him
withdraw even more from the typical college experience.
Ricky had been living in a dorm on campus
when Cali and Jordan had first been assigned to protect him, but the situation
had quickly deteriorated when Ricky's computer-geek roommate had discovered
girls and booze. The stupid kid had lost his scholarship soon after, and the
guy who'd replaced him as Ricky's roommate had been even worse—a spoiled,
self-centered asshole who'd simply been wasting his parent's money instead of
getting an education. Endless partying, drunken visitors,
derogatory comments, and the constant "sharing" of everything that
belonged to Ricky—from food to computers to…ugh…underwear—had made the
situation beyond stressful.
Thankfully, Trent—Ricky's dad's mate—had
managed to purchase the brownstone terrace home soon after and had come up with
a plausible-enough excuse for why his stepson should live there alone. It had
made guarding Ricky much easier, but it had also made it harder to watch his
mate become more and more lonely.
"Perhaps Cali should move in with
you," Jordan suggested, hoping only to alleviate his mate's feeling of
isolation. He knew what he really wanted, but Ricky was just a kid so that
wasn't going to happen. And okay, twenty-one wasn't exactly young for a human,
but that didn't change what Ricky needed and it didn't make Jordan any more
deserving.
After everything he'd done in the past
one-hundred-and-sixty years he sure as fuck hadn't earned a mate as sweet as
Ricky.
"I think I like that idea," Cali
said with a wide smile. "Guarding you at night from inside the house has
to be a whole lot easier."
Ricky glanced between Cali and Jordan and
back again before settling on Cali. "Where have you been guarding me
from?"
Cali was a smart pup, so there was no way she
misunderstood the expression on Jordan's face. "Not important," she
said flippantly, at least agreeing with him on this point. Ricky didn't need to
know that at least one of them had been hidden in his yard whenever he was
home. They had an apartment not far from here, but since they were never there
at the same time it was almost like living alone.
Jordan was actually grateful for the
"alone time" of not being constantly surrounded by members of the
Lupinville pack. It had given him a chance to really go over the decisions and
choices he'd made over the years. Unfortunately the down side to that sort of
self-reflection had been to realize just how awful a person he truly was. Too
often he'd followed his wolf's instincts instead of his human ones, and as
intelligent as he'd once thought himself to be, it hadn't stopped him from
being manipulated into making the wrong choices by people with less than honest
intentions.
Jordan never had and never would deserve a
mate like Ricky.
But in the past couple of years he'd also
watched Cali grow more and more isolated as well. She'd gone from being a
popular young woman and an alpha who had protected all
of the werewolf students at Lupinville high, to a "murder" victim,
and now to an undercover protector for a young man who was just as lonely. The
very least Jordan could do would be to encourage the
two of them to spend time together.
"It would make protecting you a whole
lot simpler," Jordan said, finally agreeing with Cali. "And I think
it would be better for both of you to have company your own age."
Yeah, that kind of made him sound like he
was ancient, but considering that Cali was only nineteen and Ricky barely
twenty- one, Jordan kind of was in human terms. He'd
seen way more of the world than both of them put together. Cali likely
remembered some of the terror—she'd been fifteen when Noah had taken over the Lupinville
pack—but hopefully neither of these young people would ever know what it was
like to live in constant fear under the iron-fisted rule of an arrogant and
dangerous alpha.
"What about you?" Ricky asked
curiously.
"Me?" Jordan managed to squeak
past a throat suddenly tight with
withdraw even more from the typical college experience.
Ricky had been living in a dorm on campus
when Cali and Jordan had first been assigned to protect him, but the situation
had quickly deteriorated when Ricky's computer-geek roommate had discovered
girls and booze. The stupid kid had lost his scholarship soon after, and the
guy who'd replaced him as Ricky's roommate had been even worse—a spoiled,
self-centered asshole who'd simply been wasting his parent's money instead of
getting an education. Endless partying, drunken visitors,
derogatory comments, and the constant "sharing" of everything that
belonged to Ricky—from food to computers to…ugh…underwear—had made the
situation beyond stressful.
Thankfully, Trent—Ricky's dad's mate—had
managed to purchase the brownstone terrace home soon after and had come up with
a plausible-enough excuse for why his stepson should live there alone. It had
made guarding Ricky much easier, but it had also made it harder to watch his
mate become more and more lonely.
"Perhaps Cali should move in with
you," Jordan suggested, hoping only to alleviate his mate's feeling of
isolation. He knew what he really wanted, but Ricky was just a kid so that
wasn't going to happen. And okay, twenty-one wasn't exactly young for a human,
but that didn't change what Ricky needed and it didn't make Jordan any more
deserving.
After everything he'd done in the past
one-hundred-and-sixty years he sure as fuck hadn't earned a mate as sweet as
Ricky.
"I think I like that idea," Cali
said with a wide smile. "Guarding you at night from inside the house has
to be a whole lot easier."
Ricky glanced between Cali and Jordan and
back again before settling on Cali. "Where have you been guarding me
from?"
Cali was a smart pup, so there was no way she
misunderstood the expression on Jordan's face. "Not important," she
said flippantly, at least agreeing with him on this point. Ricky didn't need to
know that at least one of them had been hidden in his yard whenever he was
home. They had an apartment not far from here, but since they were never there
at the same time it was almost like living alone.
Jordan was actually grateful for the
"alone time" of not being constantly surrounded by members of the
Lupinville pack. It had given him a chance to really go over the decisions and
choices he'd made over the years. Unfortunately the down side to that sort of
self-reflection had been to realize just how awful a person he truly was. Too
often he'd followed his wolf's instincts instead of his human ones, and as
intelligent as he'd once thought himself to be, it hadn't stopped him from
being manipulated into making the wrong choices by people with less than honest
intentions.
Jordan never had and never would deserve a
mate like Ricky.
But in the past couple of years he'd also
watched Cali grow more and more isolated as well. She'd gone from being a
popular young woman and an alpha who had protected all
of the werewolf students at Lupinville high, to a "murder" victim,
and now to an undercover protector for a young man who was just as lonely. The
very least Jordan could do would be to encourage the
two of them to spend time together.
"It would make protecting you a whole
lot simpler," Jordan said, finally agreeing with Cali. "And I think
it would be better for both of you to have company your own age."
Yeah, that kind of made him sound like he
was ancient, but considering that Cali was only nineteen and Ricky barely
twenty- one, Jordan kind of was in human terms. He'd
seen way more of the world than both of them put together. Cali likely
remembered some of the terror—she'd been fifteen when Noah had taken over the Lupinville
pack—but hopefully neither of these young people would ever know what it was
like to live in constant fear under the iron-fisted rule of an arrogant and
dangerous alpha.
"What about you?" Ricky asked
curiously.
"Me?" Jordan managed to squeak
past a throat suddenly tight with
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