Page 25 of Reject Me Baby One More Time (Shifter Grove Rogue Wolves #4)

“A re you sure you're up to this?” I asked for the hundredth time. “Nobody will be upset if you can't make it to the party. It's just Christmas, it happens every year.”

“I’m fine,” Liam assured me, also for the hundredth time. “I’ve been fine for quite a while thanks to you.”

He smiled, but I could still see the weariness in his expression. Ever since the showdown with his father, Liam had been tired and a little under the weather. He was getting better, that I was sure of. But I was still worried that going to the party was too much too soon. However, he’d insisted that he wanted to go and no matter how much I tried to talk him out of it, he wouldn’t agree. For some reason, going to this party was very important to him. Sam was getting in the habit of throwing holiday parties all the time, so I wasn’t sure why he was so set on going. But I followed his wishes, nonetheless. If I couldn’t get him to stay in my room and rest, at least I could be there to catch him if he got overwhelmed.

I was still a bit shaken from the entire encounter as well. I thought I was going to lose Liam in more ways than one. He told me afterward about how he almost gave into his feral side to protect me. While I was flattered, I was also furious. What followed was a long talk, a lot of questions, and a fair amount of dick sucking. Surprisingly, the sex seemed to help ground him back into his human form the most and I was more than happy to provide it. I would’ve done anything for him, pleasant or otherwise, to keep him healthy and happy.

And while Liam and I were feeling freer than we ever had, I had to admit the pain I felt toward David’s disappearance. Since the day Liam’s father attacked, I’d neither heard from nor seen him. Usually he was always around town, either at the cafe or ordering pizza when I was on the clock. We had a long-standing date every Wednesday for lunch at Andy’s cafe and he just didn’t show up. There was no call and no text. Just radio silence.

After everything he’d seen, I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear from him again. In a matter of seconds his entire worldview had been shattered and he now knew that monsters truly existed in the world. If I were in his position, I probably wouldn’t talk to me ever again either. And it broke my heart to think about it, so I tried to keep myself distracted as much as possible.

“Come on,” Liam said, taking my hand as he headed for the door. “I’m sure everyone is already here and waiting for us.”

I sighed. “Alright. If you think you’re okay enough to go.”

He reached out with his free hand, cupping my face. “I’m fine. More than fine.” He ran his thumb across my cheek. “Stop worrying so much. You’ll get wrinkles.”

“With you around, I’m gonna have them a lot fucking faster.”

Liam grinned. “That’s the price you have to pay for my love, I guess.”

I bit my lower lip. “I’d pay anything for your love, you know that.”

“Stop that,” he laughed, waving a hand in front of his face. “You’re gonna make me cry.”

With a smile and a warm sensation in my chest, I allowed Liam to lead me out of the room and down the hall toward the lobby. We could hear jovial voices coming from the small ballroom just past the lobby. But as we neared the door, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. A figure stepped through the entrance to the hotel, snow swirling around them. A blast of cold air filled the room making me shiver, but I couldn’t pull my eyes off the man. It wasn’t until he pulled his hat off and I saw the short blond hair that I realized who he was.

“David?” I gasped. “Is that you?”

He looked up, those blue eyes meeting mine and he nodded.

“I invited him,” Liam said. He pushed me toward David. “Join us when you’re ready, okay?”

And before I could ask any more questions, he slipped into the ballroom and left David and I standing alone in the lobby. I stared at him for a long moment, not really sure what to say. How could I begin to explain to my best friend that I’d not only been lying to him about Liam, but about myself the entire time as well? Not to mention the whole werewolf thing. There was a lot to unpack, and I felt like I’d never have enough time to do it.

“Cory–”

“David I–”

We both snapped our mouths shut, having spoken at the same time.

“You go first,” I said, still standing a few feet back. “Say what you need to say. I won’t blame you if it’s not nice.”

David furrowed his brows. “Why wouldn’t it be nice?”

“Because I lied to you,” I replied with a shrug. “Why else?”

