Running With The Pack: Big Easy Shifters: Book Four, Knox, Abby [e book reader free TXT] 📗

with the upper class. She genuinely loved Rosemary, but she wanted to dropkick these silly old-money people most of the time.

One thing she never had to worry about was putting on a good face for the wolf pack. They had been friends since middle school, where she and Bobby had first bonded at a field trip to Ashton’s daddy’s flagship restaurant, JB Chicken. After the tour from Jimmy Boudreaux himself, the class was treated to a massive spread. She and Bobby had fought over the chicken neck, while most of the rest of the class had stared, aghast.

Turns out, that was one way the Boudreauxs determined which schoolchildren were wolves, ergo kids they could trust to be around their son, Ashton. That field trip was one of the happier memories of her childhood.

After nearly fifteen years of friendship, her stomach still did a little flip every time she caught Bobby staring at her.

She knew the physical side of their relationship was like a ticking time bomb. After what they had been through together as children, there was just no way they could be together without all the painful memories resurfacing.

Pen could still see the scared, brooding look in his eye at parties when nobody else was paying attention. He put up a good front. He took care of everyone: everyone but himself.

She suddenly felt silly in this dress. She felt awkward around all of her beautiful new feline shape-shifter friends—panthers, wildcats, and who knows what else—who had mated with her wolf pals.

She was the lone member of the wedding party who had not found someone to go into a closet with to make out tonight.

It was definitely not going to be Sailboat Guy.

Nothing and nobody could compare to Bobby. She turned and caught a glimpse in her peripheral vision. There he was, alone at the table on the deck of the boat, his chest and hair on wild display. Oozing masculinity as if he wanted everyone to see.

He’s going home with somebody tonight, even if it’s not me. He could take his pick of any one of Rosemary’s hellcat cousins or nieces. Or aunts, for that matter. They had all been staring at him all damn day.

She turned some more and sipped her cosmo, and watched Bobby running his finger along the rim of his low ball glass. The glass sat empty except for one lonely maraschino cherry at the bottom. He looked every bit as glowering and tempting as he could possibly look. Weirdly, Lionel DuChamp was walking away, looking perturbed. She wondered what on earth those two had to say to each other. Guys with booze, they’ll always find something to talk about. She had a good mind to go over there, grab Bobby’s cherry stem, and do something dirty with it in her mouth. And follow it up with unspeakable things involving her mouth and Bobby’s other…stem.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Pen turned to the blond sailboat guy and patted him on the shoulder. “It was lovely speaking to you. Good luck with the rape charges.”

He reared back, confused. “I don’t have any rape charges.”

As she walked away, she said over her shoulder, “You probably will before the night’s over.”

Chapter Four

Bobby

He watched in surprise as Pen flounced—there was no other way she could have moved in that giant, hoop-skirted, over-the-top bridesmaid dress other than to flounce—over to his table and asked, “Why didn’t you ask me to dance?”

Bobby looked up, confused. “Excuse me?” Pen’s chest was flushed. She was nervous. Her energy was making the hairs on his arm stand on end but in a good way. His inner beast was telling him to grab her and get to humping. Right away.

Instead, he let her continue saying what she had to say.

“You know that I love that song more than I love most people on this earth, and yet here you are. Sulking.”

“I ain’t sulking,” he said with a sulk.

Pen huffed and rolled her eyes. “I was trapped in the corner listening to that blond haircut yammer on about speedboat engines, for fuck’s sake. I was throwing up the bat signal like my life depended on it—for you to come over with some fake emergency—where were you?”

Bobby sneered. “I don’t know; you looked like you were having a pretty good time without me. Besides, I thought Lionel was gonna kick my ass for the way we nabbed him this morning.”

She glared and crossed her arms. She wasn’t buying it. Holy shit, she was sexy when she was mad at him. Her eyes flashed, and her ears were red. He really wanted to grab her shoulders and suck those hot, tiny earlobes.

“I don’t know what is up your ass, but you better pull it out,” she said. Her words barely registered with Bobby, who examined her dress to determine which was the quickest way to remove it from her body.

Then, a commotion interrupted her speech, and she turned to look. The bride and groom, Ash and Rosemary, were leaving the reception. Everyone was forming a human tunnel to send them off with bubbles, birdseed, and, of course, Mardi Gras bead necklaces.

Pen sighed and reached out her hand. “Come on, time to say goodbye to the happy couple, and then we can get out of here and take a break from each other.”

Bobby took her hand, and electricity shot through him at her touch.

They joined the long lineup to wish Ash and Rosemary safe travels on their honeymoon. Without warning, and probably because he was slightly plastered, Ash picked up Rosemary and slung her over his shoulder, caveman style. His signature move. Everyone laughed. Bobby was so bound up with frustration and angst and jealousy, he was on the verge of tossing Pen over his shoulder, too.

Chapter Five

Pen

She felt her heart pang a little bit. She was far too tall to be carried around like that by most men. And besides, she would never let herself be so undignified in public…but just one time, she might