“Mmhm. See ya.” He hung up without giving me a chance to echo the goodbye.
I dropped my phone in my bag and shoved a hand through my messy hair.
“Okay,” I told Rocky.
He blinked at me.
“We’re going to do it. Go out in public, like it’s no big deal. Whew. Yay.”
The wolf licked my belly again, growling at me once more.
“Can it,” I growled back. “Or I’ll leave the house in just my damned bra.”
He snarled at me.
“That’s what I thought.” I grabbed my keys out of my bag and headed for the front door. No way in hell was I going to try to drive Rocco’s truck; guys could be weird about that shit. And anyway, I hated big vehicles. Mostly because I was terrible at parking.
Rocky walked to my car at my side, grumbling under his breath as we went. The damned wolf was becoming something of a menace, but I was glad I wasn’t alone.
If not for the werewolf, I would’ve been in my shitty car, driving toward the nearest job interview while praying like hell that I’d find some place to work and live before my vehicle broke down. If that wasn’t my nightmare, I didn’t know what was.
So yeah, I was glad Rocky was there, even if he was kind of a pain in the ass.
I opened my passenger door to let him in first, then walked around to my side. He licked my cheek when I sat down, and with a sigh, I pushed his face away.
“Maybe I should start drinking,” I muttered to myself, turning the key to start my car.
I probably would, if I had the money to fund the habit.
So it was probably a good thing that I was broke, if for that reason alone.
The engine sputtered to life, and I patted the steering wheel to say thank you.
My phone guided me to Walmart, and after we got there, I gestured for Rocky to follow me inside the store. Grabbing sheets only took a few minutes, but I wasn’t ready to head back to Rocco’s place yet, so I wandered the store for a while.
The wolf kept licking me, but that was to be expected.
The place was pretty empty, and I wondered how many other people in the werewolf town had gone out to my graduation. Maybe I should’ve gone.
But if I had, I would’ve regretted it.
And if I was going to regret it whether I went or not, I might as well regret it while spending my two-hundred bucks on a movie and enough ice cream to fill up a whale, right?
With that decision made, I bought my sheets, trying not to do the mental math at how much money that left in my bank account, and then headed to the movie theater.
I was probably going to cheap out on the ice cream and popcorn—because I hadn’t managed to force myself not to do mental math—but at least a movie would distract me for a bit.
Rocky went with me, and practically sat on top of me throughout the movie. It was a horror movie—a romcom would’ve made me feel depressed—and the wolf kept whining, making me pet him.
By the time the movie ended, loneliness had set in.
I had never wanted to be alone. I hadn’t wanted to lose my family to the damn wilderness, or leave the only friend I’d ever known. But June wanted to stay on the road, and my parents made their own decisions, whether I agreed with them or not.
And now, everything was uncertain.
Rocco might not like me enough to share a house with me.
He sure as shit wasn’t attracted to me.