Page 67 of Tracking Wolfe

I smiled. “Uh-huh.”

“Shut up.” He poked the center of my chest. “You had the issue first. And worse. So.”

I grabbed his poking finger and pulled it up to press a kiss on the tip before pulling it into my mouth to suck. Wolfe’s eyes darkened, and he let out a murmured curse.

When I’d finally had enough, I pulled his finger out and leaned in to kiss his mouth. The noise of surrender he made when I moved my weight on top of him was the only invitation I needed to deepen the kiss.

We made out like that for several minutes until I pulled away and met his eyes again. They were glassy and fucked out, way too loopy to have any more concerns about our age difference or anything else.

“Will you let me stay here with you tonight?” I asked softly, not wanting to send him retreating into insecurity again. “I want to hold you while we sleep. Then I want to make you breakfast and spend the day with you.”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

I shrugged. “You did say we needed to go over family business, so…”

“Ugh.” Wolfe’s eyes closed, obviously remembering the white lie he’d told Jake. “Sorry I used you as an excuse. I just⁠—”

“Hey.” I shifted some of my weight off him but kept running my fingers through his dark hair. “I’ve told you before, you can use me as an excuse anytime.”

He laughed, and it made something warm settle inside of me. “You said that back when I needed an excuse not to go out drinking with my friends in middle school, Trace. Not quite the same thing.”

“Eh. I was kind of hoping it wasn’t an excuse to avoid Jake so much as an excuse to spend the day with me. Maybe we could find a nice trail and pack a sandwich?”

I wanted time alone with him. Time to talk. To gently prod him about my Fletcher Coe suspicions. To see if he was ready to trust me with the truth.

“That’s perfect. There are a bunch of good trails around here,” Wolfe volunteered excitedly. “I read on the internet to avoid the actual Tater Heap trail. Loose shale and stuff. We can try Cold Pass Creek or Nickel Bend. Depends if you want flat or hilly.”

“Whatever you pick, baby. I’m just happy to spend time with you. It’s been too long.”

My casual words landed heavily, reminding us both of the obvious reason we hadn’t spent time together recently. Of our unknown future. Of the Derek-and-Jude-shaped elephant in the room.

We needed to discuss all of that. And we would.

Before Wolfe could retreat into himself, I pressed a long, lingering kiss to his lips. “Let’s get some sleep, and we can start out early. Sound good?”

He smiled up at me, happy and bright. “G’night, Trace.”

My chest felt like it housed one large, stupid, possibly drunk butterfly. I kissed him again and followed it up with another press of my lips to his cheek, jaw, and neck. “Night, sweetheart.”

I nestled against him and took a deep breath.

All I could smell was him. The remnants of our sex. The clean scent of his deodorant. The still-present campfire smoke.

All I could feel was him. The damp warmth of his breath against my forehead. The prickly scratch of his leg hair against mine. The circle of his fingers and thumb around my wrist on his chest.

And all I could think about was him. The endearing way he retreated into running his mouth when he was nervous. The sweet way he surrendered to me in bed with breathy pleas. The incredible talent he shared with the world every time he crafted a new melody.

The heart-clenching loneliness he had to be feeling, carrying such a heavy secret.

When I finally fell asleep, it was to my own desperate thoughts of how to make things work between us. How to tell Derek and Jude that Wolfe Marian was meant to be mine. That my loving him wasn’t a sign of my disrespect to our friendship or the years of support the Marians had given me. It was simply… how things were.

I couldn’t pinpoint when, over the last six years, it had happened, but I’d fallen for their son.

Completely and totally.

To the point where I was ready to risk the most important relationships—well, the second-most important, now—in my life to keep Wolfe with me and love him the way he deserved.

Waking up in Wolfe’s arms hours later to the sleep-soft sound of his gentle breathing told me the risk was worth it.