Once Bitten Twice Smitten: BBW Werewolf Shifter Menage Romance (3 page)

Her make-up had dried like greasepaint, and she scrubbed hard to get rid of it. She noticed that her pale blue eyes were shining and her cheeks were glowing. Even her full, cupid’s bow lips were a deep red. She’d probably been biting them in concentration. She ran her hand through her dark hair with its cherry-red tint, very glad she’d be washing it in a moment. Finishing up, she walked over to the rest of her clothes, added her bra and panties to the pile, and headed for the showers.

When the team was all showered, with hair dried and make-up applied, they headed out for their usual post-game food and drinks.
What a hot bunch of girls they all are!
Aspen thought, looking at her teammates with a secret smile. Lisa always wore a corset, even while eating, which accentuated her small waist and made her cleavage unbelievable. Winona was always in a pencil skirt that clung to her dangerous curves like glue, while Elise was in a goth-style petticoat, black fishnets and a blue satin bodice. Aspen had picked out a tight black band-shirt with a scoop neck that flaunted her cleavage to good effect. She’d rolled the sleeves up, to show off her new frangipani arm-band tattoo, and teamed it with a pleated plaid skirt, pantyhose with bows on the backs of the thighs, and heavy black boots that laced up to her knees. She was a rock chick at heart, and these were things she’d yearned to wear before she’d joined the team, but had never dared to. Her short bangs hung straight across her forehead, and she’d finger dried her hair so it fell in loose waves.

They headed to Broadway Diner for food, as usual. Val, the owner, was used to them coming in after a game, and automatically reserved his two largest booths for them.

“Did you win, ladies?” he called as they walked in, and he whooped and high-fived them as they confirmed that yes, they’d kicked those Lone Star girls’ asses. A couple of jaws dropped among the clientele, with most of the eyes sliding towards them admiring. But when a guy on a stool by the bar gave a low, sneering whistle, Aspen saw Val lean over and tap him on the cheek. She lifted her chin and kept walking. Things like this still hurt, regardless, but she was going to push it out of her mind and not let it ruin her evening.

The girls ordered bacon cheeseburgers, and multiple helpings of fries and onion rings, along with alcoholic shakes. They all ate ravenously, Aspen tucking into her burger with no guilt, in celebration of her athletic endeavors. They had ice cream for dessert. The diner did the best ice cream in town, made with New England cream, with retro toppings. The conversation was lively, and livelier still as the shakes went down. There was excited commentary on the game:
did you SEE that Lone Star girl go down, when Winona sunk her an elbow in the diaphragm?
That jammer’s a pussy! Aspen knocked the shit out of her!
I thought that girl wasn’t gunna get up again!
Aspen joined in with the others, jumping out of her seat and taking part in comical action replays.

Afterwards, most of them went on to Jacey’s, one of their favorite bars, which had a small dance floor and a good enough mix of music to keep all the girls happy. They ordered cocktails and piled into a single large booth together. The alcohol hit Aspen fast, as it always did after playing sports, and, after her first Piña Colada, she was dizzy in a good way. When Debs pulled her onto the dance floor she didn’t resist, and they were soon dancing away to Kelly Clarkson.

Twenty minutes later, Aspen was thirsty and in need of refueling. She went to the bar and ordered a Cosmopolitan. She drank a glass of water straight down while she was waiting, gazing around at the crowd. A guy came into her peripheral vision, and she automatically turned her head towards him. The color drained from her face when she realized who it was. Luke Maslin. The guy she’d had a huge crush on at high school, and who had totally humiliated her by laughing in her face when she’d admitted it to him. She was so horrified to see him that she could do nothing but stare, her upper lip still moist from the glass of water. He’d not only laughed; he’d told everybody about it, mocking the fat girl who had dared think she might be good enough for him. Her cheeks burned with shame at the recollection.
Get ahold of yourself, girl!
she told herself. He was as handsome as ever, with his dark hair, chiseled jaw and perfect teeth, but he’d stopped being attractive to her as soon as he’d treated her like she was nothing.
But the sad part is that he probably thinks that I’m staring at him because I still like him
, she realized.

