stare, but they didn’t respond. So what the hell did they want? Shoving aside the issue for now, he hopped inside the car.
Noticing Derren in the side mirror making his way from the motor home to his SUV, Shaya asked, “Did he sleep there last night?”
Pulling out onto the road, Nick nodded. “I told him he could use the comfort of my home to get a good night’s rest if he promised to go back to California this morning.”
“You know he won’t go, don’t you?”
Nick sighed. “Derren does what Derren wants to do. He’s always been like that.”
“He doesn’t like me.” She cringed at how petulant she sounded.
“He can’t make that assessment—he doesn’t know you.”
“Neither do you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby. I know that you love dancing, drink mainly cocktails, have more stilettos than is reasonable, you don’t like mushrooms or anchovies, and you enjoy listening to music and sketching clothes.”
Startled, words failed her. He’d always ignored her, sometimes even looked right through her, so how could he know anything? “But…but how? You asked Taryn?”
“I told you the first night I came here that I’d missed watching you. I might not have spoken to you whenever I went to Phoenix Pack territory, but I was always paying attention to every single thing you did.”
And that got to her, soothed her wolf’s damaged ego. He was supposed to be an ass so she could continue rejecting him.
“I know you thought I didn’t give a shit.” He briefly massaged her nape. “That’s my fault. Derren used to poke fun at me for how much and how hard I watched you.”
Shaya tried to hold back from asking, but the matter had been playing on her mind since Derren had mentioned it. “He said he owes you his life. Is that true?”
“He owes me nothing. Maybe when he finds his mate, he’ll finally stop following me around.” Derren deserved that kind of happiness, but Nick wasn’t sure if his friend would even recognize his mate while his loyalty was so completely and unnecessarily devoted to Nick.
Part of the reason that Derren was so grateful to him for being alive was that he had been completely determined to track down and kill the person responsible for him being locked up—it had been the only thing keeping Derren going while he was in juvie. Having heard his story, Nick had been able to understand why. That was why he had helped Derren track the bastard down—a bastard who was now very much dead. The problem was that it had made Derren feel even further indebted to Nick. Dumb asshole.
She should leave it alone, Shaya knew. She should act disinterested. But as she was way too curious for that, she lasted only a few minutes before blurting out, “How did you save his life? In a pack war or something?”
Nick inhaled deeply, hesitating to speak. He really didn’t want to tell her about his past, but he was already keeping so much from her. Telling her at least some things would be fair. Plus, being tight-lipped would lessen his chances of her letting him in. “When we were in juvie—”
“You were in juvie?” Shaya practically squeaked.
“—a group of human guards cornered him and were torturing him with electrical rods and Taser guns while at the same time beating the shit out of him. It looked like they intended to rape him too before finishing him off. That kind of thing happened a lot. Many shifters die in juvie. I intervened and stopped Derren from being one of those very unlucky shifters.”
It took at least two minutes for her to recover from the surprise of his admission. It hadn’t just been what he’d said, it had also been the way he’d said it—emotionless, flat. But she knew better than to think that Nick was aloof about it all. She’d quickly come to understand that the more enraged Nick was, the more toneless his voice became. After giving him a few minutes to calm down, she finally asked, “How did you end up in juvie? What happened?”
Noticing Derren in the side mirror making his way from the motor home to his SUV, Shaya asked, “Did he sleep there last night?”
Pulling out onto the road, Nick nodded. “I told him he could use the comfort of my home to get a good night’s rest if he promised to go back to California this morning.”
“You know he won’t go, don’t you?”
Nick sighed. “Derren does what Derren wants to do. He’s always been like that.”
“He doesn’t like me.” She cringed at how petulant she sounded.
“He can’t make that assessment—he doesn’t know you.”
“Neither do you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby. I know that you love dancing, drink mainly cocktails, have more stilettos than is reasonable, you don’t like mushrooms or anchovies, and you enjoy listening to music and sketching clothes.”
Startled, words failed her. He’d always ignored her, sometimes even looked right through her, so how could he know anything? “But…but how? You asked Taryn?”
“I told you the first night I came here that I’d missed watching you. I might not have spoken to you whenever I went to Phoenix Pack territory, but I was always paying attention to every single thing you did.”
And that got to her, soothed her wolf’s damaged ego. He was supposed to be an ass so she could continue rejecting him.
“I know you thought I didn’t give a shit.” He briefly massaged her nape. “That’s my fault. Derren used to poke fun at me for how much and how hard I watched you.”
Shaya tried to hold back from asking, but the matter had been playing on her mind since Derren had mentioned it. “He said he owes you his life. Is that true?”
“He owes me nothing. Maybe when he finds his mate, he’ll finally stop following me around.” Derren deserved that kind of happiness, but Nick wasn’t sure if his friend would even recognize his mate while his loyalty was so completely and unnecessarily devoted to Nick.
Part of the reason that Derren was so grateful to him for being alive was that he had been completely determined to track down and kill the person responsible for him being locked up—it had been the only thing keeping Derren going while he was in juvie. Having heard his story, Nick had been able to understand why. That was why he had helped Derren track the bastard down—a bastard who was now very much dead. The problem was that it had made Derren feel even further indebted to Nick. Dumb asshole.
She should leave it alone, Shaya knew. She should act disinterested. But as she was way too curious for that, she lasted only a few minutes before blurting out, “How did you save his life? In a pack war or something?”
Nick inhaled deeply, hesitating to speak. He really didn’t want to tell her about his past, but he was already keeping so much from her. Telling her at least some things would be fair. Plus, being tight-lipped would lessen his chances of her letting him in. “When we were in juvie—”
“You were in juvie?” Shaya practically squeaked.
“—a group of human guards cornered him and were torturing him with electrical rods and Taser guns while at the same time beating the shit out of him. It looked like they intended to rape him too before finishing him off. That kind of thing happened a lot. Many shifters die in juvie. I intervened and stopped Derren from being one of those very unlucky shifters.”
It took at least two minutes for her to recover from the surprise of his admission. It hadn’t just been what he’d said, it had also been the way he’d said it—emotionless, flat. But she knew better than to think that Nick was aloof about it all. She’d quickly come to understand that the more enraged Nick was, the more toneless his voice became. After giving him a few minutes to calm down, she finally asked, “How did you end up in juvie? What happened?”
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