14. Steff

FOURTEEN

STEFF

When Kellan texted me to say Aiden had would be going to the baseball camp, I was both excited and a little confused. I was happy the boy was going to get extra coaching and help with fundamentals. At the back of my mind, I was still bewildered that he'd trust me. It was like he and Kris had both, sort of, forgiven me. I was happy with that fact, but it had come on so quickly that I was caught off guard. Maybe it really had been long enough for old grudges to die. It left me hopeful that I could do the same with April.

Things had not gone as planned the night before. In fact, it had been a disaster. If anything, it had possibly made things worse between us. My bear had been almost inconsolable for hours after she left and its misery had caused me to only get three hours of sleep.

It was the first day of the camp, and I had to pick Aiden up at nine so we'd be there when it started at ten. I had a few minutes to stop by the office and check in with the guys to see if they found out anything about the unlisted number that kept pestering April.

I got there just before eight-thirty, and the other three were already in and working. Blayne was in the little computer lab we had set up in the back. We had a large computer screen mounted on the wall, and I couldn't make heads or tails out of what he was working on. The screen was split and on one side were thousands of rows of numbers, the other side was a digital map of the US and Canada. There were a dozen different red bullet points scattered across the map.

"What's all this?" I asked, stepping up beside his chair.

Blayne glanced up and smiled grimly. "This is your lady friend's problem."

At my bear's grumble, I shot Blayne a questioning look.

"Those calls? Every one of them has been made from a burner phone. Totally untraceable." He pointed at the map. "Those dots are where each phone was registered. Other than that, I have no way of finding the guy. This wasn't some horny fan making a spur-of-the-moment attempt to get April to send him a tit pic. This was planned. I've basically blocked any unknown numbers from getting through to her phone since I can't figure out what's what. Hope she's cool with that. Her manager was, so…" He shrugged.

I didn't like the sound of that. The idea of some weirdo doing all this to try to speak with April? It smelled like desperation, need, and psychosis. As though I didn't have enough to think about.

"Thanks. Let me know if you get anything more on the guy."

Blayne turned back to his computer. "Will do."

I headed to Miles's office next. I usually worked in the office most days, but in reality, I could work from anywhere. I needed to remind him that I'd be working remotely for the duration of the baseball camp, since I'd be there most of each day.

I knocked on his doorframe, and he glanced up. "Hey, man. What's up?"

"Just reminding you I'll be coaching baseball for the next two weeks. I won't be around a whole lot and didn't want you to think I was skipping out of work."

Miles leaned back and spread his arms. "Dude, you own 25 percent of this place. I'm not your boss."

I stepped inside and sat down. "Yeah, I know, just wanted to let you know."

"Okay, cool. Whatever. Let's talk about real stuff. How's it going with your new plan? With April, I mean."

"Could be going better, honestly."

"Uh-oh, what happened?"

I laid out what had gone down the night before, and how things had gone downhill as soon as she sat down to dinner with me. Tate walked in as I gave my rundown of events and took a seat next to Miles. It felt like they were judging me. It was more than likely not true, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. By the time I finished, I had beads of sweat on my forehead.

"You know, I'm glad you finally came around. This is a much smarter path to take." He waved a hand in the air. "The whole make her hate me thing was bound to fail."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Miles and Tate both laughed. It was all good-natured, but it did nothing for my nerves. "It wasn't really me. It was my bear. That's what brought me around."

Tate nodded. "I understand that. The whole time I was trying to figure out what I had with Harley, my dragon was being real emo. Made my whole life pretty miserable."

The real problem, the major fear I had was swirling in my head. If I didn't voice it now, when would I? If I couldn't ask advice from my friends, my brothers, who could I ask?

"What happens if this works? April will become a shifter. Her life will change forever, and it'll be my fault. I'll ruin her life. I feel like a selfish asshole for even trying."

"If April loves you, then becoming a shifter won't be a big deal," Tate said. "I was afraid for Harley, but her becoming my mate was the best thing this curse ever did. It worked out for us; I have no doubt it will work for you all."

Miles nodded. "You'll be fine, Steff. So will April. If this curse has taught us anything, it's that you have to go with it. Don't fight it. Whatever's gonna happen will happen."

I appreciated what they were saying, and it did make me feel better. The fear was still there, not only about what would happen if April became a shifter but with what would happen if the hunters got too close.

"On a different note, that Ryland guy is still sniffing around April. Calling her. When I got home last night, she was on the phone with him. It was quiet out and my hearing picked up his end of the call. He was asking her out again."

