Page 52 of Spatially UnawareWolf

I put Luke through the mattress, and it was spectacular. Something about this being our house now took the sex to a whole new level, and we both came twice before we collapsed in a heap. And later, once we’d come out of our post-sex haze and Luke had recovered the power of speech, he traced his fingertips through my chest hair and said, “I’m so fucking hungry. Wanna go to Claude’s for dinner?”

“Sounds good.” Between packing, moving, and fucking our brains out, I’d worked up an appetite as well. I dragged myself out of the semi-doze I’d been enjoying and sat upright, dislodging Luke from where he’d been resting his head.

We got out of bed, showered and dressed, and headed over to the bar, where we ordered a barbecue platter and a couple of beers. I was still in that warm, hazy headspace that came after really excellent sex, and Luke was wearing a fucked-out expression that matched my own. We sat there grinning like a couple of fools, and I sent up a silent thank you to Dylan for accidentally spilling the beans about shifters. If he hadn’t I never would have ended up sitting at Claude’s.

“Who even is Claude?” I wondered out loud.

“What?”

“Claude’s,” I said, gesturing vaguely. “I wonder who he was.”

“You’re kidding, right? There is no Claude.”

“Then why is it called that?”

“Sound it out and think about it, Hunter,” Luke said, grinning.

I did, and when it hit me, I groaned out loud. “Oh my god. That’s terrible.”

“It’s an awesome name for a shifter bar,” Luke said, and he was right. I just couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured it out before.

I glanced up when a tall, lean guy with messy dark hair sat down at the table next to us and draped a battered old leather coat over the back of the chair. He looked vaguely familiar and I wondered idly what he was. He definitely was a shifter of some kind, that much was clear, but I didn’t get a werewolf vibe.

Luke gave him a nod, but before I had a chance to ask how he knew the guy, our platter arrived, and I was distracted by the rich aroma that came drifting off the ribs and the lure of barbecue sauce. My appetite came back with a roar, and all my focus was on the food. And it wasn’t just me. Luke attacked the platter like a starving man, and by the time we were done, there was nothing left but a pile of bare bones and a few subpar fries.

Luke sat back and let out a contented sigh, and I did the same. We both had barbecue sauce on our faces, and if this had been a movie, there might have been some sort of sexy “thumb through a smear of sauce” action, but since this was real life, we just used our napkins and ordered another beer.

The guy next to us had finished his meal and he stood and headed out the door. It was only after he’d gone that I saw he’d left his coat behind. I leaned over to grab it, intending to give it to the guy behind the bar, but Luke’s hand clamped down on my wrist and his voice cut through the air like a knife.

“Don’t touch that!”

I froze, and the door to the bar opened again and the guy came racing back in, his eyes wide. When he saw the coat, he hurried over and grabbed it.

“Hey, Neal,” Luke said. “I figured you’d be back for that.”

“Yeah,” the guy said. His gaze snapped to where Luke was still holding my wrist and his eyes narrowed.

“It’s cool. I was watching out for you,” Luke said and gave him an easy smile.

“Thanks,” Neal said. “That could have been a disaster.” He shrugged into the coat and pulled it tight around himself, despite it being a mild evening. “Anyway, see you round.” And then he was gone.

I waited for Luke to explain what had just happened, but he didn’t offer any explanation, and I’d learned enough by now not to ask. So I said, “Let’s go home.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, “home sounds good.”

And it really, really did.

We walked the couple of blocks to our place, hands tangled together as we listened to the crash of the waves, and when we reached our house, I paused as I unlocked the door. A sense of well-being washed over me as I considered how great life was.

“What is it?” Luke asked.

I opened the door and drew him inside, kissing him softly before saying, “I’m the luckiest guy in Hyde.”

Luke cupped my face and kissed me back, and when he lifted his head, he said, “That makes two of us.”

And then he took my hand and led me up the stairs, and nobody tripped.