The Better to Bite (Howl #1)(19)

You should’ve come with us.

“I’m really glad you came to the game,” Brent said, and my gaze darted to his hands as they gripped the steering wheel. Strong hands, tanned. “Even though I got the impression that football wasn’t your sport.”

I laughed at that. “I don’t actually have a sport.” Thank goodness.

“Give football a chance,” he told me. “You might be surprised by how much you like something new.” We were on the main road now. I’d looked up his address online so I knew where he lived. We’d have to slip away from this road soon and snake through the woods as we headed up the mountain.

“You were good,” I said when I realized the silence in the truck had stretched a bit too long. “Like…really good.” Almost steroid good, but a girl wasn’t supposed to say that on a first date, right?

I saw the white flash of his teeth as he grinned. “Thanks.”

“Is it always a slaughter like that?” Perhaps slaughter wasn’t the best word, but it was the only thing that sprang to mind.

He shrugged and steered the truck to the left, toward the darker woods and the twisting roads that waited. “Lately it is.”

And why is that? “You’re not on steroids, are you?” Oh, crap. The blurting again. I’d really meant to hold that question back until at least the second date.

But, to my immense relief, Brent just laughed. “Nah, I’m drug free, trust me.”

“Good to know.” Now Dad wouldn’t have to bust the football team. Maybe.

His right hand reached out and caught my hand. His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “I like you, Anna.” His deep voice filled the car. A hint of the South flavored his words, rolling them just a little. “You say what you think, don’t you? No holding back with you.”

Usually people were turned off by that habit, but Brent didn’t seem to be pulling away. “Maybe I should hold back more.”

He spared me a brief glance. “Maybe you should let go more.”

I swallowed and wondered why things suddenly felt so intense. “Wh-what—” I’d just stuttered. So not me. I cleared my throat and tried again. “What happened with you and Valerie? One day you’re the lead VIP couple on campus, and the next you’re not?”

His hand pulled away from mine. I could so kill a mood when I wanted. It was a talent.

“It wasn’t quite that sudden. We’d both been changing for a while.”

From the stilted tone, I got that he didn’t want to keep talking about his ex or their changes. Fine. I could understand that. It wasn’t like I wanted to dish on Valerie for hours, either.

New topic. “So do you often have parties at your house? I mean, parties that start when you aren’t even there?”

The truck took a sharp left curve, then a right. My ears were popping a bit as we drove higher up the mountain. I swallowed again to ease the pressure.

His low laugh came as I’d hoped, and I was happy to hear that sound. He had a good laugh. “During football season, yeah, I do. My place is the un-official hangout.”

“And your parents don’t mind?” I shook my head. “My dad would flip.”

“That’s because he’s the sheriff.” Because I was staring at his hands—again—I saw the way they tightened around the steering wheel. “My parents aren’t in town for most of the fall or winter, so it’s no big deal to them where I go or what I do.”

His words made me sad because I could hear the echo of pain in his voice.

“They’re divorced,” he said into the silence. “My dad moved away two years ago, and my mom likes to travel with whatever flavor of the week she’s dating.”

I knew Brent had money—a lot of it. When I’d been on the Internet—I couldn’t help it, I did like to snoop—I'd found some info on his parents. His mom was an ex-actress-slash-model, and his dad had been a guy with old money. Put the two together and what do you get? Parents who didn’t seem to care much for their son.

“My mom split on us last year,” I confessed to him and my hands fisted in my lap. No, if you’re telling the story, tell it all. “She left, I’d hoped she’d come back but—”

He glanced at me. “But what?”

“But then she died.” Was murdered. “She was killed in Chicago.”

“I’m sorry, Anna.” He sounded it.

When had this become about me? “Don’t worry about it, I mean—I just…you’re not the only one who knows what it’s like when a parent leaves, okay?” Only in my case, she’d left forever. “You’re not alone.”

His eyes glittered at me. “No, I’m not.”

That stare of his seemed to see too much. I looked away, darting a fast glance toward the windshield and—“Brent, watch out!”

The truck swerved as his hands jerked the wheel.

I stared with wide eyes as a wolf—a big, dark wolf—raced right toward us. The headlights made the beast’s eyes seem to glow yellow and its jaws hung open, all of its sharp teeth bursting from its mouth.

Oh, crap, it was gonna hit us.

“Brent!” I screamed again.

He yanked the wheel to the left, too hard. I knew it, I knew—the truck wouldn't come out of the swerve this time. Instead, it spun, once, twice, and the world disappeared in a fast blur as we tumbled, sliding over the edge of the road and rolling down the mountain slope into the woods. Pine trees slammed into the truck. The glass shattered in the windshield and rained onto me. I couldn’t scream anymore, my breath was gone.