Free Sondrae Bennett - Alpine Woods Shifters 4 by Worth Fighting For Page A

fantasies. No matter how hard he tried to think about someone else, anyone else, the image always transformed into her.
    He needed to pull it together and get a grip. Tonight, he would take Misty in his imagination, and tomorrow, he would lock her back into the friendship box. Then he would throw out the key. Next time he saw Misty, he would have his emotions under control.
     

 

 
    Chapter 6
     
    Misty grunted as she fell to the ground, Cody falling hard on top of her. That had hurt. Still, she took a moment to savor the feel of his front pressed up against her back before he jumped off as if she’d burned him.
    Sweat ran between her breasts as she rose onto her hands. She needed a puff of her inhaler. Being thrown repeatedly to the ground was hell on the lungs. Air whooshing in and out against their will over and over again…yeah, that was good for the asthma.
    “Damn it, Misty. You’re not doing what I’m telling you.” The curt tone, more than the words, had her back going up. Cody had been in a foul mood since they’d started the lessons, being impatient with her and downright rude most of the time. She’d about reached her limit.
    “It’s not like I’m not trying,” Misty said as she rose and dusted off her hands.
    “Not hard enough. It’s not rocket science.”
    Shocked, her gaze flew to his. Never in the fifteen years she’d known him had he spoken to her in such a condescending tone. What had gotten into him today? Last night he’d been so tender, kissing her forehead as she’d rested against him. It seemed almost impossible the man with the dark frown standing in front of her and the man from last night were one and the same.
    “What the hell crawled up your craw?”
    “Crawled up your craw? Do you even know how stupid that sounds?”
    Misty recoiled as if he’d slapped her. Her throat felt tight and she swallowed threatening tears. This wasn’t the man she’d known most of her life. The man she loved. It couldn’t be. Because that man would never be this cruel.
    “That’s twice now you’ve called me stupid. This is new to me. I just need some time to learn it.”
    “You know, I don’t have forever. You aren’t the only thing I have to do today.”
    The words have to jumped out at her. After all they’d been through, he saw her as a responsibility. A chore he had to finish before he popped open a cold one and enjoyed his weekend. While she’d gloried in every minute, he’d been watching the clock until he could go home.
    All her hopes about the future withered. Her instincts had been wrong to pursue him. They’d been wrong about a lot of things, apparently.
    She bit her lip and ruthlessly thrust back the tears. No way in hell would she let him see her cry. With as much dignity as she could muster, she raised her chin and straightened her clothes, using the excuse of brushing dirt off to break eye contact.
    “I didn’t realize you saw me as an obligation. These lessons were your idea in the first place.” She heard the tears in her voice, but was helpless against them. “But since your day is so busy, you’d better get on with it. I no longer require your services as an instructor.”
    Her eyes itched with unshed tears as she crossed to her back door and let herself inside. Behind her, Cody said something, but Misty blocked it out. She’d heard enough from him to last a lifetime.
    The door handle jiggled before she’d gotten half way across the room. Thank heaven she’d locked the door out of habit. Next came the knocking as he shouted her name through the pane. She ignored both.
    Not bothering to turn on the lights in her bedroom, Misty sat on her bed and stared at nothing. Her thoughts whirled inside her head. One by one, her fantasies of their future together played through her mind, a final hurrah before dying a swift death.
    She’d never been certain they would marry. But whenever she pictured the future, he was always in it. Sure, she wanted him as her life mate, but