Her palm tingled and chilled in the absence of his touch. Behind her, Gray Dog whined and stared at Dustin's profile. For the first time in her life, she wished she was a shifter so she could feel what Gray Dog was feeling. So she could sense whatever reaction Dustin was having. With her human senses, she felt nothing, and now Dustin's face was plastered in that smile he fooled so many with. Not her, though. Not anymore.
"If this doesn't work," she said, "I think you need a plan B." Because she sure as shit didn't want to watch him get burned to ashes and devoured by the dark dragon.
Dustin didn't say anything, only shifted gears and pulled out of the parking lot, aiming the nose of his car toward Kane's Mountains.
Minutes drifted by before he spoke again. "You want to pretend to be mine?"
"What?" That wasn't the direction her mind was going. "I was thinking an escape plan."
"But you think it, too. You think we'll have a better shot at being Blackwings if we work together."
"Work together? Dustin, being in a relationship with someone isn't a job."
"It could be. We could both get what we want-invites into Kane's Crew. And once we're in, we could just … I don't know … stage a big fight and break up or something. No harm, no foul."
"No harm, no foul," she repeated, disgusted. "I'm not going into this trying to trick the dragons. I want to earn my place, not swindle my way into their crew."
Emma crossed her arms, leaned back against the seat, and stared out the window as the October woods blurred by. Pretend to be his? He'd lost his damned mind. She and Dustin were as different as two people could be. Pretending to be in a relationship with him felt like a very, very bad idea. And thankfully, Dustin didn't push her on it. Wise Wolf kept his trap shut and didn't suggest any more ridiculous scam-artist ideas.
Fucking typical werewolf. She was angry. Angry they'd had some sort of breakthrough today, angry she'd begun to feel differently about him, and then he'd pulled this. While he'd slept, she'd cared for his bleeding neck and slept near him, listening to his breathing until her heart knew the cadence. And then she'd been simultaneously irritated that he'd undressed her, but flattered that he'd researched how to take care of her. He'd teased her with first-date jokes, kissed her hand, but then he let it slip that he was exactly the kind of man she'd assumed he was in the first place-a scammy werewolf.
Her disappointment was as deep as a well.
"Your neck still looks like shit," she grumbled uncharitably.
"Yeah, well, it'll heal up good-as-new eventually."
"You speak as if you've had your throat nearly ripped out before."
Dustin snorted. "You wouldn't survive a single day in a pack. Hell, you probably won't survive in a crew. Do you feed your vamp family?"
"No. I'm their kid, not their feeder, and that was a dick thing to ask."
"I don't understand you."
"As a human or as a woman?"
"Both. You get mad at everything. It's like you're looking for reasons to be pissed. Life is going to be long and dark if you don't switch that shit off."
"Sorry, Dustin, not all of us replace feelings with jokes."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You've obviously been through something hard, Dustin. I didn't get you before, but it makes more sense now. You're funny. You make me laugh. You're witty all the time and have a smart remark for everything."
"You're talking like that's a bad thing."
"It is if you're just trying to cover up all your shit, Dustin."
He snarled loud enough for her hearing aid to pick it up. "So you have me pegged, huh?"
"Yeah, I think I do. You're fireworks, Dustin."
"What the fuck does that mean?"
"You're dark on the inside, but you're popping off pretty sparkly distractions so people don't see who you really are. You cover up all your shadows with jokes. You make people laugh so they don't have a chance to be disappointed with what you are really saying, with what you are really feeling, with what you really are."
Dustin gritted his teeth so hard his muscles jumped in his chiseled jaw. He shifted gears again, hit the gas, and finally he was going the fucking speed limit and beyond. "You have a whole lot of judgement for someone who has issues of their own. You have me pegged? I fucking observe the people around me, too! Princess of the vampires, coveted, sheltered in the center of a coven so no one hurts you or hurts your feelings so you can feel superior. I fucking remember your answer when Kane asked why you wanted to join the crew. Boredom, Emma? Really? Must be nice to have so much free will, but life doesn't work like that for everyone, and it sure as fuck doesn't work like that for me. Never has."
"I'm not judging you, Dustin! I'm telling you, you don't have to be a firework with me. I'm okay with the shadows! I was raised in darkness. The real you scares me less than some plastered, empty smile and hollow eyes. And you're wrong about me."
Dustin shot her an intense glare, then eyes back to the road. To her, then back. "I'm wrong about which parts?"
"All of them. Was I wrong about you?"
Dustin gripped the steering wheel so hard it creaked under his grasp. "Forget what I asked you earlier. I couldn't pretend to care about you if I tried."
"And there it is," she gritted out, shaking her head against the urge to cry.
"There what is?"
"Your ugliest firework. The dark one with all the smoke. The one meant to burn eyes and make people look anywhere but at you. The one where you say something mean and make them flinch away. Success, asshole."
He sped down the gravel hill of Kane's land, going way too fast, but handling his car like it was made to race on loose dirt. He blasted across the bridge, but she didn't want to be in here anymore. Not with him. Not when he'd purposefully hurt her.
"Let me out."
Dustin slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop near a thin dirt road that led to a clearing for the trailers. He exhaled explosively and said, "Emma-"
"Nope." She shoved open the door and got out, then made her way down the dirt lane, dashing her fingers under her eyes just to make sure none of those stupid tears had betrayed her and leaked onto her cheeks.
Before she even registered that he'd left his car, Dustin was there, a solid wall of muscle, his arms around her, a snarl rattling against her cheek, his chest heaving under her. He was hugging her too tightly, so she was stuck with her arms pinned between them.
"You were right about everything, Emma. All of it. I shouldn't have said that. You're really nice and pretty, and it wouldn't be hard pretending to like you as more than a friend. I just … I just say dumb shit sometimes."
"All the time," she corrected him.
He huffed a laugh and loosened his grip on her. "Yeah, all the time. I think maybe you should stay away from me, Emma."
"More fireworks?"
"No. This one is a warning because you're a friend. Maybe you're the realest friend I've had, I don't know. No one's called me out before. No one's seen through me. The best thing you can do for yourself is steer clear."
Emma frowned and eased back to gauge the seriousness in his eyes. That answer? Dead serious.
He was so close, so warm. He smelled of cologne and laundry detergent. This was the first time she'd been all pressed against a big, strong man like this. Slowly, she slid her arms around his waist. He cocked his head in such a confused-dog fashion, she laughed.
"I don't think friends hug like this," he said, looking thoroughly troubled.
"Okay, let's stop then."
"No!" Dustin cleared his throat and said it again at a lower volume. "No, I think this is fine for just a minute longer. One minute, and then we let go because that would be crossing some friend line that would be totally gross."
"Oh, completely gross. And besides, you're not my type, Wolf. I like dark-headed immortals with cold skin and fangs. Not tall, strapping muscle men with tattoos of angel wings on their chest. What are those for anyway?"
"Does everything need a meaning? I got those to attract-"
"Don't you say bitches."
"-chicks." He grinned cheekily. "Clearly it worked because I can basically feel your lady boner against me right now."
"One of us has a boner, and it's not me." Emma cocked her eyebrow.
Dustin bit back a smile and leaned forward, hugged her harder against his chest as he lowered his lips to her ear. "We could be friends with benefits. Doggy style in the woods. You ever been with a shifter?"