I bit back a sigh. Honestly, the help did sound good, but I just didn’t want to deal with the chatter. I needed time to breathe, and process everything. “Fine,” I amended. “Tomorrow, you can ask again. But for tonight, I’m fine.”

“Alright, alright.” Teagan tossed a hand toward me. “We’ll leave you alone. Come on, Kettle.” She gave her man a teasing push toward the door.

He grabbed her by the waist, tickling her and laughing while she shrieked and swore at him.

Ebony flashed me an apologetic grimace. “I’m sorry. If I’d known this was going to happen…” she trailed off. “Well, I would’ve warned you. I wouldn’t change it. Meeting Ford was the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” She held up hers and Ford’s intertwined hands.

“Well, just cross your fingers that this wolf-man is just as good for me.” I held up my hand, fingers crossed.

Yeah, I was awkward.

Whatever.

My other hand gripped the wolf’s fur, and he snuggled up to my side while Ebony and Ford slipped out of the house.

“I’m Elliot,” the guy who had caught the casseroles offered, holding out a hand. I gave him an awkward wave, figuring I might as well continue along on my awkward roll.

“Sorry, possessive wolf…” I gestured to the wolf, who hadn’t done a damned possessive thing other than licking my arm.

Yeah, I was totally going to use him as an excuse. Sue me.

“Right. Good thinking.” He flashed me an amused grin.

“I’m Dax,” the other guy I didn’t know added, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Elliot’s off to that side of you, and I’m off to the other one. If you need anything, just knock on one of our doors. Or yell; we’d probably hear you.”

My lips quirked up in a tiny smile, and I dipped my head in a nod. I liked Dax, automatically. He seemed chill, which was a nice change of pace from Teagan’s wild energy.

“Good to meet you both.”

“I’ll drop off the dinner in a few. Zed will be grumpy after burning the food, so I’ll keep him away.” Elliot winked at me, then he and Dax headed out the back door. “Just let us know if you need anything,” he repeated, before he shut the sliding door.

And then, I was alone with the wolf.

Mywolf, if Teagan and Ebony and the skyscraper squad were to be believed.

“Whew,”I said, letting out a massive breath of air as I headed over toward the couch. Collapsing on the cushions—I couldn’t even see what color they were thanks to the mountain of clothes covering them—I kicked my feet out onto the lumpy ottoman and stared at the blank TV for a minute. One of my hands gripped the strap of my purse, which rested between my boobs, and the other still held the fur of the wolf who had jumped up on the couch beside me.

Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath.

Shit.

Things had just… changed.

Yep.

Definitely changed.

Then again, everything was changing, so I guess it wasn’t all that abnormal to me. I’d been pretty sure werewolves existed after seeing those videos Ebony had obsessed over, so I wasn’t exactly surprised to meet them. But it was still all just…weird. And unexpected.

I liked plans, even though I was shitty with following through with them. This definitely hadn’t been part of a plan… but I was actually glad it had happened.

“This will probably sound crazy,” I told the wolf, “But I’m really glad I met you. My life was about to go to shit. I was going to be living in my car, and that thing’s going to crap out any time now. Job hunting… well, it’s not looking great. I really thought my professor could hook me up, but it fell through, and now I’ve got nothing. Nothing, and no one. Yay.”

The wolf licked my arm.

“Apparently, nothing and no one but you. If I can manage to convince myself to believe Tea and Ebony. But if you ask me, they kind of seem like they’re on drugs.”

The wolf snorted, and my lips curved upward. “Glad to hear that you agree with me.”

My fingers stroked his fur. “I used to have a dog. Chewbacca. She made everything better. But she passed a few months before I graduated high school, and college dorms don’t allow dogs. Not big ones, at least, unless you’ve got a medical reason. Which I don’t, so here I am.”

Archie set his head down on my leg, and made a sad sound. Something told me it was an apology, and my eyes stung a bit.

I hadn’t really made any friends in college. Most people talk about their college buddies for years after they graduate, if not their whole lives. But I’d spent all my time lost in my music, working my ass off and loving every minute of it. It hadn’t led to any friendships, or parties, but I didn’t really care about those things anyway. Not usually, at least.

Now that I’d graduated, and had nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do… well, it would’ve been nice to have a few buddies to go places with. A few couches to crash on.

I heard a knock at the back door and quickly stood up, drying tears up with the neck of my shirt. Letting go of Archie’s fur, I grabbed a tipped-over laundry basket and quickly tossed some clothes in it so it looked like I’d been doing something.

“Del?” Elliot called out. “I have a plate of food for you. Is it okay if I come in?”

“Sure,” I called back.

He stepped into the kitchen, flashing me a small smile. “We were serious. If you need anything—even a snack, or a meal, or help doing the dishes—just stop by my place or Dax’s.”

“I will. Thanks.”

He nodded, setting the plate on the counter before leaving again.

I let out another massive breath when he was gone.

“Damn,” I mumbled. “I’m not cut out for this level of socialization.”

The wolf snorted again, licking my arm. I scratched his head, and collapsed back down on the couch.

Archie snuggled up against me, and my arms wrapped around him. I held him against me, fingers burying in his fur. Despite the mess in the house, it didn’t smell bad or anything. The clothes off to my left actually smelled like laundry detergent, and the ones on my right…

I lifted a shirt to my nose, and inhaled deeply.

Then, I dropped the fabric like it was damned lava.

“Your human definitely wore that,” I squeaked at the wolf.

He licked my face and then picked up the shirt between his teeth, lifting it toward me before dropping it on my chest.

With a sigh, I lifted the fabric back to my nose and inhaled again. My eyes fluttered a bit as they closed.

Damn, he smelled good.

Like chocolate, and cinnamon, and… sex.

Okay, to be honest, I’d never had sex. My V-card was firmly in-tact, only because interacting with the male species made me feel panicked and weird.

But Archie smelled like the way I imagined sex would smell.

I dropped the shirt again, heaving another sigh.

The wolf tossed it onto me again.

I shot him an annoyed glare. “I have clothes on, Archie.”

He scowled, nipping at my shirt. It was a cropped tank that fell just above my belly button, and I’d paired it with some jean shorts and my favorite combat boots. It was spring, technically, so the boots still worked.

“You don’t like my outfit?” I asked, shooting him an incredulous look.

He licked my belly button in response, eliciting a shriek and a shove against his face. “That tickles,” I complained.

The wolf gave a playful growl, and nipped at my belly.

I groaned. “Fine. Only because you’re annoying.”

He stuck his tongue out and gave me a goofy, wolfy grin.