean, I worked a little bit for it."

"Yeah. I guess. Um. Well. Wow. And thank you?" I'm not making any sense. Words are just leaping out of my mouth, one at a time, and all of them are making Evander puff up like a peacock.

"Oh, no need to thank me," he leans forward to start the van.

I'm about to say something snarky when I notice he's got a leaf on his shirt. I lean forward automatically to brush it off.

Right as he leans back slightly.

Putting our faces right next to each other.

And our lips are pretty much in line.

And our eyes…

I freeze.

Evander's eyes are blue. The bluest blue. Sky blue. Except right now, when they're a dark, stormy blue.

They dart down to my lips, then look back up at me. My breath feels loud. My ears are ringing.

I can't believe the thoughts I'm having.

Because every single cell in my body wants Evander Alderwood to kiss me.