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“Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you last night. Truth be told, if I just saw you here in full makeup, I don’t know if I would’ve recognized you this way either. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back.”
“It’s okay—”
“No it’s not, Jenna. I couldn’t see you very well in the shadows, but this is my freakin’ job. I didn’t depend on any of my senses. I was shocked that Cadence was there, but still. It’s not that you aren’t memorable. I just…” He let the words trail off when he didn’t know how to finish it.
“I’m not memorable.” She said it with this awful truth in her voice, like she believed that.
He didn’t know her very well, and wasn’t great with women’s emotions, so he cleared his throat and looked around the parking lot. “Where’s your car?”
A lopsided grin took her face, and she graced him with a flash of silver. “It’s the big one.”
He immediately slid his attention to an F-350 dually with a flatbed on the back of the silver truck. “Bullshit.”
Smoothly, she hit the unlock button on her keys, and the lights lit up on the dually.
Holy. Shit. “Are you working for Kong?” he asked, studying the lumber tied onto the flatbed.
“Only Monday through Friday.”
Okay, he was trying to bite back his smile, but holy hell, this chick was driving a badass rig. And working for Kong at the biggest lumberyard in the Rocky Mountains? “Low-man? Accounting?” he asked, shamelessly fishing for her job title.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she murmured cheekily as she pushed off the picnic table and began walking toward her rig. “I’ll follow you in.”
“Making sure I go?”
“Yep.” She turned and talked as she walked backward. “Your momma deserves a hug from her son.” She even held his gaze for a three-count before she turned and sauntered off toward her truck. He could see the swell of her cheeks from here though, and something about it made him wish she would turn around again and let him see the smile that caused it.
He couldn’t recall ever seeing a big grin on Jenna’s face.
She was different now.
Maybe Cadence was right.
Maybe everyone had changed.
Lucas hopped up into his truck and led the way out of the parking lot. This close to home, he didn’t need the map function on his phone. His animal pointed him in the right direction. In the rearview mirror, he caught a peek of black smoke dumping out the back of Jenna’s truck, which meant she, or her mate, had deleted it. Probably a mate. Women didn’t do stuff like deleting trucks. Right?
Oh hell, it was Damon’s Mountains. Women did whatever they wanted.
But what if it was a mate?
Wait, he didn’t care at all. Jenna could have fourteen boyfriends and it didn’t mean a hill of beans to him. He wasn’t here to ask questions about women or become interested in old friends. Friends. Was Jenna a friend? He hadn’t hung out in the same circle as her. Sure, the Ashe Crew and Gray Backs and Boarlanders had all gotten together for big events and on holidays and stuff, but there had been some separation between the Crews, and honestly, he hadn’t really noticed Jenna much before now. She was the youngest daughter of Kellen and Skyler Brown. He didn’t even remember what her falcon looked like, and racked his brain for any time they had actually been Changed together. He remembered the white streak in the sky last night and figured she had some white feathers, but other than that? She didn’t sit too deeply in his memories.
The clouds opened up, and the promise of an early-morning drizzle turned to rain that drummed on his metal roof. He flipped on the windshield wipers and glanced in the rearview again. He kinda wished he had her number so he could talk to her on their drive in.
As the main road through town turned to a winding mountain road, he relaxed back into his seat and huffed a sigh. He’d been working in cities for months now, and there was something so relaxing about being in the middle of nowhere. The greenery here was a deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding trapped in his lungs.
The only other car on the road right now was Jenna’s behind him, and the occasional logger making their way to a lumberyard. He’d almost, almost forgotten how beautiful it was out here. It was ferns and towering trees and winding roads and mossy rocks, and places to Change that didn’t require planning and foresight. Here, he could just pull off to the side of the road, hike a few yards in, and disappear from his human skin. No consequences.
That was one of the things he realized he had taken for granted. Even if someone saw him Change here, they wouldn’t freak out. Damon’s Mountains were full of shifters.
This was a safe haven.
He didn’t know how many times he checked the rearview in those couple of hours of winding mountain drive, but it was a substantial amount. Too much, definitely.
It was okay though, because his windows were heavily tinted and Jenna wouldn’t see his attention. He wouldn’t see her anymore for a while after today.
He turned on a gravel road that he’d driven a thousand times, and something inside of his chest filled up as he scanned the trees he had memorized like the back of his hand. He could drive this winding road up the mountain with his eyes closed. He exhaled as he passed under the Boarland Mobile Park sign. Someone had put up a new layer of brown paint on it. Behind him, Jenna had crept her truck closer to his tailgate. Maybe she was making double-sure he didn’t turn off and head back to the main road, or maybe she was excited about seeing the park. If she was close to his mom, it would mean she’d spent time here, not just with her Ashe Crew.
