Page 35 of Loan Wolf (Green Valley Shifters: Generations #1)

35

CLARA

S he was his mate . Relief and happiness made Clara feel euphoric. What she’d hoped and wished for actually was.

And she couldn’t disbelieve Gabe. He was always straight with her when no one else was.

Almost always.

“When you found me at Eagle Lake, you weren’t skinny dipping, were you!”

Gabe sheepishly shook his head, using one finger to put a lock of wet hair behind her ear. “I did use the tracking app, but I shifted out of my clothes in an ill-considered attempt to catch you before you got to the curves. Nudity is a common shifting hazard.”

“Not in Virtue,” Clara said thoughtfully. It was hard not to play with the wet hair on his chest, so Clara didn’t bother stopping herself. “Gabe…”

“You have to do what’s right for you,” he said firmly. “If you want to go to New York, I’ll come with you. I’m not too proud to be your groupie. Though I’ll warn you that I should not ever attend your rehearsals, because I just about got up and decked Madame Fucking Twiller and I never want to see anyone treat you like that again.”

“She’s a very good teacher,” Clara protested. “And I’m a professional.”

“I’m your mate, and I’m not ever going to be okay with people being mean to you.”

Clara’s loyalty felt strained. “She’s not…well, she is kind of mean. But I truly appreciate all of her help and training. I’m a better dancer because of her.”

“I’ll be nice to her if you tell me to,” Gabe said grudgingly. “But I’ll never like her.”

“You won’t have to,” Clara said, as everything settled in her head. “I’m moving to Green Valley and setting up a dance studio here. Linda’s been hinting that she’d like to have someone help with the theatre choreography next summer, and I could teach a few classes in the winter.”

“Are you sure?” Gabe asked, and Clara thought she’d never seen him look so vulnerable and hopeful.

“I love you,” Clara said, and the words fell from her lips so easily that she wondered why it felt so hard before. “I love you,” she repeated, reveling in the taste of it.

“I love you,” Gabe said gruffly, and he managed to find another lock of hair to tuck behind her ear. Then he leaned down and kissed her again, until they were both breathless. “What are you going to do now?”

“The first thing I’m going to do is take a shower,” Clara said. “I don’t even want to put my clothes on.” She was slimy with pond scum and felt itchy and grossed out at the idea of the organisms that were probably swarming over her skin at that very moment.

To her surprise, Gabe started to take his pants off. “Those aren’t any better,” Clara said, confused. “And they won’t fit me.”

“I’m not driving home in soaking wet pants. Let’s take a nude trip back into town and scandalize anyone we see.”

To Clara’s relief, they didn’t see anyone on their way to Gabe’s, and they snuck into his back door without being spotted. She used Gabe’s phone to text her mother and let her know that she was okay.

The shower was a laughing, kissing affair that ended up with sex on the living room floor and a second, more utilitarian shower.

“Those angels saw things they can’t unsee,” Clara said, when she was finally dressed again. She glanced at the clock. She was starving.

Gabe opened the fridge as if he’d guessed. “You want a sandwich? I’ve got to feed all the parasites I contracted in Mueller’s Pond.”

Clara shuddered. “That’s very appetizing. But yes, a sandwich sounds great. Ham, if you’ve got it.”

“Turkey,” Gabe countered. “It’s cheaper.”

He made them heaped sandwiches and they ate in silence as Clara mulled over the new shape of her life.

“What are you going to do next?” Gabe finally asked.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to be the guest performer at the local theatre, and it’s going to be the best show of my life. I need to talk to the sound and lighting crew this afternoon.”

“You going to make it a grand finale?” Gabe said, as if he suspected what Clara was thinking.

Clara smiled slowly. “Promise you’ll come see it?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for all the money in the world. What are you doing tonight?”

“I told my mom not to expect me,” Clara said. “I figured I’d be busy.”

“Busy, you say?”

“Scandalizing angels, perhaps.”