Prickly Business by Piper Vaughn & Kenzie Cade Page A

remember? He said the way I behaved saved him the trouble of worrying how he’d let his mate down easy.” Avery sighed. “Besides, that loan was his wolf trying to protect me. Not him.”
    “Uh-huh. I think you’ll find the wolf isn’t that easily separated from the man.”
    Avery ignored the knowing glint in Jaden’s eye and the way his words echoed what Dylan had said. “Whatever. Why don’t we talk about Broderick instead?”
    Jaden’s smile dimmed. “He won’t touch me.”
    “I’m sorry, man.” And Avery was. He knew what it felt like to be rejected.
    “Yeah, but it’s okay. At least he’s not my mate.”
    Avery cringed, and Jaden appeared horrified by what he’d said. His hand flew up to cover his mouth.
    “Oh God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
    Avery shook his head. As much as it hurt, he couldn’t argue. He wouldn’t wish the agony of being denied by a mate on anyone, especially not his best friend. His mind flashed to that moment on the motorcycle when Dylan had pulled his hand away. Even the memory brought him pain. “Come on,” he said roughly as he got to his feet. “Let’s go see your father.”
     
     
    T WO HOURS later, he had a job. One worry off the list. Alpha Odell was a reasonable man, and as Jaden and Dylan had said, he knew of several positions that needed filling within the pack. None of them related to Avery’s degree in any way, but he didn’t have the luxury of being particular. When Alpha Odell offered him a job as a driver, delivering food to the elderly and homebound pack members, as well as taking them to and from appointments as needed, Avery jumped at the chance.
    It wasn’t prestigious. It wasn’t fancy. And it would never, ever cover his rent. But it paid more than minimum wage, and it sure as hell beat fast food. For now, he’d take what he could get.
     
     
    “W HAT EXACTLY is it?” Dylan crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at the chopper—at least he assumed it was a bike.
    “The guy said he needed a tune-up.” Kirk muffled his response around gasping chortles.
    “How the fuck are you supposed to tune something like this?” Lucas mumbled from where he crouched on the other side of the green-and-yellow beast.
    “With imagination.” Sawyer was the only one of them remotely serious about the task at hand.
    “Imagination,” Lucas scoffed. “I imagine it looks like a fucking John Deere.”
    He wasn’t wrong. The guy who had dropped his baby off a half hour ago was a newbie to town—had to be. And he said he’d heard Green’s specialized in custom bikes and would only have his wheels cared for by the best. The body of the beast was an interwoven mesh of bright green alloy, overlaying the black encasement of the gas tank. Handlebars sprouted out of the web of green and resembled vines, as did the fork. The wheels—Dylan shook his head—in the color of sunshine yellow, the wheels made it farm equipment chic. It was… different to say the least.
    “Well, don’t break anything with your imagination. I don’t plan on buying that wreck.” Dylan leaned against the wall and watched Sawyer and Kirk study the mass of metal. It looked like it belonged in Gotham City—Batman flying down the streets in the Batmobile behind this thing, chasing Poison Ivy.
    It was a total villain getaway bike. And he was pretty sure it cut corn too.
    Dylan smiled to himself as he looked out the window. A nice day—cloudy, but then again Dylan liked the clouds. If it wasn’t raining, you could bet it would be in an hour or so. P-town was a wet city.
    A thought crossed his mind and he suddenly wondered how Avery dealt with the climate. Was it ever too hot for him? Too cold? As a hedgehog, Dylan knew, Avery didn’t deal with extreme temperatures very well. Dylan didn’t consider temperatures in the fifties or sixties extreme, but did Avery? He scrubbed a hand over his head then dragged it down his face. Thoughts of Avery came more often since the trip