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of his chair like he was wrestling with a decision. I m a shapeshifter,
Tom.
Very funny.
But Grant wasn t smiling, and Tom knew from experience that the
guy couldn t keep a straight face when he was joking around.
I, uh& Tom shook his head. What?
Grant looked down at his lap and sighed. Like I said. I m a
shapeshifter, a human capable of turning into a w
You re kidding, Tom said. You have to be kidding.
I m not.
He met Grant s gaze, and his stomach dropped. The man was
deadly serious. He thought he was a werewolf. Or he is a werewolf.
Tom couldn t decide which was more worrying. Either the man he
had come to love was delusional or a supernatural creature.
You, you re& Tom fought against his instincts and held
Grant s gaze. You re telling me that you re a shapeshifter.
Yes.
You re saying you re not human?
Yes. No. Grant chewed his lip. That s debatable. I view myself
as a human with extra abilities, but some shifters would say that
they re no longer
This is bullshit, Tom snapped, louder than he d intended.
He stood and headed toward the kitchen. Grant called to him, but
Tom shut him out, instead focusing on the groceries that had to be put
away. Groceries were normal, they made sense. There was nothing
98 JC Holly
fucking supernatural about them. He jumped as Grant put a hand on
his shoulder.
Sorry, Grant said, as he stepped back. I know this is a lot to
take in.
No, Tom said, louder than he d intended to. No, Grant. Finding
out your girlfriend is sleeping around is a lot to take in. Realizing
you re bisexual, or gay, or whatever the hell I am, is a lot. This& He
gestured at Grant with a tin. This is too fucking much!
He turned back to the counter and slapped his hands onto the
wood surface as he took a deep breath. This couldn t be happening, he
told himself. It was a dream, or a really shitty joke at his expense.
After all he d gone through lately, maybe he d just finally snapped.
That d explain him swearing at Grant, he thought with a pang of guilt.
Maybe I should go, Grant said from behind. You need time.
Maybe you should.
Tom hadn t realized he d said the words until Grant had left, the
front door closing behind him with a soft click. Tom hung his head
and forced in another deep breath, then finished putting away the
groceries. As soon as he was finished he collapsed into a chair and
stared at the door he d just told Grant to leave through.
It took a long time before his mind allowed him to form thoughts
again, and when it did a dozen questions assaulted him. Was Grant
really something other than human? What did that mean? Was he
stronger? Faster? Tom had seen for himself how impressive the man s
endurance was back at the cabin. He d cleared literally tons of snow
with no complaint, and even when he took breaks he d seemed like he
didn t really need them.
On top of that there were the times when his hearing or sense of
smell had seemed prodigious. Not to mention his performance in the
bedroom.
This is ridiculous, he muttered as he stood.
Cabin Fever 99
Was he really considering the idea that the man he had fallen for
was a shapeshifter? Perhaps he thought he was, but that sort of thing
didn t exist, surely.
Tom stood and moved back to the lounge, then changed his mind
and headed upstairs. He couldn t think straight. Had he really slept
with a supernatural creature? In the bed he was now sitting on?
He jumped up again and jogged down the stairs, grabbing his
jacket on the way. He needed to think, and he needed to do it
somewhere where there weren t a hundred reminders of Grant.
Think about what, though? he asked his reflection as he pulled
on his coat.
Was he considering stopping seeing Grant? The question hurt far
more than any of the others that ricocheted around his head. He
needed to know more about what was going on, and since he d
stupidly got rid of Grant, he d have to find another avenue of inquiry.
With a sigh he threw off his jacket and moved back to the couch,
then opened his laptop and launched an internet search.
* * * *
Grant drove home, but didn t go inside. Instead he parked his car
and started walking. He didn t know where he was going, but he
needed to burn off some stress, and since he wasn t in the mood to
shift that left walking or finding someone to punch.
The snow soaked through his jeans as he walked, making them
rub uncomfortably against his skin, but he pushed it from his mind.
There were far more important things to think about. Had he just
destroyed a relationship? He d tried to make the talk calm and
reasoned, but Tom had had a harder time with it than Grant had
expected.
He could hardly blame the guy, of course, but that didn t make
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