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Then he’s there, looking up at the werecreature as he frowns down at him. Sascha really should have brought clothes because he can’t explain a word in this form. Instead, Sascha purrs and rubs his cheek across Avery’s thigh, pressing his scent into the dirty jeans.

Avery blinks, then looks at his phone and sighs. “You’re gonna make me miss dinner. Lead the way.”

I’ll buy you dinner, Sascha tries to communicate telepathically. It doesn’t work, so he winds around the back of Avery’s calves, body leaning into him, then proceeds to guidehim toward his car. Avery is quiet most of the way, only acknowledging him with long, silent stares.

They make it to the fence without incident, enrobed in the gauzy darkness of creeping night. Still not star-studded pitch black, but soon. It might be, by the time Sascha figures out how to get past the gate.

The bottom rung is too low for him to walk beneath; he’d have to get on his belly and creep, which is not a dignified look. Less dignified would be the alternative: Shifting to biped and climbing over as he did before, this time with an audience. Sascha glances at Avery, not wanting to takeeitheroption. He doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of Avery, whether that be by scrambling in the dirt or scaling a fence with his bits out.

A small smile tugs at the corner of Avery’s mouth. He strides forward, takes the padlocked chain in his hand, and simply unclips it. His smile grows wider when Sascha realizes the lock wasn’t actually engaged. Whatever expression he’s wearing must be hilarious on the face of a cougar, because Avery laughs before pushing the gate open enough for Sascha to walk through.

CHAPTER

FIVE

Avery

The cougar is cute. Like,reallycute. Cuter still is that the cougar is Sascha, who Avery swore he’d never see again…

Yet here they are.

Sascha veers to rub against Avery’s legs as he saunters through the open gate, heading toward a gravel-covered lot with a single car parked within. Avery latches the gate before following him, stopping to watch Sascha scratch at the wheel well. A soft sound of feline frustration leaves him when whatever he’s doing produces no visible results.

“Do you, um, need help?” Avery isn’t sure about proper etiquette for interacting with shifters in their animal forms. He’s never had a good, or even neutral, interaction with one before.

One of Sascha’s ears twitches, then he pauses to consider Avery. His eyes are so pretty—dilated pupils sitting in blue irises that melt into gold, like sunlight on a lakeshore. Avery gets lost trying to remember the color of Sascha’s eyes in biped form, but then the space around Sascha ripples, distorting the view behind him. Avery blinks twice—first atSascha’s disappearance, then at his reappearance, tall and pale and very, very naked.

Avery steps back, alarmed and preparing to cover his eyes, but it occurs to him that Sascha had been prepared to fuck him in that hotel room. Had Avery not fallen asleep, he’d have seen a lot more. Sascha doesn’t make any attempt to hide himself, so Avery doesn’t look away.

Damn, he’s sexy. Toned but not ripped, with a masculine jaw and a strong, dimpled chin. There’s a trail down from his navel that’s only a few shades darker than his upswept blond hair.

And, god, his eyes are the same bright blue, limned in gold.

Sascha should be on the cover of a magazine—where he can’t look back at Avery while he gawks, as Sascha is doing now.

Lips curving into a teasing smile, Sascha reaches under the wheel well and withdraws a backpack. He removes a bundle of clothing, at which point Averydoeslook away, because watching someone dress feels too intimate. After his usual one-night stands, Avery would put himself together in the bathroom, leaving his date to tend their own business.

Not that it matters. Falling asleep on Sascha’s chest, still fully clothed, is the most intimate thing Avery has done in years.

“Sorry for crashing your party,” Sascha says once he’s dressed.

“You didn’t. Food here sucks.”

Sascha laughs and scratches the back of his head. “I could get you something better.”

Raising his eyebrows, Avery can’t help but ask, “You’d risk someone you know seeing you buy food for a werecreature?”

The laugh melts into a frown. “There’s always drive-thru.”

Now Avery can’t help his own laugh, one that grows intoa grin at Sascha’s surprised expression. “Isn’t the closest fast-food restaurant, like, two cities over?”

“I have a car,” Sascha says, gesturing to it.

“I can see that.”

“Get in, then.”

Avery allows himself approximately three seconds of hesitation. He should think about this before jumping into a stranger’s car. It could be a set-up. Could be a trick.