10. Gage

For twelve days, I'd picked up Cedric at six in the morning, and we'd go to a different part of the forest and begin our lessons.

He learned how to forage, to identify plants, both poisonous and edible. I'd taught him survival skills and how to navigate using natural landmarks. He could identify animal markings and tracks, and I'd pointed out how the forest changed during the seasons.

I had a lot more to teach him, but his two weeks had come to an end, and he had to return to the city and work out his two-week-notice period. It should have been a month, but Reed intervened. He could do that, as he owned the company.

Cedric was in the process of buying the house and asked me if I'd renovate it, as Harry told him about my father working in construction. And Reed had asked if I'd consider being a part-time park ranger. I'd told both I'd think about it, but Cedric needed to plan where he was going to live and for how long when he returned, and Reed needed an answer or he'd have to find someone else.

"But you're the best person for the job."

He was right. I was, but did I want to interact with people? Some people maybe, I admitted to myself. Not others, though.

Both agreed they'd need me to say yes or no in a week. But before Cedric left, I had to make good on my invitation of inviting him to dinner.I hadn't forgotten but was nervous about him seeing my place. What would he think?

We'd been out on our last teaching session where Cedric impressed me with what he'd learned. He'd point out plants and animal burrows and stand still and listen as the forest spoke to him

Now I was at home, panicking and trying to tidy the cabin while cooking a bean stew on the wood stove and making bread in the oven. The temperature in a wood-burning stove wasn't as predictable as gas or electric ones, so I had to keep my eye on the bread. I'd been into the forest earlier and picked edible greens for a salad. Cedric liked salad. He told me he had one every day when working at the office.

I looked around the cabin at the sofa with a dip in the middle, the chipped table, and the uneven flooring. But everything was clean. The fabrics washed in the stream and dried in the sun. The floor swept and mopped. I'd picked wildflowers and put them in an empty jar, and the cabin smelled of baking bread. Better than any man-made room spray.

Reed was giving Cedric a lift from the office and driving him to the airport tomorrow. It made sense he would take Cedric in his newish car. My pickup was dirty and noisy. And there was no reason Cedric would have asked me to drop him off.

I'd bathed in the stream and changed into clean clothes—my best ones that Cedric had seen me wear before. I wished I'd thought of buying something new, though I couldn"t work out why it mattered. It didn't.

Reed's car purred along the narrow forest road, and he deposited Cedric at my door. He waved but didn't come in as Cedric got a cake box from the back seat.

"Hi." He sniffed the air, a habit he'd gotten into when we arrived in the woods each morning. "That smells so good." He inhaled once more. "As well as the bread and some tomato concoction, I can smell yeast, wildflowers and… and…" He blushed. "Not sure what else. Maybe I need more lessons."

I raised my arm, pretending I was scratching my back and sniffed my pit. No BO. I was squeaky clean. Could he have been talking about my scent?

Yes. You need to listen to him.

I didn't listen to my beast, though.

Cedric stepped inside. When he was here before, after the big apology, he hadn't come in. Not that I'd invited him or wanted him to. I'd wanted them all gone. But Cedric and I were friends now. I could call him a friend. I'd tamed the mating instinct so that it didn't creep up on me. I could sense when I was getting warm and fuzzy and pull back, stamping it out.

Right!My bear wasn't convinced.

"This is lovely."

Okay, now he was telling fibs. Yes, it was clean and there was a tablecloth covering the old table. But few people would want to live here unless they didn't have a roof over their heads. But it was dry, and during the winter, the fire warmed the small space.

I took the box from Cedric and served up the food. We could have sat and chatted before eating, but I wanted to be at the table so I could rest my hands on the surface as opposed to twiddling my thumbs.

Cedric blew on the spoonful of stew and tasted it. "This is so good, Gage." He dipped his spoon in the stew again. "You're a great cook, as well as being a construction expert, and you're an environmentalist."

I've never been described like that previously. Environmentalist. Interesting.

"My omega father ran a construction business, and my alpha dad owned a bakery. He taught me to cook and garden." I should tell him about my folks, but I didn't want his sympathy. "My folks died in a terrible accident."

