Change For Me (Werewolf Romance) (The Alpha's Kiss) Read Free

I’d call a Reuben with a fried egg, grape jelly, coleslaw, horseradish and garlic juice just a sandwich.”
    The scrunched nose and curled lip that I got at mentioning my regular favorite was absolutely priceless and at least half the reason I never got anything different.
    “Yeah, I’d say I wouldn’t call that a sandwich either, but... well, it’s your stomach, I guess.”
    One of the ushers, who also happened to be my science teacher and the coach of both the girls’ volleyball and the baseball team, waved to us from the door. “Time to go, folks!” he said. “We gotta clean this place up. Only rented it out for the morning.”
    “Well there you go,” Grandpa said. “We better do what he says, or we’ll be running laps.”
    I giggled. “Yeah, or doing worksheets. So, the deli and then, how do you feel about a movie? There’s one of those new blow-up-everything movies you like so much.”
    Grandpa furrowed his fuzzy eyebrows. “Now, Leroy, let’s not pretend I’m the only one who enjoys cartoon violence and muscled up men screaming at each other.”
    He never failed to get me smiling. Everything around me was changing, and in a way, felt like it was leaving me behind, no matter how hard I tried to pretend it didn’t bother me.
    Caitlyn going off to Harvard, Hell, even Aaron was going to college, but here I was plan less and adrift, and dare I say it – clueless . Not only didn’t I know how to get where I was going, I didn’t even know the first exit to take to get there. I didn’t even know which highway to take.
    “You okay, Leroy? I’m hungry.” Grandpa Joe’s voice shook me back to life.
    “Yeah, sorry,” I said. “Got lost in my own head for a second. I... is it okay that I’m not excited about this? I mean I am, but—”
    “Hey, hey,” he turned me around and crouched down so we were eye to eye. He had one hand on each of my shoulders. “Everyone gets scared,” he said. “Everyone’s afraid right now, no matter what sort of face they’ve got on. You’re supposed to be all giddy and excited and, if you were listening to that fellow who spoke for upwards of an hour, ready to conquer a small country. But the truth is, every single one of the people sitting around you, they’re all scared. And their parents are scared for them.”
    I nodded, intent on keeping myself together. “Were you?”
    “Me? Scared? I was so scared of graduating that I never did it. Seemed a better idea to me to join a club that sent me to Europe to get shot at for a couple of years instead of graduating high school. I was so terrified that I lied to get out of high school early. Lots of people did.” He pushed one of my short curls out of my face. “Everybody gets scared, Lily. It’s what you do afterwards that makes you who you are.”
    I sniffed and looked down for a second, blinking furiously. He only calls me ‘Lily’ when he’s really serious. “Okay, yeah. Sorry, I’m fine.”
    “No more apologies,” he said, holding me tight. “Everything’s gonna be fine. We’ve got each other, and you’ve got your whole life in front of you, which is probably more terrifying than it is anything else.”
    I laughed a little. He always knew what to say. Always had.
    “Sandwich?” I said, wiping my eyes with my thumb, very careful not to smear my eye shadow.
    “Are you wearing makeup?” Grandpa asked with a quirked up eyebrow. “Were you trying to get a date, Leroy?”
    “No,” I said, laughing and sniffling all at once. “I mean yes, I’m wearing eye shadow. What’s so weird about that?”
    “Nothing at all, it’s just... you’re so beautiful I didn’t even notice until I was right next to you. Here.” A handkerchief got stuffed in my hand. “Now. About that awful thing you want to eat?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “Thanks. You’re the best, really. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
    His answer was a shake of his head. “Come on, we’re getting kicked out by Mr. Stimson, I