Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 30

Jo sat on the edge of her porch as night fell, her hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee. As the summer slid swiftly into fall, the mountains were growing increasingly cold in the evenings. The leaves were just beginning to change, and Ryker had said that next month people would start coming up to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A rustle of leaves caught her attention, and she glanced over at the edge of the forest. Normally the yellow eyes glinting in the last bit of sunset glow would make her want to jump up and rush inside, but she knew better.

"Are you going to be creepy or are you going to come over here?"

Ryker padded out of the forest, huge and furry in his wolf form. Jo had only seen him shifted a few times, and she still wasn't entirely used to it. He walked over and jumped up onto the porch with an easy, powerful grace. Crossing the wooden boards, he came and sat down next to her, briefly setting his chin on her shoulder before bumping her shoulder.

"What? Do you want clothes? Or a rawhide bone?"

Ryker huffed and poked her in the cheek with his nose.

Laughing, Jo got up and ruffled his fur before going inside, Ryker following after her. There was a spare set of clothes for him in the bathroom; she had actually asked for the set when she realized he might show up like this at some point. While he went to go change, Jo headed for the kitchen to get a snack for the both of them.

It was funny, she mused, how they sort of already had a routine even though they'd only been dating a short while. He picked her up in the mornings--even when she tried to object--they got coffee, some days they had classes, some days lunch when she wasn't with Lexi and the others, and then if they didn't hang out after classes, he dropped her off wherever she needed to go.

She was going to kind of miss getting picked up once she got a job--which reminded her, she needed to let him know she had an interview-trial thing with Ms. Blue at Ye Old Goods tomorrow. Hopefully for a job as a barista.

Arms wrapped around her waist and a chin settled on her shoulder as Ryker leaned around her to peer at the snack she'd pulled out--meat, cheese and crackers, since the boy seemed to constantly need protein. She couldn't really fuss too much, seeing as how something seemed to be working right in the creation of those damn fine muscles.

Not that she'd blow his head up by telling him that.

This was her favorite part of their routine--more nights than not, Ryker stopped by. Even if one of them had a lot of schoolwork to get done, it was nice to have company in this big old house. When they didn't have schoolwork, Ryker was teaching her how to fix and repair various things around the house. And in bits and pieces, talking while they worked, she was learning more about pack life and the supernatural world.

There was SO much to know.

He still refused to answer her question about whether vampires and werewolves were really mortal enemies though. Like he was personally offended by Twilight, Underworld, and all those other vampire versus werewolf stories. In her opinion, if there were that many similar legends out there, there had to be some kernel of truth, right?

Werewolves were real and she was a friggin' fire-powered girl.

Anything was possible.

"Thanks babe, you're the best," Ryker said, reaching out to grab one of the meat-cheese-cracker stacks she'd made.

"Uh-huh. You date me for my snacks, don't you?"

Ryker attempted to grin at her around his mouth full of food. "You caught me."