"I'm so sorry, Gage." His eyes glistened with tears as I gave him the bare details of how hunters killed my parents. "If they are sitting beside the goddess, I know they must be proud of the alpha you've become."

I hoped so, though they might be disappointed I hadn't done more with my life.

But I wanted a change of subject and pushed the butter toward him.

Cedric slathered it on his bread. Not homemade sadly. I'd left it too late to think about, though my strength would have had no trouble beating milk until it thickened and turned to butter. But the bread was warm and crusty, and Cedric licked the greasy substance from his lips.

Something stirred inside me as I watched Cedric eat the food I'd cooked for him. I concentrated on my meal, spooning stew into my mouth, the utensils hitting the side of the bowl.

My cheeks burned. Maybe I'd put too much spice in the stew, though Cedric wasn't affected, and I was damned sure a shifter could take more heat in their food than a human. I guzzled water, tossing it down my throat and wishing I could dunk myself in the stream.

When I looked up, Cedric wasn't eating, and his eyes were fixed on me.

"Gage, are you okay?"

"Fine." I poured myself more water. I gulped, and the liquid spilled over my shirt. "Is it hot in here?"

"Maybe open the door?"

That's not it. My bear had been ignoring me until the heat crept through my body like an inferno and alerted him.

But I couldn't get up because I had a hard-on. Damn, why now? I'd done a great job of telling the mating instinct to get lost. And Cedric coming into my home had undone my hard work. Things were hard all right, especially my cock.

I got up from my chair and wished I had napkins. I could have dangled mine in front of me. Now my crotch was front and center, above the table edge, and Cedric was staring right at it because I'd tucked the damned shirt in.

After opening the door, I sank back into my chair while Cedric slowly finished his stew. "May I mop the rest of it up with the bread?"

For a moment I wondered why he was asking me. But I got it. In "polite company," it might not be the done thing. Who gave a shit. "Go ahead. It's the best part."

I copied him as he captured every bit of gravy with the bread, and when he was done, he smacked his lips. Gods, why did he do that? Those plump lips started all of this heat. He needed to stop.

"Ready for dessert?"

Cedric grabbed the box and brought out chocolate cake. He cut two pieces, and I took a bite.

"This isn't from the café. Mrs. Ambrose made this." I knew my chocolate cake, and hers was the best in Riverford.

Cedric grinned. "She wanted to trick you by putting it in the coffee shop box."

"That was so sweet of her." She was the first human I'd met who truly liked me and vice versa. Now I hoped there was another human who felt the same way.

"How long have you lived here?" Cedric licked chocolate icing from his fingers, and I squeezed my thighs together, begging my dick not to swell any further.

I related how it was Mr. Lucas's doing, and Cedric rested his chin on his hands, leaning in and listening as I told him how the elderly man had given me a safe space to live. I sort of filled him in on why I didn't want modern conveniences in my home, saying any discomfort was a reminder of my pain.

"He told me the other day if he'd been allowed to help, he would have gotten me a great deal on my house." Cedric peered at the chocolate cake, and I cut him another piece. Second helpings for me too. "But he said he'd been banned from interfering. I felt so bad and gave him a hug and kiss."

"Does Mr. Lucas hug?"

"He was really stiff, but he didn't pull away."

"Maybe it's a dragon thing." No one would hug an actual dragon. They'd never get close enough, and besides, there were scales.

Cedric stood and gathered the dishes, but I reached out and put a hand on his arm. With only the hose running into the house, washing up was a chore. "I'll do them later. Let's get you back to the hotel."

It struck me as I was driving that I would miss my early mornings with Cedric. When he returned, he'd be working full-time, so it was unlikely he'd want to continue our six am meet-ups.

And I'd been in town more times in the past two weeks than in two years. I didn't want to live amongst people, but I wasn't as uncomfortable as I used to be. That was Cedric's doing.

I pulled up in front of the hotel, and I was almost on the verge of tears, thinking my friend would be gone in the morning.

"Thank you for everything." He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

Oh no. Big mistake.