Clay's Hope (13 page)

I turned to look at her. Did she suspect
something?

“Hey,” Rachel said. “I’m not blaming...I’m
just thanking.”

“But, I thought you were into Peter,” Gabby
said, echoing my thoughts.

“I am. It doesn’t mean I don’t window-shop.
Go down there and flirt with him and see if we can get twenty
percent off our bill.”

Flirt? Before I could get even more upset
with Rachel, Gabby snorted.

“I will not. It’d be safer to send Clay down
there to learn how to fix it than me trying to get us a price
break.”

Done.

“If our dog starts fixing things, we’re
hitting the road and making some money,” said Rachel.

The man started up the basement stairs, and
Rachel’s face lit with anticipation while Gabby eyed the basement
door with dread. I backed up a few steps, positioning myself
between her and the door, trying to reassure her with my
presence.

Her look of dread changed to one of
appreciation when the man reached the top of the stairs. The man
didn’t miss her appreciative look, either. He flexed for her. I
briefly considered nudging the man to send him falling down the
steps.

Gabby flushed and turned to Rachel.

“I have to go pick up my ring before Clay
gets here. He’d be heartbroken if he found out I bent a prong on
the setting already. Plus, my hand feels naked without it.”

She held out her left hand and gave it a
wistful look.

What ring was she talking about?

“The dog?” the man asked with a puzzled look
at Rachel.

Gabby laughed nervously. “We named the dog
after my fiancé. He has a good sense of humor and likes the dog,
too.”

She said it so fast I could barely
understand her. By the time the words sank in, she was already out
the door. I wanted to run after her. Was I the fiancé, the dog, or
both?

Stuck with two human witnesses, I couldn’t
shift to let myself out the door and chase her down. Instead, I
listened to her car peel out of the driveway.

It took another hour before the man left and
longer still for Gabby to reappear. When she cautiously walked in,
bags looped over her arms, I was waiting for her.

She set down the bags and peeked around the
corner before she spoke to me in a whisper.

“You better keep reading the books I bring
home. You can be our repair guy. It gives me the willies that he
knows where I live.”

I nodded just as Rachel turned the corner
from her bedroom. She paused mid-stride, her eyes wide.

“Did he just nod?”

Gabby smiled. “Yep. I’ve been working on it
with him. He caught on really fast. The nodding isn’t bad, but his
smile can be a little scary.”

Her pulse tripped, giving away her lie.
Rachel stared at us for a moment then shook her head.

“You’re weird, Gabby, but in a good way.
Anyway, it was one hundred and twenty-five dollars to fix the
washer. I covered your half. With the vet bill, you’re up to one
hundred, minus the burger and drink from disaster night.”

I saw Gabby’s cringe.

“Okay. I’ll run to the bank after class
tomorrow.” She chewed her lip for a moment, and I scented her
concern.

My mistake had cost her.

* * * *

It took the rest of the week for the boots
to dry; and when they did, the leather cracked. I could have dealt
with that, but the toes of both boots also curled up, making them
difficult to wear. Frustrated that the effort hadn’t resulted in
something I could wear to go job hunting, I hid everything back
under the neighbor’s shrub and knew I’d need to find some other
footwear.

Friday afternoon, I lay beside Gabby,
resolutely reading yet another book. I heard Rachel’s car pull into
the driveway much too quickly, then her rapid steps on the porch. I
lifted my head.

“Gabby!” she called in a panicked tone.

Even with Gabby’s cute little human ears,
she picked up on the wrongness of Rachel’s pitch.

“In here!” she said as she flew from the bed
toward the door.

The two almost collided when Rachel burst
into the room.

“What’s going on?” Gabby asked, pulling
back.

Gabby liked keeping a physical distance from
people. Even Rachel. She didn’t seem to like touching. It made each
pat on the head even more special.

“Peter broke and told Scott he had plans to
go to dinner with me tonight,” Rachel said, out of breath.

“So...?”

I liked that Gabby tended to echo my
thoughts when it came to Rachel.

“Peter’s coming here to pick me up, and
Scott’s coming with.”

My ears twitched involuntarily.