Tate's snarl was totally warranted. This was the guy who'd tried to murder his mate. If it was me, I'd react the same way. Even as it was, I wanted to kill the guy. I could only imagine what Tate was thinking.

I leaned out the door. "Blayne? Can you come here for a second?" I called.

Miles raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what does Blayne have to do with the guy calling April?"

I held up a hand. "Hang on, will you?"

Blayne walked in a few seconds later. "What's up? Your Majesty rang?"

Ignoring the joke, I said, "That same hunter has been trying to get with April still. Is there any way to block his calls?"

Blayne looked at Miles and Tate, then back at me. He laughed, nodding. "Dude, I can do that in about five minutes. We'll make sure that guy doesn't get anywhere close to April."

My entire body sagged with relief. It was nice having friends with diverse talents. I really didn't know what I'd have done if I hadn't met these guys after I lost my career. It had been tough going for a while. I'd had a little nest egg from when I signed my contract after getting drafted, but once I'd paid off my uncle's house and taken care of some other things, I didn't have much to go around. I'd been dumb with most of my money the first few months. In my mind, I figured I would be in the pros for the next fifteen or twenty years. I'd have tons of big money contracts. When that hadn't happened, I'd come home with my tail between my legs, almost as broke as I'd been when I left.

If I hadn't fallen in with the guys, I'd have had to spend what money I'd saved to eat and pay rent on a shitty apartment. I'd have never had the cash to help start the security firm. My friends were one of the best things to ever happen to me. I thanked God for them every day. They were the closest thing I had to family.

Tate stood and edged toward the door. "No matter what, we need to keep our eyes out. The hunters are back, and they are trying to get close to the people we care about. We have to stay vigilant."

We all agreed, each of us looking more somber than we had a few moments before. I glanced at my watch, noted the time, then headed out to go pick Aiden up.

I pulled up to Kellan's house five minutes early. One of the benefits of living in a small town was that everything was five or ten minutes away. Aiden and Kellan were in the front yard throwing a baseball back and forth. I had a moment of surrealism as I watched. It was hard to believe my best friend from high school had a kid. Something about it made me feel strange. Like life was moving by way too fast. Moving by and leaving me behind. Suddenly, I had such an intense and painful feeling of regret, that, for the millionth time, I kicked myself. I'd ended something special way back when I was a dumb kid. What had I missed by doing that? What memories hadn't been made? What happiness had I lost out on?

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I got out and waved to Kellan. He caught the ball out of the air and waved back. I closed my door and walked toward him and Aiden. The boy grabbed his duffel bag and ran toward me.

"Coach, I'm ready to go."

Aiden didn't even stop for me to say anything. He just ran straight toward my truck and threw his bag and bat into the back seat. I looked at Kellan, who was grinning. "The kid's talked about this nonstop since I said he could go. I really appreciate you driving him."

"No problem, Kellan. Like I said, I have to be there anyway. I'm happy to do it."

Before I could say anything else, a contented internal sigh breezed through my mind. My bear sensed something that made it pleased and tranquil. I knew what it was before I turned.

April had pulled up into the driveway behind my truck. Catching sight of her car made my stomach flip-flop. When she stepped out and the breeze caught her hair, I thought I might pass out. Every time I saw her, she was more beautiful. She was carrying a big plastic bag that looked like it contained boxes. When she stepped around the hood, there was a name printed on the side: You Knead Donuts .

Aiden sprinted toward April, yelling, "Donuts, donuts, donuts."

April laughed and pulled one of the boxes out of the bag and handed it to Aiden. "I knew this place was your favorite, and I wanted you to have a nice breakfast before the big day. One box for you and one for me and your dad. You can… uh, you can share with your coach on the way if you want."

I enjoyed seeing them together. April was so attentive to Aiden, and I could tell they loved each other. If I had to guess, the boy craved a female influence in his life. Where was his mother? I knew Kellan wasn't married. Even though he and Kris had done all they could to stay away from me over the years, a small town was a small town. I'd never seen or heard of Kellan having a wife. One day, he just sort of happened to have a kid. The question nagged at me while I watched Aiden and April talk, but there was no way I could ask that. Not now anyway.

"Wait," Aiden said. "Aunt April, why don't you come to the camp?"

My eyes nearly popped out of my head, and my bear perked up. April smiled sweetly at Aiden and tried to keep from looking my way. "Aiden, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"There's a whole dugout set aside for parents who want to sit and wait, if you want to go," I said, raising my voice to be heard.

