I Rejected My Obsessive Werebeast novel Chapter 24

Chapter 24

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I woke up warm.

Silas was behind me, one arm slung over my waist, his chest pressed against my back. Skin on skin. His breathing was slow and even against the back of my neck, warm and steady.

I shifted, and a dull ache reminded me of everything that had happened last night. My face went hot immediately.

He stirred. His chin dragged lazily against my hair, and his arm tightened around me.

“Go back to sleep,” he mumbled, voice rough from sleep.

I stayed still, nestled into the curve of his arm, eyes open, listening to his heart beat against my back. After a while, I whispered, “You have to go to the track today.”

“Mm.” He didn’t open his eyes.

I rolled over to face him. “Are you racing today?”

One eye cracked open. “Demo run tonight. You coming?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

The other eye opened. He looked at me for a long second, then leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. Soft. Slow. Then he threw the blanket off and swung his legs out of bed.

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I watched him walk to the bathroom, bare–backed, the morning light cutting across his shoulders, and buried my face in his pillow. I couldn’t help it. I smiled into it.

The racing track was on the edge of the city, all concrete and steel and the faint smell of burnt rubber lingering in the air. I got there early. The evening sky was bleeding orange and pink over the horizon, and the stands were mostly empty except for a handful of staff and a few early spectators.

Training hadn’t finished yet. I could hear the engines roaring from the far

turn.

I found a spot by the railing and leaned against it, watching.

Silas was on the track, running a slalom drill. He was wearing a dark one- piece racing suit that fit too well–every line of his shoulders, the set of his back, the way he moved like he was built for speed. The sunset caught the side of his face as he came out of a turn, sharp and focused and-

I stopped that thought right there.

He didn’t know I was here. I didn’t wave. I just watched, arms crossed against the railing, and let myself enjoy the view.

Then Jessica showed up.

I don’t know how she got an internal access pass. But there she was, walking along the edge of the track in a soft white dress that probably cost more than my monthly rent, her hair down, two cups in her hand.

She timed it perfectly, of course. Waited until Silas pulled off the track and stopped at the pit wall for a water break. Then she approached.

I watched from the stands, maybe thirty feet away, close enough to see

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Chapter 24

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She held out one of the cups. Smiled. Said something I couldn’t hear.

Silas looked at it. Hesitated. Didn’t take it.

She set it on the table beside him anyway. Then, like she’d misjudged her footing, she swayed slightly toward him, her hand landing lightly on his forearm.

“The floor’s a little slippery,” I guess she said it. Her body didn’t pull back right away. She lingered, half–leaning into his space, looking up at him with a smile that was practiced and entirely too comfortable.

I gripped the railing.

From my angle, it almost looked like she was leaning against his chest.

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