Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Eli held his hand out. “Mind if I look?”
“Sure,” I said and passed it over as we reached the table. He stood by my side and turned it on. He navigated through the admittedly simple but annoyingly sparse controls. There was a setting buried under ten others. “This here,” he said, lifting the camera up. I leaned in. His strawberry-sweet scent filled me with a need that nearly knocked me to my knees. “That’s the Kelvin temperature, and you can fine-tune it. It’s different than the other white-balance toggle. More specific. And then, of course, you can fix anything else in post, usually.”
I was impressed. He knew his shit. Clearly knew more than me. “Thanks,” I said as he handed my camera back. Our fingertips touched. I sucked in a breath. The sweater I had on kept me warm, but it didn’t account for the intense heat I began to feel.
Fuck. This was the kind of ache I thought I’d somehow managed to avoid for most of my adult life. I never felt this kind of need—this magnetic pull—toward another person before. It was how I’d been able to get on with life on my own. I didn’t feel the need to get to know someone, to figure out ways I could be in their vicinity for as long as possible, soaking in their presence.
That’s how Eli made me feel, and I’d only just met him a few weeks ago.
It had made me consciously avoid him during locker room moments or warm-ups. If we were working out at the same time, I’d pick a machine or bench far from him, but still in a spot where I could keep an eye on him through the mirror. Occasionally checking him out when he wasn’t looking. Drinking up his physique as he sweat and grunted and lifted and stretched.
But why? Why was I scared of this feeling?
Because it’s with Elijah.
A man. Someone who would need me to come out.
Could I reckon with that? My gut told me no. That my need to keep as low a profile as possible was one with the weight of the shifter population behind it. How could I set that aside? It wasn’t me being selfish. No, it was the opposite. If I threw all caution to the wind, said that my wants mattered more than the safety and secrecy of shifters all around the world, then that would make me selfish.
Eli smiled at me, and my entire body stiffened. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was about it, but I was certain that Eli had the most beautiful smile known to mankind. It was charming, disarming, and alluring all in equal measure.
Fuck, I just want to grab him by the back of his neck and kiss him.
“What kind of photography do you like?” Eli asked. We were sitting at a small round table in the corner of the cafe. The two massive ferns flanked us like security guards. It did feel a little like the VIP area. We were secluded, the rest of the group dispersed around the cafe. Dylan and Chris had both gotten into an animated conversation with Richie, although it sounded like they were talking to him about hockey and not photography.
“I started on sports photography, and that’s still my true love. I’ve been experimenting lately with food photography, but I think it’s the speed that I like most with sports.”
“That makes sense. I enjoy photographing wildlife. Sometimes my subject could be as slow as a box tortoise or as fast as a dove-tailed hawk.”
“Well, you came to the right spot for that.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve already seen like five wolves.”
My stomach dropped right out of my ass. I almost had to excuse myself to run to the bathroom so I could stuff it back in.
“Really?” I said, my throat feeling tight.
“Yeah. I mean… I don’t know if it’s the same one. Probably is. I’ll have to try and photograph it the next time I see it.” Eli paused and looked out the window. The vein in his neck pulsed. “Is Burlington known for having a big wolf population?”
“They’ve been seen around, yeah. But I wouldn’t worry. They’ve never hurt anyone.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I had to get off this conversation. Fast. “Uhm, so, uh, what’s your favorite color?”
He looked as thrown off by that question as I felt by asking it.
Shit. I meant to ask him his favorite lens, but all I could focus on was getting him off that whole “odd number of wolf sightings around here” topic. It didn’t help that he smelled so damn good. My brain had misfire after misfire after misfire.
“Mine’s blue,” I offered.
Eli chuckled. “Yeah, but what type of blue? I know it sounds hokeypokey, but just kind of think about it for a second.”
I looked around the room for some inspiration. “I guess midnight blue. Something rich and dark. Like a night only lit up by a full moon. And maybe a galaxy or two.”