“Gabby, I don’t think he’s going to take no
for an answer tonight. Peter can’t shake him.”

Scott was going to end up in the hospital.
After the week I had, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him
nicely.

Gabby groaned, flopped back on her bed, and
landed on me. Full body contact with her back. I didn’t care. I
loved it. She even reached back to pat me and apologize.

“Sorry, Clay.” She froze then bolted up
right. “I’ve got an idea! Rachel, if you have any clothes that
would say I’ve been dating a guy for a while, can I borrow
them?”

Wait, what?

“Sure, but who are you dating?”

Yeah. Who?

Rachel moved out of Gabby’s way as Gabby
rushed from the room. I jumped off the bed and followed. She
crammed some shoes onto her feet as she walked to the door, almost
falling twice along the way. I stared at her wondering what she was
doing.

“I’ll let you know when I bring him home.
Come on, Clay,” she said, holding open the door.

She wanted me along? I hurried through the
door.

She rushed to the car, opened the door, and
waved for me to get in. I was barely out of the way when she pushed
in behind me and slammed the car door. I studied her as she
careened out the driveway.

“You’re here to keep me safe, right?”

I grunted in surprise. It wasn’t a
rhetorical question. She really wasn’t sure.

I’m here to keep you safe and more, Gabby, I
thought. But I remained quiet, waiting for her to state her
point.

“Then, I need you to be more than my
dog.”

I tilted my head at her, unsure how to take
that comment.

She glanced at me nervously.

“I need you to put on your skin. Be my date
tonight. Please?”

She wanted me. My pulse leapt, and the ache
that had slowly eased over the days spent lying beside her came
back with such force that I struggled to inhale. She wanted me as a
man, as her date. I almost shifted right then.

“You took a shower today, right?”

Like a well-aimed porcupine quill, her
little dart dug deep. I snorted.

“Do you know what size you wear? Shirt,
pants, shoes?”

I blinked at her. I had no idea. I put on
things that looked like they would fit. Everything I’d found, I’d
tried on.

She didn’t seem bothered by my lack of
answer. With a slight squeal of tires, she pulled into an open
space in a huge parking lot and slammed on the brakes. I almost hit
the dash.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said.
She was out the door before I could nod.

I stared after her and watched her disappear
into a store. What was she up to? Scott was coming; and instead of
just leaving the house, she was asking me to be her date?

A slow smile spread on my lips as I began to
see her plan. She wanted to show the man that I had a Claim on her.
She didn’t want to avoid him; she wanted to stop any future
interest. I stood and stared at the store with pride. She wanted
me.

She ran out of the store a few minutes later
with a bag hanging from her arm. She opened the car door, tossed
the bag at my feet, slid behind the wheel, and backed out, all in a
matter of seconds.

Her driving made my stomach turn as she
raced home.

Gabby pulled into the driveway, came to
another jarring stop, then killed the engine as she opened her
door. Rachel stood by the back door, waiting. The clingy dress she
wore didn’t bode well for Gabby because I doubted the stack of
clothes in Rachel’s arms was much different.

“Where’s your date?” Rachel asked as she
scanned the car. “The guys are going to be here in fifteen
minutes.”

Gabby waved her back into the house. “He’ll
be here in a few minutes. I hope.”

I followed just behind Gabby and saw her
toss the bag into the bathroom.

“Let’s go in my room, and you can help me
pick what to wear.”

“Really?” Rachel’s excited squeal made me
wince. It wasn’t the pitch; it was how she would dress Gabby.

They disappeared around the corner into the
living room while I stayed by the bathroom.

“I need something a little tropical or
hippie-ish,” Gabby said as she closed her bedroom door.

I looked at the bag. What had she purchased?
I walked into the bathroom, then shifted and closed the door. In
the bag, I found some weird cloth pants, a matching shirt, and
sandals. Even without growing up human, I knew I’d look like an
idiot. I knew what men wore. It wasn’t that.

But she’d asked me to be a man for her. I
sighed and started the shower. Though I’d already bathed, I knew
how she was about my scent.

I listened to the murmur of their voices
through the walls. Then suddenly Gabby’s voice rose, and I could
clearly hear her.

