The Wolf's Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence by R.E. Butler Read Free Book Online

she could tell Jake that
she didn't know how she would handle Jason and Callie together, if
they really were. She was afraid to ask anyone for confirmation,
because if she was right and they were together, then that meant
everything she'd loved was gone in a blink. She could get through
it, get over him eventually, she hoped. But it would take time.
Lots and lots of time. For now, it felt as though her heart had
been cracked into a million pieces.
    "Look, I'll tell you something I should have
told you a long time ago. You either fight for what you want or you
roll over and take what's given to you. You do have choices. There
is always a choice." Again with the word choice. She nodded at him
and went back to work, very thankful when she had nearly zero
interaction with Jason's wolves although she was very aware of
exactly where he was all the time.
    All night she felt like she was being watched
intently from the direction of Jason’s booth, but every time she
looked that way he wasn’t looking at her and by the end of the
night she was beginning to think she had a serious screw loose.
Chris and Brett appeared to walk her out when Jake decided he’d had
enough of her not being her normal self, whatever that was. The man
couldn't be pleased no matter how she acted. It was before closing
and she was relieved to go. She wouldn't have to think about the
bar again for another week, although she would have to face
everyone at the bonfire.
    "Come on, sweetheart." Chris pulled her
against him, his arm around her shoulder, and walked her out with
Brett on her other side. They talked about the bonfire, and she
said she didn't think she was going to go. "Of course you are."
Chris said. "It's the first one since you're back in town. And plus
you owe me a dance."
    "Chris." She protested, blandly.
    "Nope. I'll even pick you up. How's that
sound?"
    She gave him a narrowed look and he held up
his hands. "I swear it's on the up and up. Come on, I'll bring you
flowers. I even know your favorite."
    "Do you?" She was curious now. A few guys in
college had sent her flowers but no one had ever gotten her
favorite right.
    "Yep." He grinned and wiggled his brows at
her and she felt one of the very tiny cracks in her heart heal a
bit. Chris, was he a choice that Jake had referred to? Chris didn't
like her that way, did he? Why now? Why this time when she'd come
home? Because she was not leaving, although she hadn't decided that
officially, or was it more than that?
    "Okay. But it's not a date."
    He pretended to be insulted. "Of course it's
not a date. I wouldn't take you to something ridiculous like a
community bonfire at my dad's house for our first date. Give me a
little more credit than that, sheesh." He leaned down and gave her
a lingering kiss on the cheek and said, "I'll pick you up at
8."
    Brett gave her a quick kiss and they both
disappeared back in the bar once she was locked in her car. She did
notice when she pulled out of the parking lot that Callie and
Michael were outside, talking quickly, gesturing angrily. Whatever.
    She finished painting her room on Sunday, a
pretty taupe brown color with a little pink in it, that matched the
new comforter and curtains from Bed Bath & Beyond. She had
calculated and bought enough paint to paint the entire inside of
the house and she was determined to do it no matter how long it
took. It was kind of like exorcising her father’s demon from the
house and making it hers. Painting over the eggshell white of the
master bedroom and replacing all the furniture had been the first
part in making the house her own and making it into a real
home.
    Both Michael and Callie called all day, but
it was easier to ignore them than to face a painful truth. She
dressed for the cool night in dark jeans, hiking boots, a white
fitted tank with a dark purple pull over that looked like it had
been splashed with black paint, and her leather jacket.
    When the doorbell rang at 8, Chris was
standing on the front porch with a