“… You were summer and freedom and everything I hadn’t had in so long. Everything I hadn’t allowed myself. I’m going to allow myself tonight.” He tossed his shirt aside and she glimpsed his broad chest in the flickering light from the portable woodstove she’d noticed out of the corner of her eye. “You’re going to be my ocean and I’m going to drown myself in you.”

“If this is really it…if you’re really done with me…will you let me hold you tonight?”“Please? I can’t sleep knowing you’re just a foot away, and I’m never gonna get the chance again.”I shut my eyes tight and then pushed away from the edge of the bed, turning down the blanket. He crawled in bed beside me, hastily pulling me tight into his arms. His bare chest rose and fell with uneven breaths, and I cursed myself for feeling so peaceful against his skin.“I’m going to miss this,” I said.”

“I’m his girlfriend?” It was meant to be a question to myself, but Taylor couldn’t let it go unanswered.“You’re the first,” she said, looking at me like I was a puzzle. “You lucky bitch.”

“She laid her palm against his bristled cheek. “You’re safe,” she whispered.“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he growled, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.“I was going to save you.”He threaded his fingers through her tangled hair. She’d lost her bonnet. She was damn lucky she hadn’t lost her life. “You little fool,” he rasped in a voice rift with emotion. “You brave little fool.”

“I’m going to stay the hell out of Vegas, and away from Benny…I’m going to finish school. But I need you. I need you. You’re my best friend.” His voice was desperate and broken, matching his expression.In the dim light I could see a tear fall from his eye, and in the next moment he reached out for me and I was in his arms, his lips on mine. He squeezed me tight against his chest as he kissed me, and then cradled my face in his hands, pressing his lips harder against my mouth, desperate to get a reaction.”

“I don’t fool you, do I? Those others”—he waved a vague hand to indicate theirmissing comrades—“they think I’m all that—but you know better, don’t you.”“Know what?” she’d asked.He leaned forward, smelling of beer and cigarettes. “You know I’m a fraud. I canfeel the beast inside me, screaming to get out. And if I loose it, it will pull me up to greatness despite myself.”“So why not let it free?” She hadn’t been a werewolf then. The world had been a gentler place, the monsters safely in their closets, and she had been brave in her ignorance.His eyes were old and weary, his voice slurring a bit. “Because then everyone wouldsee,” he told her.“See what?”“Me.”