Page 23 of Quarterback Sneak

“We’re dating, and I’m telling you that you’d better stay far, far away from her.”

I take a step towards him. “You afraid of a little competition?”

He smirks. “From a brute like you? Not at all. You’re not Evie’s type.”

His words reverberate through me, but I refuse to let them land. I don’t know what’s all at play here, so I choose my words very carefully. I don’t know if he knows I’m a wolf, or if he knows Evie is my mate. I’m not going to give him either of those pieces of information, but I’m also not going to stand back while he threatens my mate. “You’d better watch yourself, Witman,” I sayin a low controlled voice. I did my research to figure out who he was while I was sitting inside the shop, after he kissed my girl. I didn’t get much, but I did get his full name. I give him a hard glare, so he knows I’m serious. “I don’t stand by and watch innocent girls get hurt, no matter who they are.”

He scoffs. “Are you threatening me?”

“No. A threat is an empty warning. Nothing about what I just said is a threat.” I let my words sink in.

Suddenly, his lips turn up into a grin. “Can’t say it hasn’t been fun, Blackwood.” He turns and walks away, whistling as he goes.

I stare after him, keeping a tight hold on my wolf. He's not sure why we can’t go chase him down and kill him. At the moment, I’m having a hard time understanding why not as well. Reid turns to me. “You did good. I wanted to kill him, and Evie’s not even my mate.”

“Is there something off about that guy, or is it just me?” Quint asks, still staring in the direction Jace went.

I face Quint. “How so?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know; there’s just something that’s...off. Does he smell weird to you?” he asks suddenly. I take a whiff of his lingering scent again but don’t catch anything. “I think you should have your dad or Coach catch his scent and see if it triggers anything to them.”

It’s a good suggestion. “I’ll talk to my dad about it.”

“When do I get to meet this girl?” Quint asks as we walk.

“Sometime soon, when I’m sure we won’t scare her away.”

Quint grins at me. “Ifyouhaven’t scared her away yet, I’ll be fine.” He sobers. “Will you keep your distance from her now, so that you don’t make things difficult for her?”

“I don’t want to make things difficult for her, but I’m not going to stay away from her either. I don’t trust Jace, and I want to get her away from him. The sooner the better.”

“Then I guess we’d better come up with a plan.” Quint says.

Reid and I both give him a look. “We?” I ask.

“Yeah, we need to come up with ideas for ways for you to spend time with herwithoutletting Jace know,” Quint adds.

“I think I’ve got it on my own,” I tell him.

He gives me a wry look. “Yeah, how’s that going for you?” I don’t bother answering his question. “Seriously, if we work together, one of us can keep Jace occupied so you can spend time with her. He doesn’t have to know.”

I give the idea some thought. “Maybe.”

Quint slaps a hand down on my shoulder. “There is no maybe; you have a mate to win over. We’ll help you do it. We just have to get Slate on board.”

“No,” I interject quickly. “Slate’s the last one we need to help; he’ll scare her away.”

“She’s not Slate’s mate; she’s yours. He won’t scare her away. If anything, maybe he’ll scare Jace away. That would be a great solution to our problem,” Quint says with grin.

“Okay, but just the four of us. No more,” I concede.

“Perfect. I’ll start making a plan, and I want to meet her soon.”

“We’ll find a way; give her time,” I tell him.

“How about now?” Reid asks quietly at the same time her scent hits me. I turn to see Evie and her friend, Tessa, walking towards us. I can tell she hasn’t seen us yet. Tessa’s talking a mile a minute, and Evie is listening and nodding. They get almost all the way to us before Tessa’s voice cuts off unexpectedly, and Evie looks straight ahead to see us standing in their path.

She smiles, and I suck in a breath. “Hi, again.”