“How’s it going, Aspen?” he drawled. She didn’t dignify his words with an answer. “I wish they’d put a sign on the door warning me it was chubby chaser night tonight,” he said, with a nasty grin. Aspen thought about all the things she could say to him, drawing attention to time he’d spent in jail for credit card fraud, the loser job she knew he was doing. But no, she was better than that.

“Fuck you, Luke Maslin!” she yelled, loud enough for everybody around her to hear. “You’re a pathetic piece of shit, who can only make yourself feel better by making other people feel bad. I’m proud of who I am. We’re not in high school anymore, and being a decent person actually counts for a lot in this world!”

“This guy giving you some trouble?” Winona yelled, stomping over. She was joined by Kelly and Debs.

“No, he’s just leaving,” Aspen said, very emphatically. To her great relief, Luke slunk away. They watched as he left the bar, shouldering people aside as he went.

“What’s going on, babe?” Debs asked her.

“Oh nothing.” Aspen shook her head. “Just an unwelcome blast from the past, is all.”

“You want to talk about it, honey?”

“No. Thanks guys, but I don’t want to give that loser anymore airtime. I’m glad I had the balls to say what I said, but that’s all. End of.”

“Ok, if you’re sure?”

“I am.” Aspen beamed at them, reassuringly, and they pulled her back onto the dancefloor.

She continued to dance for maybe half an hour, but the incident had taken the sparkle out of her. When her legs began to feel heavy, she made her excuses and left. She lived just over a mile away, and she chose to walk home instead of taking a taxi, hoping the crisp air would clear her head. Leaving the bar, she turned a corner off the main street, and he was there. He was leaning on some beat-up, piece-of-shit car, smoking, and leering at her. Adrenaline exploded in her chest and her heart started to beat triple-time. Had he been waiting for her? There was no way of avoiding walking past him. As she came close, she could see that he was more wasted than she’d realized in the bar. His eyes were bloodshot and a little wild. He pushed himself off of the car and staggered towards her, stretching his arm out as if to put it around her shoulders.

“So, fat Aspen has finally grown herself a pair,” he slurred. “Well, well. I never thought I’d live to see that day.” Aspen ducked under his arm, with the automatic, not-needing-to-think-about-it, lightning reaction she’d learned from roller derby. Without the support he was expecting, Luke lurched forwards, teetered across the sidewalk, and crashed into the wall on the far side. She was very tempted to help him on his way down, with a crunching blow to his shoulder, but she restrained herself. Instead, she stood and looked down at him, lying in a heap, near a pile of dog poop.

“It would be hard to find a better analogy for a piece of shit, right now, Luke,” she said, before turning on her heel and striding off in the direction of home.

Aspen walked fast. She’d faced Luke Maslin and won. Twice. All those times at high school when she’d cried in her bedroom, thinking about the smart-ass things she wanted to say to him, and she’d finally done it. She’d shown him, and herself, what a lowlife he was. But still, it was a rotten victory. He’d stepped out from her past and stuck a filthy finger into the wound that never healed. Aspen had never had a boyfriend. Although she’d come to accept, and even to enjoy her body, the way Luke had treated her at high school was a constant reminder, a nasty little whisper in her ear, that any guy she liked would reject her, and laugh at her for daring to like him. She held back her tears as long as she could, but soon she could hardly see from the fountain welling up in her eyes. There was no-one around in the quiet little town to see her, and she let them flow. Bitter tears of eternal rejection. She didn’t stop until she was home, and turning the key in the door. She wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and crept in quietly, in case anyone was still up.

But Aspen hadn’t been as alone as she’d thought. Someone was hiding in the shadows, watching her as she walked home. And that someone couldn’t have been more admiring of her pretty face and her full, ripe curves. She reminded him of a peach, just about ready to drop off the tree.