“...because I’m cheap, I got him some clean
clothes from the summer closeout racks...”

So it was money behind the selection and not
annoyance. That relieved me but also concerned me. I was eating her
food, breaking her washing machine—the cost of the vet was all on
her—and now she had to buy me clothes, too? I’d wanted her to
become dependent on me. Instead, I was dependent on her.

I stepped into the shower and quickly
washed. When I finished, I refrained from shaking off. Gabby didn’t
like the mess that made. I used my designated towel, dried, and
hung it over the edge of the tub. Then I stared at the clothes.
There was a package of shorts and a pair of pants. I looked the
package over. Underwear. Hmm. They didn’t have that at the
Compound. Shrugging, I opened the package and shook a pair out. I
eyed it. It looked...small. I stretched the sides out, in doubt.
Maybe it would work, but was it necessary?

She wouldn’t have included it if it wasn’t.
At least from her point of view. I stepped into the underwear and
carefully pulled them up. They held everything as firmly as the
vet. I tugged the legs down and won an inch of breathing room.
Resigned, I stepped into the pants. They fit all right and were
comfortable enough. The shirt was snug across my shoulders. If I
needed to grab Scott, I’d rip a seam. No grabbing Scott, then.
Unless he really deserved it.

Someone tapped on the door.

“Do you need help?” Gabby’s whispered words
reached me through the door.

I nervously looked at myself in the mirror,
ran my fingers through my long hair and beard, then eyed the
sandals. I wasn’t wearing them or going to another dinner with
Scott, Peter, and Rachel. The first one had been worse than a run
in with a skunk.

“Please hurry, Clay,” Gabby said.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door.
Gabby waited for me in a pretty knee-length, cream skirt and a
light yellow top that showed her neck and collarbones. She had her
hair back and something about her eyes looked different. She stole
my breath most days, but in this moment, she made me want to drop
to my knees.

As I stared at her, her gaze swept over me,
lingering on the shirt and my shoulders. I was worried that she was
thinking it didn’t look right. Then a slight change in her scent
hit me. Interest. I wanted to shout and laugh. Instead, I calmly
put my hands in my pockets and let her look her fill.

With a pink tint to her cheeks, she looked
away.

“Brat,” she said under her breath, and I
wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or herself. Then she cleared
her throat and said, “You’ll do.”

Behind her, Rachel smirked at us. Gabby
turned and caught her amusement.

“Quiet from the peanut gallery.”

The doorbell rang. Rachel ran to the front
door, and Gabby slowly followed. I trailed behind her, watching the
gentle sway of her skirt.

“Come on in,” Rachel said to Peter.

Peter stepped in, and Scott followed just
inches behind. Peter’s nervousness clouded the room. Scott’s lust
quickly overpowered it, though, and I fisted my hands in my pockets
and stepped closer to Gabby. The man’s gaze flicked to me, and I
knew he saw the possession in my stance.

“Hi, Peter,” Gabby said. “Nice to see you
again, Scott. We were going to join you guys, but Clay just got off
of work a little while ago and suggested he and I take advantage of
the empty house tonight.”

A lie I would happily die to see come
true.

I watched anger color Scott’s face.

“Isn’t Clay your dog?”

I didn’t care for his tone and narrowed my
eyes at him.

“We named the dog after my boyfriend. It’s a
bit of a joke. Clay, meet Peter and Scott, Rachel’s friends.”

Scott’s shoulders slumped at Gabby’s words.
I wanted to gloat, but Gabby’s sudden remorse and anxiety worried
me. Taking a risk, I lightly set my hand on the small of her back
to comfort her. She didn’t flinch or move away. My mouth went dry
and my throat closed at her acceptance of my touch. My breathing
grew shallow, and I struggled to control my emotions...my need to
turn her around and touch her face and hair.

“Peter, Rachel, I’m sorry to back out on
you, too, but I think I’m going to head home,” Scott said,
distracting me. “I’ve been fighting a cold all week.” He turned and
left.

Rachel softly asked Peter to get her jacket
and eyed Gabby.

“Are you sure you want to stay in?” she
asked Gabby, as Peter helped her with her jacket.