Why the hell had he agreed to this shit? Oh, right. Because he wore a big fat target on his back. Everyone was lining up to take a shot at him. From his teammates to his coaches to his damn family, Parker Berenger could not catch a fucking break. Especially not from his bear.

So what if he’d skipped out on the last mandatory academic check? It wasn’t like he was failing or anything. That stupid college scandal back east had every athletic program in universities across the nation scrambling to prove their players were above the bullshit. Cheated on a girl—maybe. But not once in his less than stellar academic career had he ever cheated for a grade. And never ever in football.

The crime definitely did not fit the punishment. With a scowl, he stood in front of the older building, questioning the gods. Why him? On a Sunday? Before his greasy lunch even had a chance to digest or burn off the alcohol from last night?

Adding yesterday’s game to the mix, and Parker desired anything else other than to serve out his sentence. But the sooner he got it done, the sooner he could go home.

His shoes crunched on the old crumbling pavement of the parking lot. He fought his animal’s deep desire to hibernate for the day. It battled with him over every trudging step away from his truck.

His phone vibrated and rang in his pocket. Pulling it out, he cringed at the volume of the ringer. “What?” he growled, his voice rougher than normal.

“Well, aren’t you a ball of sunshine this morning?” his brother snorted.

“And a good fuck you, too, Vaughn. What do you want?” Parker stuck his middle finger in the air at his brother, knowing he would feel it even if he couldn’t see it. When an approaching mother caught sight of it, she rushed her two kids inside. Crap.

“Dude, you were off your game yesterday.”

“Griff already tore my ass a new one.” Parker respected his older brother’s experience, but Griff’s professional sport was hockey, not football. “We barely took home the win. It should never have been that close.”

“I’m betting Grant gave you shit for blocking for him like a ripped condom.”

Yeah, his quarterback and the coaches had chewed on him already. Bryan Grant punched his arm at the party last night for every player he let get through. Lucky for Parker, his shifter blood healed bruises in no time.

Vaughn’s voice droned on, still giving him shit. “And you caught the ball like it was a pregnant girlfriend or something. They’ll have to pour super glue on your gloves next time.”

Another minivan pulled into the small parking lot. Three kids bounded out of the car, screaming and running ahead of their mother to make it inside. He cringed, and his bear doubled its efforts to drag him away, causing his insides to churn from the struggle.

Parker closed his eyes and counted down from ten to keep things under control. A grouchy, annoyed bear bursting out in front of kids just for being themselves might not be the best start to a Sunday. Or any day.

“You still there?” Vaughn asked.

Parker pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can you coach me on how to be a better tight end another time? I’ve got this thing I’ve gotta do.”

“Wait. You’re not at your place? It’s Sunday. And why am I hearing kids?”

Parker rolled his eyes. No way did he want to tell Vaughn, who would tell their oldest brother Titus, who would then get on Parker’s ass about why he was forced to be standing in front of the public library in Seattle’s Fremont district. “Mind your own business. Is there a reason you called me?”

“Yeah. Titus is getting on my case too damn much. Can I come stay with you and your roommates for a couple weeks?”

The thought of having Vaughn around to hang out with cheered him up. “Sure. No problem. When?”

“Today.”

“That bad?”

Vaughn scoffed on the other end. “You have no idea.”

Possible scenarios that would cause either of the two youngest Berenger brothers to make a run for it popped into Parker’s head, having been on his fair share of the receiving end of their oldest brother’s fatherly ass kickings. “Of course, I do. I should be home in a couple hours.”

“Cool. Go have fun babysitting or whatever has you around screaming brats.”

“Thanks.” He thought of one last request before he hung up.

Vaughn beat him to it. “Don’t worry. Mom’s already made lasagna for me to take. See ya.”

Parker stared at his phone. Damn, his mom’s magical intuition never ceased amazing him. She always knew all kinds of things ahead of time. Too bad she hadn’t warned him about having to read silly books to a room full of snot-nosed kids before he’d skipped out on the study session. Of course, Mom never told any of them anything. Something about taking away from the journey, blah, blah, blah.

