Good. So I wasn't the only one wondering where the hell we were. The neighborhood had suddenly transformed a few blocks back as if we'd crossed an invisible boundary. I'd spotted no less than two prostitutes in as many blocks and was pretty positive the two gentlemen at the end of the block south of us were currently exchanging drugs for money.
This was where Hollister lived? All the time?
Granted, the Uber ride had officially doubled the amount of time I'd known Hollister, but he was so vibrant and full of joy. Even after knowing him a short time, I knew he was sexy, sweet, and loyal—and he didn't deserve to live inside a home where people pissed in his yard every night.
"Yep!" Hollister chirped, releasing my hand to grab the door handle. I had to fight my urge to lunge across him and keep the door closed. I understood Hollister's reasons for not wanting to follow me blindly out of the club just like I'd appreciated his caution in accepting drinks from strangers.
But this was pushing the limits.
"This is where you live?" I asked, hoping I kept the judgment from my tone.
Despite my efforts, Hollister's head hung between his shoulders. "Yes. It isn't so bad inside though!"
I thanked our driver and climbed out, all while fighting my urge to pick Hollister up and run him out of this neighborhood.
"Hey, you got any change?" the man who had been peeing in Hollister's yard asked.
Hollister tightened his grip on my fingers and tugged me faster down the dirt path. The window next to the front door was cracked, the bottom corner covered with layers of cardboard and plastic garbage bags. He pulled out his key to unlock the front door, but the pressure of pushing his key inside the lock was enough to swing the door open. That was one mystery solved. The house blaring music loudly for the block to enjoy was Hollister's house.
A man crossed the hallway from one doorway into what looked like a living room. Five other people already occupied that space, sitting where there was room among the mess.
I arched a brow at the man as he walked by without acknowledging Hollister's presence. He wore only jeans that hung off his hips. He had a round stomach that hung over the waist of his pants. "Your roommate?"
Hollister pressed his lips together, making it look very much like he was trying not to cry. "One of them."
One?
"I have six. I think. Cameron mentioned bringing his girlfriend to stay since she recently lost her job."
Six, going on seven, in a home that did not look fit for one.
"C'mon, my room is upstairs." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up a set of rickety stairs. I noticed Hollister didn't use the railing and, as I set my hand down on it, realized why. The entire structure shifted beneath my hand. "Oh, no, we don't use that. It's loose."
"Hm." I couldn't say anything else. I wasn't having sex with Hollister in this house. But I also wasn't about to leave Hollister here either.
The top of the stairs brought us to the mouth of a short hallway. I wrinkled my nose against the sudden new smell. This was when being a wolf shifter with enhanced senses was annoying.
On the second floor were three doors, one of which was closed with a combination lock. Hollister reached for the lock, spinning the dial as a sharp clucking sound came from one of the other two rooms.
"I, uh…I don't know what that is." Hollister looked over his shoulder.
The two of us peered into the dark sliver where the door hung open. I didn't think Hollister could see inside without the light, but I could. "Chickens?"
Hollister frowned. "What?" He stomped just inside the room, flinging the light on as he opened the door all the way.
The light must have spooked the rest of the chickens because they began to cluck, squawk, and shake their bodies, sending tiny white feathers into the air.
"These are new," Hollister said without looking at me. His shoulders fell forward, and I couldn't help my urge to pin Hollister against the hallway wall, blocking him from the dirt and danger of this house. His head hung down, and I slid my finger under his chin, turning his face toward me. "This is a disaster, isn't it?" he whispered when our eyes met.
I kept his gaze on me. "You are smoking hot and sexy, and I still want to fuck you," I murmured.
Hollister gasped, sliding his bottom lip between his teeth. "But?"
"No but. That's all I have to say. Well, that and we're both getting the hell out of here right now." At last, I let myself do the thing I'd wanted to do since we got here. I hooked my arm around Hollister's waist, keeping him so tightly to my side his feet lifted off the ground. "Do you need anything from your room?"
He shook his head.
"Good. We're leaving." Our journey down the stairs and out of Hollister's house took only seconds, and yet it wasn't fast enough. His roommates didn't call after us, asking why some stranger was carrying their friend from his home. If I didn't already dislike the people based on the types of things I'd seen strewn over the coffee table, I would've then. I wasn't being a snob; this place wasn't safe.
The cool, outside air felt even more refreshing after breathing in the mix of stale beer, body odor, and animal smells from the inside of Hollister's house. Hollister's lip stuck out in a pout that reminded me how young he was. In his twenties, yes, but his early twenties, while I'd crested closer to forty than thirty. He probably felt embarrassed, but I hadn't left that house only to have the house follow us.
I lifted his frame, leaving Hollister with the choice of either pushing me away or winding his legs around my hips. He chose the latter, and our lips collided with brutal force. My hands molded against his ass, a cheek in each palm. I kneaded the soft flesh, a growl rumbling low in my throat. That hadn't been the first growl to sneak out while in Hollister's company. He had a surfer's charm and a bohemian innocence, but it was his fire, his passion, that I couldn't look away from. I wasn't sure if I'd blinked a single time since spotting him dancing in the club.
But if I wasn't careful now, before my beast took over completely, I'd end up rutting into him against a tree. And Hollister deserved so much more than that.
I broke the kiss, cupping Hollister's face. I had to hold him in place as he strained forward to kiss me. His eyes were still closed, and I smirked, not at his exuberance—that was sexy as fuck—but at the fact that Aver Walker was currently fighting off a gorgeous man's advances in the street. Except I didn't want to fight Hollister's advances. I just didn't want us to get thrown in jail for indecent exposure.
Hollister's eyelids fluttered open while his lips still searched for purchase. Finding only my thumb, he sucked the finger into his mouth as his tongue licked circles around it.
"Very good boy." These trips out of the closet and into the city were always about me letting my inner beast roam wild, but Hollister managed to bring him out without any interference from me. My cock throbbed, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, but I needed to get him out of public. I'd meant what I said at the club. I didn't want anyone seeing Hollister as he writhed against me. I knew I needed to put a stop to my possessive thoughts, and I would, later, when I had Hollister safe and secure and out of this fucking neighborhood.