Beast grunted. If Winter spoke caveman, she would guess he agreed with the other guys.
“That’s the test, right?” Winter said. “To see if we can control our animals enough to ride a horse?” She was trying to stay positive, but the hard, cold fact was this was going to weed them out real quick.
Gesturing to the A-Team, Emma asked, “Why don’t they have to do this? I’m human, and I can feel the bad vibes when I’m around them. They’re all psychopaths like you guys.”
“Thanks for the judgment,” Dustin muttered as he shoveled another bite of noodles into his maw. “And what are you bitching about? You’re human. You’ll be fine on a horse.”
Emma shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to be in a crew with the A-Team. A stands for asshole.”
Dustin froze, noodles hanging from his mouth to his chopsticks. “I knew it. I didn’t want this to happen, but you’re falling for me. Should we bang now? I like doggy style.”
“Screw you,” Emma said, swatting his chopsticks.
When a noodle snapped and smacked Dustin in the face, Winter laughed. “Okay, so the horseback thing will be hard, but it’s not a definite ‘no’ yet. At least we got a call-back.”
“You’re so positive,” Dustin said. “And you washed your hair today. Is that actual lip gloss you’re wearing? Winter, you don’t look like a hobo. Sex with our resident lunatic did you good.”
“Enough,” Logan growled.
“You don’t think she looks extra pretty today?” Dustin pushed. “She probably dressed up for you. Look, she even has your marks on display.”
Winter sat frozen and mortified as Logan looked over at her arm. He winced and refused to agree with Dustin. The flush in her cheeks reached the tips of her ears.
“Fail,” Dustin muttered. “I set you up nicely, man. All you had to do was call her pretty, and she would’ve let you put your worm in her slimy hole again. See if I help you get laid again.”
Emma scrunched her face up in disgust. “God, do you know anything about women?”
“Uh, I know everything about women,” Dustin said as a blob of fried rice fell out of his mouth.
Logan stood and made his way to his bashed-up truck.
“Where are you going?” Beast ground out as he passed.
Logan yanked the driver’s side door open and muttered, “To the stables. I have to figure out how to ride a horse.”
They all sat there frozen as Logan backed out of the parking spot. And just as he was about to pull away, he slammed on the brakes and rolled down his window. Leveling Winter with a bright-eyed look, he said, “Do you guys want to come?” in a snarly voice.
“I know Winter wants to come. Heyoooo,” Dustin said, raising his hand for a high five that Emma did not return.
Winter was trapped in Logan’s questioning gaze. He was so handsome in the morning light, so earnest in his invite, and even though he’d offered for everyone to come, it felt as if he was speaking directly to her.
Winter set her carton of food in the bag, stood, dusted off the seat of her pants, and then made her way to the truck.
“Shotgun!” Dustin called, scrambling to close lids and load up the food bag with the leftovers.
Fine with her. Winter got in the back seat with Emma, and to her shock, Beast opened the opposite door and climbed in the back with them. He took up damn near half the seat and barely got his seatbelt buckled.
So none of them were friends, and really, they were each other’s competition in a way. But this was a good idea. They knew the challenge coming, and if they could get a leg up and practice beforehand, maybe some of them would have a shot at staying.
Logan’s gaze drifted to her in the rearview, and she smiled. She couldn’t help herself. He made her feel all fluttery and happy, despite the chasm that yawned between them. He was a perfect distraction from her old life and intrigued her more than she was comfortable admitting. As they hit the main road, Emma rolled down the window and Beast cracked his knuckles like a barbarian. Dustin passed Winter’s half-eaten carton of food back to her as he chattered on about how much better he would be at riding horses than the rest of them.
Winter propped her feet up on the console and bobbed her head to the rock song Logan had turned on.
If she really thought about it, this was terrifying, being shoved in a small space with these people. The marks on her arm still throbbed, and the memory of Logan’s bear was still fresh. Beast felt like a maniac beside her, and Dustin’s wolf would no doubt be just as broken as the rest of their animals. But Winter’s alarm bells stayed silent, and her panther stayed calm inside of her—waiting and observing.
So they were the D-Team and a hard no from Kane, according to Rowan’s message. They had an icicle’s chance in hell at registering to the Blackwing Crew without the alpha backing them. At least they were still in the game, and at least they weren’t just sitting around the motel hoping to squeak by the next round. This was a proactive bunch of monsters.
And suddenly something struck her. Before Brody, Winter had kept her eyes on tiny bright sides. That’s how she’d survived, but somewhere along the way, she’d slipped into shadows and had lost sight of the positives. And now here she was, looking at the bright side again.
Winter gave a private smile. A few days out of Brody’s shadow, and she was beginning to feel like her old self again.
Logan met her eyes in the rearview again, then shocked her silly when he reached back, gripped her ankle in his giant hand, squeezed gently, and said, “You look real pretty today.”