With the Boys in the Band by Marie Medina Read Free Book Online

green held Emerson transfixed.
    “You look at me like that all the time lately. Like you’re both happy and sad.”
    “Are you happy today?” Vince asked as he sat up.
    “Yes.”
    “Because of Alicia?”
    He nodded. “Last night was amazing,” he said softly. “You’re the first person I want to tell all about it, but we need to talk first.”
    Vince lowered his eyes. “I haven’t always told you everything. I do have some secrets. And one of them has been … well … an issue lately.” He rubbed a corner of the sheets between his fingers, picking at a loose thread. He seemed to be debating something, but Emerson couldn’t venture a guess.
    “What is it?”
    “You might laugh. Or think I’m crazy. Hell, you might fucking run away, I don’t know.”
    He couldn’t take it any longer, the vague replies and sad declarations. He grabbed Vince by the shoulders and forced him to look up. “There is nothing you cannot tell me.” He tightened his grip. “Nothing that will make me stop loving you.”
    Vince closed his eyes, nodding. “Okay, just don’t jump.” His lips trembled a little as he whispered the words.
    Jump?  What the hell is he talking about? But then he opened his eyes again, and Emerson did jump, his hands dropping to his sides.
    Vince’s eyes had changed color, the green replaced by a dark yellow. The pupils were smaller, and his breath seemed heavier as he stared at Emerson. Vince reached out and grasped his hand. “I’m a werewolf, Em. I found out when I was fourteen. I’ll change completely if I have to.” He gripped his hand more fiercely. “I was the one howling yesterday. I’ve always been the one you heard howling here at night. Other wolves keep their distance and stay on the other side of the lake because they’re afraid of me. They know this is my territory.”
    Emerson’s vision blurred a bit, and he blinked to try to focus. What had he said? He couldn’t mean that. A werewolf? Aside from being impossible, it hardly explained Vince’s emotional state and the changes he’d seen in him the past few years. He pulled his hand away, but Vince lunged forward and grabbed both of his arms.
    “You asked what was wrong. I told you. If you walk away from me now, I will have very little reason to go on living.”
    That last statement pulled Emerson out of the spiral Vince’s revelation had thrown him into. “Don’t say that. I just need some room to breathe here.” He looked at Vince’s face and noted the tension there, the sweat on his brow. “Don’t ever fucking say that. I’m not leaving.” Vince began to shake, yet his grip intensified. “Vince, that hurts!” he exclaimed when pain shot through both of his arms.
    Vince backed off. “I’m sorry.” He moved away to the edge of the bed, dropping his feet to the floor and placing his head in his hands. “I’ve kept this from you for nineteen years. I’ve been alone dealing with this. I could take rejection from anyone but you.”
    Could he believe him? He could think of no other explanation for what he’d just seen happen to Vince’s eyes, but still. It sounded insane. Was Vince losing it? Had stress done this to him? Emerson didn’t understand how he could have missed other signs. He got on his hands and knees and crawled to the side of the bed. He sat beside Vince and put his arm around his shoulders.
    “I’ll never reject you.” He gave him a little shake and took a deep breath. “Go on. Show me.”
    Vince lifted his head. “Are you sure?”
    While he wasn’t sure he was ready to see such a thing, he didn’t want to continue entertaining the idea without proof. “I’m not going to run.” He twisted slightly to look into Vince’s eyes, which were still that strange, dark yellow. “I won’t make any guarantees about the face I might make, but…” He nudged Vince. “I know something’s wrong, and you never keep up a joke this long or this convincingly.”
    Vince gave a slow nod, closing his eyes