Free Sullivan (Leopard's Spots 7) by Bailey Bradford Page B

As it was, Chad’s eyes bugged and he scuttled off to rejoin the rest of the work crew.
    “You might want to consider chilling out a little,” Paava said from behind him, “and, you know, maybe stop threatening to kill the bigots.”
    “Why?” Bobby asked, turning just enough to see Paava in his peripheral vision.
    “Where’s the fun in that?”
    Paava came forward to stand beside him. “Well, you’ve been walking around like a rabid wolf for a couple of days now, and this whole”—Paava grimaced and flapped a hand at him as he looked Bobby over—“turtleneck in August shit is just bizarre, bud. Seriously, what are you hiding?”
    “I’m not—” Bobby started but Paava, who was sure to be his beta once Bobby became alpha, merely gave him a disbelieving look.
    “Don’t even try lying to me, Bobby. We’ve been friends since we could shift. I know you almost better than anyone else does.” Paava leaned close and whispered, “Just like I know how smart you are under that lazy, dimwitted façade you like to pull out for people.
    Now, I know you came in smelling like someone who’d been fucked hard, and I have to wonder, what marks might you be covering up?”
    “Aw, fuck off,” Bobby growled, touching the spot where Sully had bitten him before he realised what a tell that was. Paava all but gloated and Bobby wanted to punch him. “How do you know what I smelled like anyway?”
    Paava thumbed over his shoulder. “Because Lisa was here, and she told me. Guess you were in too big a hurry to notice my little sister cleaning the place?”
    “Obviously.” Damn it . He’d barrelled through the club and checked the messages to make sure he hadn’t missed anything from the insurance company. He hadn’t even noticed Lisa. Truthfully, he’d not known why he came here. He’d just been in flight mode, and that irritated him.
    “So what had you running like a wolf with a tin can tied to its tail?” Bobby rolled his eyes at Paava. “That works a whole lot better using a cat.” Which made him think of a certain snow leopard shifter he couldn’t get out of his head.
    “You suck at evading my questions,” Paava told him.
    “No, I don’t. I haven’t really answered them yet, have I?” Bobby pointed out. “I suck at acting like I’m trying not to act like I’m evading them.” Paava snorted. “I think you confused us both with that.”
    “Nah, I just don’t want to talk about it.” Bobby touched that covered bite mark up again. He was still feeling the mating between him and Sully. His ass occasionally twinged with a bit of pain. He’d never, ever admit that to anyone.
    “You keep touching that spot,” Paava said. Bobby was about to tell him duh when Paava floored him. “That’s the mating bite spot, you know that, right? And I’ve never, ever known you to let your hookups mark you, so I have to wonder…”
    “No, you don’t,” Bobby sniped. “Fucking drop it. And go talk to the foreman or whoever about getting that bigoted asshole off the construction crew. I don’t want someone like that working on my club. I can’t trust him.”
    “At least we agree there, but you can snarl all you want, I’m not going to stop dogging you about you being claimed—”
    “I was not!” Bobby shouted. Paava just flipped him off and walked away. “The hell do I want him for a beta? He has no respect for me at all.”
    “I’ll be perfect for it and you know it, because I won’t let you get away with shit,” Paava called back to him. “And you’ll always be able to trust me to tell you the truth when you need to hear it.”
    Paava was right, but Bobby wasn’t going to admit it. He went back to his office and walked over to the dingy mirror hanging on the wall. He tugged down the turtleneck until he could see the bruised spot on his join of neck and shoulder. There were scabs over the places where Sully’s teeth had penetrated him, and they itched, but if he scratched them he’d probably bleed