The Tracker's Secret: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 2) by Ingrid Seymour (the gingerbread man read aloud .txt) 📗

Likewise, I put on a smile and waved at him. I would’ve liked to avoid any awkwardness, but too late.

Stephen followed my gaze and brightened when he saw his friend. “Jake, my man!” He exclaimed in his usual warm manner.

Jake turned and drove his motorcycle in our direction, meeting us halfway down the street. He stopped close to the sidewalk and put out a hand, which Stephen clasped in both of his.

“We’re going for some pizza as a thank you for saving my life.” He laughed at the disparity. “Wanna join us?” he asked, surprising me.

This was a good sign. If he was willing to invite Jake, it meant he wasn’t treating this like a date. I felt my shoulders relax as the pressure eased off.

“Thanks for the invitation, man, but I’ve got work to do, and I actually ordered some stuff that’ll get delivered any minute. You guys enjoy.”

His eyes flicked in my direction for a quick instant, long enough to give me a glimpse of something that looked very much like disappointment. Shifting gears, he drove his bike the rest of the way, parked right on the sidewalk in front of his office, and walked inside without a backward glance.

“So what do you recommend in this place?” Stephen asked as we walked into the restaurant.

We sat at one of the booths, and within minutes, we had placed our order. Stephen steepled his fingers, elbows on the table, and peered at me. I noticed the stump of his ring finger. It looked healed.

He smiled sheepishly and pulled his hands under the table. “I’ve found someone who says they can grow my finger back.”

“Really?!” That was almost unheard of. Only a very powerful witch or mage could do that. Ah, the things money could buy.

“Um, this is awkward, but I think it should be mentioned. I asked Jake if he would be all right with us... doing this.” He flicked a hand, pointing at me and then at himself.

My hackles rose, and I felt a growl building in my throat. Although both Red and I didn’t seem to have a choice when it came to Jake, I liked to think that I did. I wasn’t some object they could pass around between them. I tried to not snap at Stephen, but really he’d just pushed a big button of mine. I slid into bitch mode.

“I’m sorry, but the only permission you needed for doing this is mine. Jake doesn’t have a say.”

Stephen ran a hand through his red hair and rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish.

Ha! Bitchy Toni was my hero. I wondered if she was twins with Red. Or maybe they were one and the same and always had been.

“You’re right,” Stephen said. “My apologies. It wasn’t my intention to make it sound like that. I guess what I meant was...” He sputtered, unsure of what to say. “Really, I guess my question to him had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with a friend I don’t want to piss off.”

“So what are you saying... that if Jake had told you he wasn’t okay with it, we wouldn’t be here?”

He raised his eyebrows, considering. “Um, I’d like to think so,” he answered, sounding a bit unsure.

I chuckled, my anger dissipating. “I can appreciate your honesty, and I guess I should be honest with you, too.”

He winced. “Oh, no, you’re not going to tell me this is just a friendly lunch and not a date, are you? Because I really had my heart set on the latter, even if it’s just pizza and not what I had in mind. Toni,” he reached across the table, grabbed my hand, and pinned me with his intense gaze, “since I broke things off at my dad’s insistence, not a day has gone by that I didn’t regret listening to him. I keep thinking about how it could have been, you and me, together. And I can’t help but feel it would’ve been amazing if I hadn’t screwed things up.”

Biting my lower lip, I pulled my hand out of his warm grip and slid it under the table away from his electrifying touch. There had always been attraction between us, but to my regret, it didn’t compare to what I felt for Jake. It had to be a werewolf thing, though I wasn’t sure. Maybe if I’d been raised properly, I would have a name for the way he affected me, but I had no clue.

“I’m sorry that it was so difficult for you,” I said, measuring my words. “I’ve wondered the same sometimes. It could have been amazing like you said, but that’s in the past. I’ve changed. I’m not the same person you met. I’m not looking for a relationship, though I would value your friendship. You should know that.”

He cocked his head and sighed. “I was so afraid you’d say that.”

He leaned forward, his gaze drilling into mine once more, so intensely that I had to turn away. I peered through the window at a car driving by. It was gone in a second, leaving the street empty and revealing a man standing on the other side of the street. He was staring straight at us, his hands glowing bright red as he waved them around in what could only be a spell.

I blinked in a panic, adrenaline pumping through my system, bursting into my chest. The urge to run possessed me. The magic in the man’s hands grew to the size of a basketball. It crackled like electricity, getting larger and larger. Then he held it in one hand and pulled his arm back like a pitcher at a Cardinal’s game.

“Look out!” I yelled.

Leaping forward, I grabbed Stephen by the shoulders and knocked him to the floor. An instant later, the window exploded, and the restaurant filled with cries of fear.

Chapter 4

SHARDS OF GLASS RAINED on top of us like tiny knives, cutting into our skin.

My ears rang, and my