Lindsey didn’t look up, but Cole’s voice shoved his frown across the room. “The cop?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“You have to be careful. You have even more to protect now.”
Sweet God. Now he wasn’t playing with his own life. He had Jazz to think about. He nodded. The “Honey, I’m a werewolf” conversation had just moved completely out of reach.
Chapter Twelve
The shiny, dancing morning sun mocked him as Lindsey paced the length of his bedroom and back. How long was the kid going to eat breakfast? Fuck, what he really wanted to know was how he was going to prepare Jazz for the fact he was a werewolf. He sat on the couch. Just breathe. Remember what it was like when you were ready to shift. You knew there was something off. Something really different going on.
He dropped his head in his hands. After he told Jazz, then what? He had to find a way to separate from Seth. Funny how life worked. All he’d ever wanted was a life partner. He had everything. People who loved him. Werewolves who loved him. A great job and a meaningful life. Now he had Jazz. He could give back some of the richness of love that had been given to him. Asking for more was selfish. Sadly, he was a selfish guy.
A light tap on the door made him leap to his feet. Showtime! He crossed and opened the door. Jazz stood there, still holding a glass of milk. The kid smiled. “I needed a map, but I found your place.”
Lindsey smiled and tried to look normal. “Come in.”
Jazz entered and stopped, looking around. “Wow. This is really pretty.”
“Thank you.”
“You like really pretty things.”
“Yes, I guess I do.”
Jazz grinned. “I think I must like them too. I—” His eyes closed, his body crumpled, and milk went flying as he fell to the floor.
“Jazz!”
Lindsey knelt beside him and cradled his head. Fortunately, he’d fallen on the soft rug. Lindsey remembered these fainting spells so well.
Jazz’s eyes opened halfway, blinked, and then flew open. “Oh no! Did I pass out again? The milk! Oh no!” He struggled to sit up.
Lindsey pulled him back down and smoothed his hair. “No harm done at all. It will come right out.”
“My foster lady says milk stains bad.”
“We have experts in this house. Don’t worry about it. Come on.” He helped Jazz up and walked him to the couch. “Lie down for a few minutes.”
The boy kicked off his sneakers and laid his long, thin body on the soft upholstery. Lindsey took the chair. “Have you thought about why you have these fainting spells?”
“The doctor says it’s blood sugar.”
“Is that what you think?”
The boy looked down at his hands, which were folded on his stomach. “Maybe.”
“Have you ever thought something a lot more mysterious could be going on?”
The big gold eyes looked up at Lindsey. “Mysterious? You mean like a bad disease?”
“Oh, I doubt that. What do you think?”
“Yeah, sometimes I feel really weird like shit—I mean, stuff is changing fast in, you know, my body. The doctor says it’s normal for a teenager.”
“And what do you think?”
“None of the guys seem to have the same shit—I mean, stuff going on. I mean, they jerk off all the time and have all those kind of thoughts, but my stuff is different.”
“Like what?”
He sat up and rested his arms on his knees. “I get this red color in front of my eyes, and then for a while I can see really good. Then it goes away. My muscles ache, and I’m skinny but I’m strong. Really strong. I can’t eat enough food. My stomach growls like it’s eating me from the inside out.” He clutched his middle. “It’s weird, man, weird.”
“I had exactly the same thing happen to me, Jazz.”
His eyes widened. “You did?”
“Yes.” Just breathe. “Did you ever think that there could be more going on in the world than people tell you is true?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, kind of.”
“Well, I’m here to tell you there is more—”
The knock on the door went through him like a rifle shot. No! Another knock. Lindsey held up a finger. “To be continued.” He crossed to the door and opened it. Seth beamed at him.
“Hi. I decided not to sleep. I wanted to see you.”
All he wanted to do was throw himself into the man’s arms. Two giant chips fell off his heart. “Hi. Jazz is here. Come on in.”
Seth didn’t seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm. “Hey, Jazz, my man. Good to see you. How do you like the new digs?”
Jazz’s smile about split his face. He really liked Seth. Clear to see. Another chip fell. “I can’t believe I’m really here.”
Seth looked at the glass still lying on the floor. “You guys playing a new game? Throw the milk?”
Jazz stared at his feet. “Nah. I passed out again. Lindsey and I were just talking about it.”
They couldn’t talk about this! Could they? Could he try to explain to both of them? No, that was crazy. Seth would never believe. The whole pack would be vulnerable.
Seth sat beside Jazz on the couch. “So what were you guys saying? Any conclusions? Is it the blood sugar?”
Jazz shook his head. “Lindsey doesn’t think so. I was telling him all my symptoms—”
Lindsey sat on the edge of the chair. “Yes, he’s like me. I grew really fast like Jazz. It affects the metabolism in strange ways.”
Jazz frowned. Holy God, how could he get out of this?
Seth shrugged. “I grew fast, but I didn’t pass out like that. It seems like an imbalance. Maybe with better nutrition, it’ll improve.”
“Yeah, but Lindsey was saying there’s shit—I mean, stuff going on we don’t know about.”
Crap!
Seth looked at Lindsey. “Oh, what’s that?”
Lindsey’s phone rang in his pocket. Talk about saved by the bell. “Excuse me.” He stood up as he looked at the screen. Bruce. “Hello, darling.”
“Lindsey, please help me. I need to see you. I’m in trouble. Please.”
“Dear God, of course. Can you tell me what’s happening?”
“I’ve gotten myself into a terrible situation. Please. I can’t talk on the phone. Can you come here?”
“Where’s there?” Damn, was he running away from the conversation with Jazz and Seth? Hell, yes.
Bruce rattled off an address, and Lindsey keyed it into his GPS on the phone.
“Come quickly, please.”
“Okay, I will.”
“Alone. No one else can know. It’s too sensitive.”
“Okay.” He hung up. Both Seth and Jazz stared at him. “Uh, a friend of mine is stuck and needs a ride. He’s embarrassed, so I need to go alone. Why don’t you two go out to the pool or play tennis while I do him this favor? After that, we’ll all have lunch together.” Maybe he could think of something to say by then.
Seth frowned but nodded. “Okay, I expect we can find enough amusement in this personal theme park.”