Thirteen Wyatt

As much as I didn't want to wait, I told Tanner to give me a day to think things over before we jumped back in the sack together. Both of us called in that morning, saying we'd come down with some sort of cold. Given the time of year and our close proximity, nobody questioned it. I figured we could get two or three days out of the deal at the very least so we could take some time to figure things out.

As soon as I'd forced myself out of Tanner's room, I ran upstairs to get dressed and headed back to the beach. My clothes, including my wallet and phone, were still tucked away in the public bathroom, wedged up into one of the ceiling tiles. I'd used them before when I wanted to walk the beach at night as a wolf, but not since high school. Besides, the tiles were pretty rough-looking, and I doubted they could take the weight indefinitely. Best not to push it.

Once they'd been retrieved, I found myself wandering up and down the beach for a while as the sun came up. I wasn't much of a beach walker. That was more Parker's thing. But I still found myself there from time to time when I needed to think. It was a quiet place before all the tourists showed up in the summer.

At the far end, I stepped up onto the pier, following it out toward the lighthouse. All the old folks were out doing their morning walk. Ludington wasn't big enough to have a mall, so the beach was where they got their exercise. However, most of them were kept off the pier for the most part, so that was a good place to be alone and think.

With my head down, I stared at the concrete as it passed by with each footstep. I was lost in thought about Tanner and the entire situation I found myself in. I was completely flabbergasted by how well he took the whole werewolf business. Most humans would have turned and run at the first sign of paranormal weirdness. But he didn't. Instead, he seemed almost intrigued. Confused, for sure. But intrigued. It was a start, at least.

Then there was his offer. A summer fling with no strings attached. Had he been anyone else, I would have jumped at the opportunity. A summer full of casual sex sounded amazing. But him being my mate made things difficult.

I wasn't ready to say it out loud, but I was already deeply infatuated with him. Getting closer and getting physical would only make that worse. I knew, should I take his offer, I would be completely heartbroken by the end of the summer. But that was only if the whole mate thing was true. I'd never experienced anything like it before, so I had no basis for comparison. Part of me wanted to trust my gut, but the other side of me desperately wanted this to just be a phase.

Maybe if I just got him out of my system, everything would go back to normal.

I couldn't help but scoff under my breath. If only things were so easy.

"Wyatt?"

My head snapped up. I was at the end of the pier, the lighthouse standing tall in front of me. To my left, standing near the edge of the platform, was a lithe man with blond hair and a backward baseball cap. He was holding a fishing pole, the orange bobber dangling in front of him as he fiddled with it.

"Aiden?" I couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing out here, bro?"

He gestured to the rod. "Fishing."

"I guess I should have come to that conclusion on my own."

"Maybe," he laughed, winking in my direction. "What are you doing out here so early? I didn't think you were much of an early riser unless you were going to work. Or at least that's what Parker tells me."

"He's right," I nodded, stepping up beside him. "I just needed someplace quiet to think."

"Feel free to ignore me if you want to be alone," he said, giving the pole a flick and sending his bait sailing out into the water. "Or if you want to talk, that's cool too. I don't mind the company."

"I don't want to bother you…"

"I literally stand here and stare at this bobber. Believe me, I could use some stimulation." He glanced over at me. "Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong… just confusing."

"Any way I can help?"

I began to shake my head but stopped. "Actually… there might be."

"Sure. What's up?"

"When you met Parker… did you know right away that you wanted to be with him?"

"Ah," Aiden smiled. "It's about that."

"What do you mean?!" I felt a small surge of panic. "Has Parker been talking to you?"

"He didn't give away your secret," Aiden assured. "He just said he had a rather cryptic lunch with you a couple of weeks ago. I guessed that it was about relationship stuff." He gave me a smirk. "You wolves are so easy to read."

"Is… Is it really that noticeable?"

"To me, it is. But I know what to look for." He sighed. "So. Who's the lucky person?"

Now, it was my turn to sigh. I'd had plenty of time to get to know Aiden, and I trusted him. Telling Parker or Oliver about what was going on was scary because I had an entire lifetime of history with them. But Aiden was still new. He didn't have any preconceived notions about who I was, and that somehow made it easier to speak.

"He's human."

"Ah," Aiden replied, not surprised in the slightest. "That's a couple of big things for you, if I'm not mistaken."

"You can say that again."

"Mate bond?"

"I think so."

Aiden nodded. "That's a lot to deal with."

I sighed again. "You aren't kidding, dude."

"So, how do you feel about him?"

I stood there for a long moment, trying to get my thoughts in order. There were so many conflicting things running through my head that it was hard to put it into words. So, instead of trying to express it perfectly, I just stated facts.

"I like him, but he's leaving at the end of the summer. We both have lives that won't allow this to continue past then."

"Tell me this then," Aiden said, not looking away from his bobber. "If you resisted him and he left, would you regret it?"

I hadn't thought about it that way.

"When I was getting to know Parker, there were plenty of moments where I was scared to move forward. I knew that if I got too close to him, I stood to have my heart broken again. There was no guarantee that everything would go well. And, to be perfectly honest, they got a bit rough there at the end, thanks to his parents." He looked up at me, a soft smile on his face. "But there was one thing that kept pulling me back to him. I knew that if I didn't at least try, that I'd regret it for the rest of my life." He reached out a hand, placing it on my shoulder. "If you give this a shot and allow yourself to feel whatever it is you feel, at least you won't spend the rest of your life wondering what if."

"What if it doesn't work, though? What if someone finds out?"

"So what?" Aiden shrugged. "What if you get hit by a semi walking back to your apartment tonight? What if the entire world ends tomorrow? Life is too short to live in constant fear, Wyatt. And you know Parker, Oliver, and I will always have your back. You don't have to face anything alone, no matter what comes to pass. We'll be here to help you if things go right or wrong. That's what friends are for."

I couldn't help but smile; a sudden weight lifted off my chest by his words. "Thanks, Aiden."

"Anytime, buddy."

Aiden reeled in his line, an irritated grunt leaving his lips as he pulled up a bare hook.

"Little bastards stole my bait again!"

"Why do you do this?" I asked, unable to help a small chuckle.

"It's relaxing!" he grunted, jamming another worm on the hook.

"Yeah… I can see that…"