April shot a glare at me. It was supposed to be full of venom, but it didn't actually end up that way. More of an irritated-mom look if I had to give it a name. I fought back a smile.

She was shaking her head, getting ready to decline again, when Aiden piped up, "Please? Dad can't go because of work. I won't have anyone there to watch me. Please."

I could have given the kid a high-five if I didn't think April would give me a swift kick to the balls for it. Her face had already crumpled into a look of dejected acceptance. Aiden obviously had April wrapped around his little finger.

"Fine, but I'm driving my own car," April said.

"Eh," I said, "Unfortunately, there's limited parking. We'll need to carpool if we want a spot."

"Oh, for the love… fine. I'll grab my stuff. Here, Kellan, it looks like you're eating alone," April said, shoving the other box of donuts into her brother's hands.

"We'll share," I said.

April rolled her eyes.

As we loaded up, I glanced at her. "Do you need to let your manager know? The Larry guy? We'll be heading out of town. He might want to know."

April nodded. "Probably. I'll make it quick."

April put him on speaker phone as she loaded her purse into the car and got buckled in. "Hey, Larry."

"Hello, little lady. What can I do for you?"

"I'm heading a couple of towns over to watch my nephew play baseball."

"Uh, is that smart? I don't mean to say you can't handle yourself, but?—"

"Steffen James will be with me the whole time," April cut in.

"Oh? Mr. James from the security firm?"

"Yes, Larry." I could tell April was getting irritated.

"Okay, sounds good. I have the utmost faith in his company. You should be fine. Have fun."

His change was almost comedic. Our firm was pretty well known, especially in the elite circles April and this Larry guy ran around in. For one, we were damn good at what we did. Second, we were all fairly scary-looking fuckers. Being shifters, we were pretty imposing. Tate, of course, was the biggest and baddest. But the rest of us all looked like we could walk into a biker club and throw down, and more than likely walk out unscathed. It sounded like Larry knew that.

April looked equally surprised. "Well… okay, I guess. Talk to you later, Larry."

We hit the road. For the first ten minutes of the drive, all Aiden could do was talk about the camp. The kid was a nonstop ball of energy. He went on and on, which was kind of nice. Without a minute of silence, the awkwardness that loomed between us didn't have a chance to rear its head.

April still seemed uncomfortable, so I reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before moving it away. I kept my eyes on the road, but felt her watching me. Staring at me. She probably had a million things running through her mind right then. I wished I could hear even half of them. Hell, even one thing she was thinking would have been nice.

After a while, Aiden finally got tired of talking about the camp and pulled a tablet and headphones out of his duffel bag. In seconds, he was engrossed in whatever he was watching or playing.

Now that he couldn't hear us, April sighed. "Were we that hyper as kids?"

"I was probably worse." I laughed. "Though, maybe not. We didn't grow up with that kind of technology."

Thinking back to being younger, to my family, sent a pang of sadness through me. My brother who I'd only wanted to love me. My parents who had loved me, but had turned their backs on me. It was a subject that always put me in a foul mood. Even now, years later, after I'd come to Lilly Valley and found happiness, the memories still stung.

"Oh my god," April gasped, "is that Principal Jacobs?"

I glanced over and saw an older gentleman who looked to be in his mid to late sixties walking a dog on the sidewalk. "Holy crap, it is."

April looked at me. "Do you remember when you, Kris, and Kellan put all those bags of dog poop in his office for April Fool's Day? You said it was in honor of me. That if I had a holiday named after me, anything that happened had to be big."

"Oh, geez." I burst out laughing. "I'd forgotten we did that. Lord, he'd been pissed. We must have had like two dozen paper bags of dog shit in there. Took us four days to find that much."

As we chuckled about a prank from so many years ago, I caught myself staring at her as we sat at a stop light. Her smile was the same as it had always been. It transported me back to warm summer nights, our young bodies tangled beneath the stars. To cool fall afternoons, stealing kisses in the forest. She glanced up at me, and our eyes locked. In that moment, everything disappeared, and I knew she was also thinking about the past.

"Green light," she whispered.

"Huh?"

"Green light. The light's green."

A honk from behind me knocked me out of my daze. I hit the gas and tried to concentrate on the road. I kept my mind on driving. Taking a chance, I moved my hand toward her again. I slipped my palm onto hers, twining my fingers through hers. My anxiety slowly seeped away when she didn't pull her hand out of mine. We stayed like that all the way to the ball camp. My bear and I both thought that was a good sign.