Sorry for the shitty editing on the last chapter. I've gone back and corrected the spelling and punctuation. That's what I get for drunk posting x_x Also, thanks for the great reviews! Keep them coming


Chapter 7: Clothes

"It's a good thing the house is surrounded by several large trees," I tell Sam with a nervous laugh. "I'd hate to explain to Charlie why the neighbors saw me leading a naked man out of the woods."

"You could always tell them the truth," Sam responds with a deliciously low voice.

"What? That the man is actually my best wolf-friend that turned back into a human?"

His eyes sparkle as he chuckles, and he says, "No, that he was lost and needed help and that you saved him."

"Befriending a wolf," I muse and glance slyly at Sam. "Best decision I ever made."

Sam grins widely back at me for a moment before his expression falls, and he turns away from me. I don't understand. Did I say something wrong?

"And are we still best friends?" Sam mumbles to the ground. He intensely watches his toes squish into the muddy grass, but he hides his face from me. "Are we still friends even though I'm just a man now?"

"Of course!" I blurt out, surprised he even has to ask. "If you'll have me, I mean."

What if he doesn't need me anymore? That's a horrid thought.

"Good," he barks out so loudly that I jump. "You're not going anywhere."

He gives me a sheepish smile for startling me and continues teasingly, "I would hate to have to kidnap you to maintain our friendship."

I try to contain my giggles. What an absurd thought. As if he would have to force me to spend time with him. Yeah right.

"I didn't know you harbored such dangerous tendencies," I tease back. "Maybe I was safer the wild animals in the woods."

I turn around as if I'm going to walk back into the trees.

"No!" he yells, frantically spinning toward me. I grunt as a big muscly shoulder plows into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I put my hands out to stop my decent and find myself touching that gorgeously silky skin. He's hot! I mean, he's practically burning up.

"Sam. Sam!" I slap lightly at his back. "I'm just joking. We have to get you cleaned up, anyway. I'm not going back into the woods."

He only ignores me, so I resign myself to being jostled back to the house like a sack of potatoes. I begin to chuckle at Sam for his weird overreaction, but just then Sam shifts me on his shoulder, and I slip further down his back.

OH Shit. His beautiful ass cheek is so close, I could take a bite out of it. It's like a switch flips in my body and suddenly everything Lauren taunted me about – being a prude and not knowing what desire felt like – is thrown out the window. I want Sam to hold me tighter. I want him to press me up against the railing and grind on me. His skin under my hands feels hotter. His arms around me feel stronger. His—

"Ooph," Sam sets me down at the back door of the house, jolting me out of my fantasy. Shit. What a trip. "Uh let me get my keys."

I fumble around for an embarrassingly long time, but I finally get the door open and breathe a sigh of relief. I just hope Sam didn't notice my ogling.

"Let's go upstairs. You can take a shower while I find some clothes for you," I instruct him. I've got my game face on now. Planning and taking care of people is fortunately something I'm great at. I show him upstairs and think of things he'll need.

"I'm afraid that nothing in the house will fit you, Sam. You're definitely taller than Charlie. How tall are you anyway?"

I stick my head out of Charlie's bedroom and when Sam doesn't answer, I find him in the hallway bathroom. He's just staring at the mirror. He even has to duck a little to see himself in it.

"What happened to my face?" he asks in a whisper. I know there's nothing wrong with that beautiful face of his, so at first I'm confused. Then I pull out the flier of Sam before he phased.

"How long ago was this picture taken?" I ask delicately.

"It was from the college visit day at UW in November."

Sam sounds dazed, and it's no wonder since that was only two months ago. There's no way he aged that much naturally. He looks at least five years older, not two months.

"I guess becoming a wolf made you grow up fast," I say gravely. "In more ways than one."

Sam finally turns his head away from the mirror and the frightened look he gives me pierces my soul. Despite his mature body and his strange transformation, he's still a teenager inside. He looks at me like I have the answers to everything, but all I know is that I'll try my damnedest to protect him from anything hurting him like that again.

"Time to get your handsome butt in the shower," I perk up and give him a shooing motion. "Here are some basketball shorts that I think will work and a large flannel. Not sure if the shirt will fit but it's the best I could find. I'm going to whip you up something to eat. It'll be about 20 minutes, so take your time. Use any of the shampoo and soap you find."

I turn to leave but he still hasn't said anything, "Alright, Sam?"

He blinks at me, "Alright."