Free An Alpha's Storm (Water Bear Shifters 1) by Sloane Meyers Page A

anytime soon. The more he thought about her, the more restless his bear grew. Brett started heading for his apartment. He would change and head out to have a pint somewhere. Maybe he’d try a new bar, even. He’d been meaning to explore his neighborhood a bit.
    Yes, that was a good plan. He’d do some exploring, and push Aubrey out of his mind until the next time they had a matching opening in their work schedules.

Chapter Seven
     
    Three weeks later, Aubrey stepped out of the lab after wrapping up work for the night. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind of activity, punctuated by a brief day off here and there. Those days off never seemed to match up with Brett’s days off. The longer the time between their last meeting stretched, the more Aubrey felt that she had made the right decision by telling Brett they needed to keep things at just the friends’ level.
    True, Brett made her laugh like no one ever had. And the sex left her craving his body like she had never craved anything before in her life. But a night or two of time together each month wasn’t enough to make a relationship.
    As Aubrey made her way toward her car, she heard a voice behind her calling her name. She resisted the urge to groan aloud when she realized who it was: Gary.
    “Hey, Aubrey! Wait up!”
    Aubrey stopped to wait for him, but didn’t turn around. Gary worked at the university, too, but in a different department. He was chair of the mathematics department, and was obviously a very smart guy. But all his smarts didn’t seem to help him realize that Aubrey wasn’t interested in him. He had been continuously bugging her to go out for dinner with him over the last several weeks. Aubrey had pushed him off, saying that she wasn’t interested in a relationship right now. Which was true—she just didn’t add that even if she had been looking for a relationship, she wouldn’t be looking for one with Gary. He was nice enough, but he seemed to live a boring life. One time, he had cornered her at a cocktail reception and talked her ear off about the Pythagorean Theorem. Ever since then, she’d been wary of being stuck alone with him.
    Gary caught up with Aubrey, breathless and flushed from sprinting toward her. “What are you up to tonight?” he asked. “I was thinking of heading down to Pete’s to grab a beer. Want to come?”
    Aubrey hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse. Pete’s was a bar down the street from the university, and it was a popular place for the staff to grab drinks after work. Aubrey really liked the place, but she didn’t want to get stuck listening to Gary yak about math for an hour. Before she could say anything, however, he started insisting.
    “Come on, just come get a drink with me. It doesn’t have to be anything more than hanging out as friends. What’s the harm? Or do you have a boyfriend who would be jealous to see you throwing back a pint with another guy?”
    Aubrey frowned. She didn’t have a boyfriend. It was her own fault, but somehow the way Gary asked the question made her feel defensive. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” she said, her voice indignant. “I don’t need a man to fulfill me.”
    Gary crossed his arms. “If you don’t have a boyfriend, then there’s no reason for you not to come have a drink with me tonight. I know you’re trying to blow me off. Just give me a chance. I don’t bite. And I’ll buy your beer. You can’t say no to a free drink, now, can you?”
    Aubrey sighed. “Fine. I’ll go. But just this once.”
    She knew it was a bad idea. She was only going to end up encouraging Gary to continue pursuing her. But she was tired of fighting him off, and she did want a beer. Who knew, maybe after one long, awkward drink at the bar, he would finally get the message and leave her alone.
    So Aubrey followed Gary to Pete’s and ordered a pale ale. Pete’s was a small place, and pretty divey. You could easily see the whole bar from any seat in the room. But despite