Page 7 of Someone Else's Wolf

"You can smell things like that?" I was starting to get seriously freaked out. Hell, maybe he knew I'd been fantasizing about him after all. Wait, was it a big deal? Was that why he focused so hard on me and food? Was he trying to keep my blood sugar levels steady? Afraid I was — "Is something wrong with my blood sugar?" My voice got higher.

"No, no." He waved his hands quickly. "I just — I didn't mean there was anything wrong. I just noticed. I didn't think you should skip a meal."

"Thanks." I wrapped the sandwich up, my mouth tightening, my heart still beating too hard. It really did smell good, but I was pissed off now. I pushed it gently back towards him. "Don't scare me like that."

He wilted. "Sorry. I didn't realize I would. Guess I shouldn't be bringing you things, huh?" He turned the sandwich over and over in his restless, long-fingered hands. His eyes begged me to say it was fine, that I didn't mind. But I did mind. I didn't need to be on Sue's shit listandhave blood sugar scares. One of my uncles had diabetes. I hadn't needed that little jolt of surprise from Peter. Though I probably should try to eat better.

"You can always cook for Sue," I said as firmly as I could, though it cost me a pang of guilt to see him so unhappy. He nodded slowly, gaze lowered. "Sure." He walked away.

"Hey, man, don't be like that. You can cook for me." Juan tried to capture Peter's attention as he wandered past. Peter gave him a distracted, rather pained smile and didn't stop, as if he hadn't actually heard what Juan had said.

"Well, shit. Now I feel like an asshole," I observed to those who were staring at me.Damn it. I felt horrible. But, really, he shouldn't be doing that — should he? "What am I supposed to do?" I complained aloud.

"Face facts, Blairgh. He's got different standards than we do. You just turned down food. That might be the biggest insult there is to a wolf."

"Yeah, man," said Lacroix. "You fucked up."

"If we lose our wolf because of you..." Merill cracked his knuckles, giving me a very hard look. "I'd have taken the fucking sandwich."

I hadn't realized they'd all been following along so closely. Great. Now I felt even more self-conscious.

"You better not be a jerk to him. Some of us happen to like having Peter here, even if he's not like everybody else. Maybe because of it." Andie looked the fiercest I'd ever seen her.

"You guys are so nosy." But I scraped back my chair and hurried after Peter, planning to abase myself and eat the sandwich even if it killed me. I couldn't be the one making our resident wolf miserable.

Sue stopped me. One minute, I was heading after Peter in a hurry; the next second, a short blonde terror was planted in front of me, hand on my chest, a fierce glare on her face. "Don't bother. He'smypartner. I'll look after him." Giving me a look of disdain, she turned on her heel, ponytail flipping behind her hard enough that a few strands whipped out and lashed against my cheek before she marched off.

I stood there feeling stupid. Then I went back to my desk. My ears were burning, and I couldn't stand to look up and meet anyone's gaze. Either sympathy or condemnation — neither could be borne just then. She was scary as shit — and she was right. I should stay away from him, because apparently I'd just hurt him when I hadn't.

#

It was my turn to wait for him at the parking lot. At least I knew what his car looked like, though I have to admit it took me a while to remember. Apparently, he'd paid more attention to me than I had to him.

And just what did thatmean? I was still a little freaked out about what had happened earlier, but I felt shitty about hurting his feelings, and not just because my colleagues were going to make sure I felt even worse if I chased him off. We needed this wolf; most of us liked him.

And, well, he liked me. Whatever that meant.

Was Sue really thinking that he meant to trade in his current partner for me? I didn't think he was. But there was something to his attentions, and I wasn't the only one who'd noticed. If he was gay, maybe he liked me, and he was just really bad at hiding it. Still, he hadn't said anything, and he'd had an opportunity to come out to me if he wanted one.

So, yeah. There was something going on, but it probably wasn't that, like a crush or something.

I had a lot to think about while I was waiting for him, but I didn't come to any conclusions. I hoped nobody would spot me here; it felt vulnerable, even a bit silly, waiting for him. But I needed to apologize. I didn't want him feeling shitty on my account.

At first, he didn't see me. His head was down, his walk slow. He appeared lost in thought. I cleared my throat in the hope that I wouldn't scare him too much. He looked up...and a smile spread slowly across his face. He didn't look pissed-off at all. He looked warm-eyed and friendly, his angular, cobbled-together features becoming really handsome with his smile.

"Hey," I said, feeling even more uneasy. I'd had sex fantasies about this guy. I'd turned down his food in public. I'd made the precinct mad at me. All my planned words fled, and I had no idea what to say.

"Hey, yourself. Shane, I'm sorry about earlier. The sandwich. I don't always realize the things we aren't supposed to talk about."

"What? Oh, like blood sugar?"

He ducked his head in an awkward nod and stuffed his hands into his pockets, hunching a little. He looked as if he was cold, or this conversation made him feel unbearably nervous. I wasn't fixing it very well.

"I shouldn't have hurt your feelings. Sorry about that." I reached up to scratch at the back of my neck. How could I make this better? "Is there some significance to me turning down food? Because I didn't mean to, like, insult your culture or something. The guys were saying..."

He looked up in alarm. "No! No significance at all. I just didn't think it through." He grimaced a little and reached up with one hand to scratch at his forehead. "I — I didn't mean to put you on the spot. Or make people talk or...shit." He grimaced again, squeezing his eyes shut as though he was in pain. "I'm sorry. I'm so bad at all of this."

I touched his arm. "It's fine. You know, you're cool. I like you a lot. Let's stay pals, okay? I promise not to turn down food if you're just trying to be nice. How about you promise not to freak me out about my blood sugar, okay?" I smiled in a strained sort of way, trying to lighten the mood. I didn't need his self-flagellation to go any further.