He looked at me long and hard. “I understand why you couldn’t tell me your secret,” he said at last. “You’ve joked about being a… a werewolf before… and I always thought it was odd. But I figured it was just a joke. It had to be.” He reached a hand up, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. “It took Liam nearly three days to get me to answer him. Of course, when he showed up on my front porch, I didn’t have much choice.”

“He went to your house ?! How the hell did he get there?”

“Some guy named Sam?”

“For fuck’s sake… Sam…”

“I’m glad he did,” David added quickly. “If he hadn’t, I never would’ve understood what I saw that day. Or why it all happened. But now… well, I get it. I understand why you had to hide yourself from me and why you had to hide your past with Liam and make up all those lies about him being an addict.” He took a few steps forward until he was standing close enough to place his hands on my shoulders. “But you don’t have to lie anymore. I know everything now. Well… I know a lot more than I did, anyway. Liam explained most of it.”

I lifted my gaze to him. “And you don’t mind?”

“That you’re a werewolf?” He let out a barking laugh. “Not at all! In fact, it’s kinda cute.”

“What?”

“Yeah! I mean, now we can go to the beach and play fetch or whatever. I can take you on walks with me and–”

I pulled him into a hug, cutting him off. “You are such a dick,” I smiled, feeling the lump rise in my throat. I was so happy to have him back. “And you’re my best friend in the whole world.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” David said, squeezing me back. “I may not be your mate or your boyfriend, but I still love you, buddy.”

I squeezed him harder. “Love you too, jackass.”

We finally pulled apart and I wiped my eyes. David looked a bit misty himself.

“Alright,” he said at last. “Enough of this mushy shit. We have a party to go to.”

“Everyone in there is a werewolf. Are you sure you want to go?”

“Don’t worry. Liam warned me. And he told everyone else, so they don’t have to act weird around me anymore.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a tiny rubber bone that squeaked when he squeezed it. “And I brought protection.”

“I can already tell you’re going to be popular,” I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Our token human of the group.”

“As long as I get a wolf cuddle pile out of the deal, I’m happy.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

With an arm over one another’s shoulder, David and I walked into the ballroom. To my surprise, I found everyone on the far side of the small room with drinks in their hands. The room was decked out in Christmas lights, garland, and all the baubles Sam could find across three counties. There was even a small train chugging around the punchbowl at the far table. But as we stepped inside, David pulled away from me and went to join the others while Liam stepped forward. Suddenly the room went quiet save for the soft Christmas songs playing in the background. Everyone’s gaze was on us.

“What’s going on–”

But I didn’t get to finish as Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me to the center of the room. I felt my heart skip a beat and the heat under my collar intensified. Something was going on, I just didn’t know what.

“I have a present for you, Cory,” Liam began. “Something I’ve been thinking about giving you for years but never knew if I’d ever get the chance. I know I haven’t been in Shifter Grove for that long, but I’ve thought about you every moment of every day since the day I met you. You are the blood in my veins and the love in my heart.”

He let go of my hand, taking a step back. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a tiny black box and got down on one knee. Suddenly I forgot how to breathe.

Flipping the box open to reveal a thick, hammered gold band, he held it up to me, the ring reflecting all the twinkling lights.

“Will you marry me?”

For a moment I didn’t know what to say or do. But before I could find anything, the wolf inside me took over. In an instant I had thrown my arms around Liam’s neck and tackled him to the ground.

“Yes,” I said, tears streaming down my cheeks. “A million times yes!”

Liam choked back a sob before taking the ring out of the box and slipping it on my finger. It was a perfect fit. Just like him, just like our mate bond, and just like the love we’d always had for one another.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, savoring the weight of it on my finger.

“I had some help.” Liam glanced up at Sam, giving him a wink. “He said you’d love it.”

“I do,” I nodded. “But I love you more.”

“I love you too.”

Applause filled the room, my found family beaming down at us and more than one of them with tears in their eyes as well. All of them lifted their glasses, toasting our happiness. Even David was grinning from ear to ear with Josh and Andy on either side of him. He fit in perfectly, like he’d always belonged there.

And Liam and I fit together perfectly as I leaned down and kissed him hard. Everything was finally okay, and it always would be. As long as I had Liam at my side, there was nothing we couldn’t overcome.

It was the best Christmas I’d ever had.