Chapter Three

Brad woke up and rolled over, sighing drowsily and stretching. It was such a huge bed that he could stretch out fully without bumping into Chase. No, hold on. Brad opened his eyes. Chase wasn’t next to him. He had the bed to himself. Chase wasn’t in the room, or in the bathroom either. Where was he? He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Although, there
was
a tray of food on a table by the cabin door, which smelled a lot like steak and fried eggs. The delicious scent filled his nostrils and he salivated. It had to be intended for him. There was no way Chase would have left food lying around uneaten. But why would he bring him food when they’d been arguing so badly? It was most likely his way of saying sorry, he decided. Chase didn’t have a bad heart, he’d just been shaped by his father being too hard on him and having crazy-high expectations of him, and this had turned him into a self-serving, competitive and angry person. Brad was still a way from forgiving him,
but there’s no point wasting good food
, he concluded, hopping out of bed, and picking up the tray.

It tasted as good as it smelled, and he was half way through the huge portion, when the cabin door burst open and Chase came in.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he said.

“Thanks for the breakfast, dude.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Chase replied.

“Ah, I wouldn’t say that. It’s not often I get to enjoy breakfast in bed.”

“I was getting my own, Chase said. “So I had them bring another tray over.”

“Should I take this as an apology for last night?” Brad said, unable to resist. Chase looked down at his feet, and Brad could’ve sworn he saw some color coming to his cheeks.

“If you like,” he said. Brad shrugged.

“Apology accepted,” he said, and shuffled himself into a more comfortable position, propped up on pillows.

“This isn’t the start of a bromance, you know?” Chase said gruffly.

“You’ve brought me steak and eggs for breakfast, dude. It can be anything you want it to be!” Brad replied, with a lecherous wink.

Chase went to prepare himself for the day, while Brad finished his breakfast, chewing slowly, dreamily, reminiscing about the night before. Chase wouldn’t have been so conciliatory this morning if he’d known that Brad had snuck out while he was sleeping. Chase had woken him up, whining and yipping in his dreams, and he couldn’t get back to sleep again. Eventually, he’d decided to get up and take a look around the town.

He’d shifted for speed. It was risky to be seen, but he figured the town would be deep asleep by now. He’d only planned to get a feel for it, to understand the lay of the land, but then he’d scented her. He had a piece of cloth, a tiny red morsel of fabric that had been caught in his teeth the day that he and Chase had run after the girl and toyed with her dress. His mother had given it to him before he began the long journey to Williston, and it was impregnated with the girl’s smell. He’d sniffed it several times during the long, long bus journey from New Mexico, and her scent was imprinted on his brain. As he wandered the streets, he hadn’t expected to pick it up, but, suddenly, there it was, right in the center of the small town, and overpoweringly strong. It wasn’t a scent that had rubbed off from something she’d touched. It was actually her! His heart leaping, he followed on its trail, quickly tracing it to a bar. And there she was, walking out of the bar. The girl of his destiny, and more beautiful than he could’ve imagined. She wasn’t skinny and rangy like the females of his pack; she had lush, soft, human curves. Her hips were full and rounded, and her breasts were more than a handful each. He fantasized about nibbling at the flesh of her generous thighs, or burying his face in the valley between her breasts, which was exposed so temptingly. As he watched, she rounded a corner and was waylaid by a wasted dude. Brad’s muscles tensed, ready to attack, as the guy looked to be making a grab for her, but she easily outwitted him, making him slam into a wall, and crumple in a heap on the ground. Brad stared in admiration. This girl was strong. She didn’t take any shit. He hadn’t known that human females could be so aggressive. But then, she wasn’t a human. There was a good chance she didn’t know it yet, but she was about to become one of them.

Careful to keep a couple of blocks back, Brad tailed her all the way home. His ears pricked up at the snuffling sounds she was making, like a mole searching for food.
Humans made some weird sounds sometimes!
He watched until she was safely in her house, with the door locked. Then he loped all the way back to the hotel, where Chase was deeply asleep, snoring on his back.

*

“What’s your plan?” Chase asked, bounding into the cabin. Brad licked his lips.