My Childhood Friend is a Werewolf

Chapter Thirteen

As promised, after she finally declared that the dining room was done (stalling as much as she possibly could), Dren immediately whisked her away to his car where she passed out the moment his key turned the ignition.

It was jarring to fall asleep to the subtle hum of a car's engine, surrounded by the smell of Dren's cologne and the feel of leather seats, and then wake in her own bed snuggled against her lavender sheets, still wearing the clothes she put on that morning. The sun was setting when she woke up and there were a slew of notifications on her phone. Yoko had texted her thank-yous and pictures of her flowers, gushing at how beautiful they were and how thankful she was for Emma's hard work.

There were a few other messages, but Emma put her phone down as she yawned and rubbed her sleepy, droopy eyes, padding out into the kitchen where the soft hum of the dryer met her ears.

Dryer? Was I washing clothes?

Emma jumped. "AHH!"

Dren's head lolled towards her from where he sat on the couch, totally shirtless. The TV was on, but the sound was muted while the closed captions were turned on. He was holding a plate to his chest, munching on something as she walked in.

"You're awake," he said as he took another bite of food, his tattoo sleeve on full display. The art was celtic in style, the image extending onto his collarbone where a wolf prepared to eat his heart. Emma had never seen it fully on display, but she was distracted from admiring it when she realised he was eating her leftover takeout food from two nights ago.

"Thief!" She pointed accusingly at him, only to have him take another bite of food. He seemed utterly unconcerned that he had just ransacked her fridge without permission. "What the hell, Dren?! That was the only thing left in my fridge!" She stomped towards him, attempting to snatch the food away only to be unsuccessful when he dodged her hands.

"You shouldn't have such an empty fridge, then," he said with a smirk, taking another bite of her food. She could practically feel the steam coming out of her head as she grit her teeth.

"I can't believe you," she huffed, turning on her heel to get her phone. "Whatever, I'll just order more food."

Emma gasped when a warm arm wrapped around her stomach, pulling her into Dren's hard chest. She had no idea how he had moved so fast, but couldn't help noticing how pleasant his body felt, like a cosy hug on a winter night. "Let me take you out for dinner," he murmured into her ear, making goosebumps appear over her arms. Her cheeks turned red. Did he mean... like a date? "Since I ate all your food," he continued, and her heart from the amendment.

Of course. He only meant to pay her back. She shoved him away, flushing in embarrassment at her misinterpretation of his offer. "Where's your shirt, you weirdo?" she said bitingly, taking a few steps away from him to gain some distance for her racing heart. She refused to turn around, not wanting to be caught staring at his abs. Emma was the epitome of wrinkled, her shirt sporting a slew of creases from sleep and her hair an absolute bird's nest on her head. She'd had her hair in a top bun for most of the day while working, but it had come free at some point in her sleep and turned into a tangled mess.

Emma stamped down the mortification at Dren having seen her this way, knowing that there were plenty of times he'd seen her looking worse than this in high school, but unable to stop how embarrassed she felt standing next to him as if she'd just gotten out of a fight.

"I spilled some coffee on it," he said, jerking his head to where her washer and dryer were. "Sorry about using your stuff, but I figured it'd be best not to leave your place half-naked." Emma thought about what her neighbours would think seeing a heavily-muscled man leaving her apartment and shivered.