He stopped walking. His eyes glinted and his cheek creased. He clicked his tongue at me and said, “Oh, bite me.”

I laughed and he did, too. Just like that, the tightrope was gone; we had our feet firmly on the ground. We were Sully and Jules again. Same as always.

“Want to run it off?” he asked.

I didn’t even bother with my usual argument about only running when chased. I pulled my hair tie out of my hair and shook it loose.

“Think you can catch me?”

“No,” I said, “but I’m going to try.”

And with that, we were off. My heartbeat was steady and sure. I had the wind in my hair and Jules at my side, at least for a while. We passed the creek and ran up the hill. We ran until my limbs felt neither tight nor loose; they felt just right. There, under the dim light of the waxing crescent moon, the whole world felt right.

10. Ten

10

Storm stayed in town for a full week after that night. Jules and I spent every moment we could with her. Every time we were with her was the same as the first time, except it was better. We both learned her body and she learned ours. She was insatiable. As a shifted wolf her stamina outweighed ours significantly. Every time one of us tapped out, she’d get a knowing look in her eyes and say, “See why two is better than one?”

Afterward, when none of us could move a muscle, we’d all lie in her bed together. Jules and I would lean in and take turns kissing her. We’d run the tips of our fingers up her sides and stroke the undersides of her breasts until she sighed. Sometimes, our hands would brush up against each other and neither of us would move away. Any discomfort or embarrassment we once felt about seeing each other like that was long gone. I tended to drift in and out of sleep as I recovered, but Jules stayed awake. He’d run his fingers through her hair; sometimes I’d see him weaving little braids in it for her to find when we were gone.

I didn’t like seeing him do it. It made me feel odd. Jules was soft in his heart. I’d always known that about him. I was the only one who knew it. It felt strange to see him showing someone else that side of himself. Not wrong, just strange. I knew he had it bad for Storm. I had it bad for her, too, but I didn’t like seeing Jules like that. It made me uncomfortable. It felt like I was seeing something intimate, and even though the whole situation literally did involve me, it made me feel left out. It gave me a hollow pit in my stomach.

“Why don’t you stay in Clearwater, Stormy?” he said.