Gray Back Bad Bear (Gray Back Bears Book 1) by T. S. Joyce Page A

later. And they weren’t even friends then. It was some sick game Brittney played to make sure Willa still knew her place. She’d learned quickly to hide any crushes on boys because they would inevitably end up on Brittney’s long list of conquests.
    “I don’t know why I’m still stuck in high school,” she murmured.
    “What?” Creed asked. “Y’all are legal, right?”
    “Oh, good God,” she muttered. “Yeah, we’re all college graduates and plenty legal. Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in some immature drama that you just can’t escape?”
    Creed gave Jason a hard glare and drawled out, “Yep.”
    “Well, that’s me and the bombshells.” She downed the rest of her beer and handed him the empty. “Creed, it’s been real. I think it’s high time I bowed out of the drama, though.”
    “You’re better than them, you know?” He looked up from his own bag chair with serious eyes.
    “Nah.” She hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders. “I’m not trying to be better than anyone. I’m just trying to be better than I was yesterday. See you around.”
    Creed smiled and lifted his half empty beer. “Later.”
    “What, you’re not even going to say goodbye?” Brittney called in a pouty voice.
    Willa flipped that canker blossom the bird over her shoulder and made her way through the trees in the direction of her truck. She kicked a limb off the trail and fought the urge to try and break it in half for good measure. She had scrawny arms and no muscle tone, so it would just give her splinters and a bicep spasm.
    And why were her stupid tears trying to escape again? Stupid Matt and stupid Brittney and stupid—”
    “I hated that.”
    With a gasp, Willa skidded to a stop and clutched her chest as if it would keep her heart from leaping out through her rib cage. Great gads, Matt was fast.
    He stood leaned against her truck, arms crossed over his bare chest, navy swim trunks hanging low, still dripping wet with river water.
    “Hated what?” she gritted out, pushing by him to throw open the door and toss her backpack inside.
    Matt scratched his neck, then pulled her into a spine crushing hug. “I don’t like Brittney. I don’t want Brittney.”
    Willa struggled against him, beating his chest with her closed fists and screeching. “Then why did you act like you couldn’t get away from me fast enough?”
    “Because I want to take this slow! Fuck, Willa. I want to take things slow. You aren’t like the others. Not to me. Stop.” He gripped her pounding wrists. “Stop!”
    A sob wrenched from her throat, and she threw herself backward until her shoulders slammed against the bed of the truck. “Don’t touch me.”
    Matt let off a humorless laugh. “That’s supposed to be my line.”
    “So Brittney gets to see the real you, but I don’t.”
    “Because I want you to see me as I am. Not the stupid persona I’ve used to…”
    “To what? Say it, Matt.”
    He gripped his hair and then flung his hands forward. “To seem normal!” He backed up against the truck and slid down. Sitting in the dirt, he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and rasped out. “I wanted you to stick around long enough to get to know the real me, and if I accept your friend request, you’ll see what an asshole I’ve been.”
    “Full disclosure or I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back, Matt.”
    “I know. And you should know everything. I just didn’t want you to.” He swallowed hard and pulled a cell phone from a canvas bag beside him. He punched some buttons and said, “There. Please don’t hate me.”
    Willa yanked her cell phone from her backpack and strode around Matt to the back of the truck. She pulled the tailgate down and sat, settling against the hard metal. Was she strong enough for this? She liked the Matt she’d gotten to know, but was she going to feel the same after she saw whatever he was afraid of showing her?
    His social media wall was bombarded with pictures of him with other