The heavy wooden door swung open and a head full of flaming red hair popped out. The girl underneath the messy mop caught his eye. She gritted a forced smile through her teeth. “Are you coming or not?”

Holy Hellfire. Parker lost his cool for a second, and his bear perked up. Out of all hair colors, natural or fake, he loved redheads the best. After careful experimentation and much taste testing, he theorized that all girls with hair in that general range of hue possessed a matching personality. Spicy with a side of sass. The day just got infinitely more interesting.

At least his animal lumbered to life, always so close to the surface when it came to chasing tail. And yet, something about this one…

He made his way up the sidewalk, his eyes trained on her. When she didn’t return his gaze, Parker smirked. Trying too hard not to see me, babe. I know you feel me coming your way. He flashed his infamous panty-ripping smile.

Her eyes flicked to him for less than a second, and she turned her head away. So it was like that? Oh, she would be fun to play with.

“That remains to be seen.” He brushed up against her body when he passed through the door, despite there being plenty of room to get by. His arm grazed her generous boobs.

“Um, what does?” Below her large black-framed glasses, he caught an enticing rise of color in her cheeks.

Good. She wasn’t immune to him. He invaded her personal space with his body. “Whether or not I’m coming.”

Her mouth dropped open with a quick gasp. Something about her plump pink lips shaped like a bow triggered a sense of déjà screw. Shit, had he already been with this girl? Because, damn, if she wasn’t his exact type. Curves in all the right places. Fantastic breasts he wanted to bury his face in. Doing her absolute best to convince herself to say no while her body dared him to make her say yes. His dick twitched in his pants. Fuck, an erection was probably not a good thing to spring on a room full of kids and their parents. And he needed to watch his language when he spoke out loud.

The girl squeezed her eyes shut and mouthed out numbers, counting down. When she opened them, the clear green of them underneath long, thick eyelashes threw him off for a second. She breathed out a sigh, blowing strands of red hair out of her face.

“Over there?” Her voice shook. She pointed toward a brightly colored area of the library where kids sat cross-legged on the floor and parents stood on the edge, looking at their phones.

Parker leaned close enough to whisper, sneaking a look down her ample cleavage. “If that’s a question of whether I’d rather go there with them or stay here with you, I’d rather stay.” He winked.

Her upper lip curled in irritation. “Really. And disappoint all those children. Not to mention their mothers?”

Shit. Any other place, any other time, and the chase would be on. If his bear had a say, he would stay right by her side. Find out why her scent was so appealing. Or better yet, grab her and never let her go.

Get a grip, Berenger. Parker held up his hands in surrender.

She shook her head. Pushing her oddly adorable glasses up her nose, she squared off with him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Quit wasting time with me and go read. To the kids.” Her voice no longer shook, but her level of annoyance grew with every ticking second. She pointed again in the same direction.

“You sure that’s where you want me to go? Because those are aimed right at me.” His eyes slid down to her hardened nipples poking out.

Ordering him to follow her, she heaved a large sigh. Parker held back a chuckle. One hundred bucks said she didn’t know her breasts jiggled up and down when she did that.

“Forgot you were a boob man,” she muttered under her breath, too low for anyone to hear.

But he wasn’t just anyone. His bear heard everything. It paced inside him, stirring up a swell of emotions. And questions. So she did know him after all?

“What was that?” he asked, his head cocked to the side.

She took him by his arm and dragged him toward the room. “I said you were being a boob. Now, you’re already late. And I won’t have you hurting those kids because you’re a jackass. Get your shit together.”

Her fingers dug into his skin. Another memory floated close to the surface but out of reach. His bicep burned under her touch. More than that, seeing her fired up and challenging him ignited his whole damn being. Who the hell was this girl? And why the hell were his cock and his bear desperate to have her?

“Uh, listen. Hold on.” He planted his feet and stopped them. Using his own strength, he pulled her with him behind a bookshelf and out of sight. “I better take a trip to the bathroom first.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Why?”

He flicked his eyes down at the massive boner in his jeans. She followed his lead and stared. Her breath caught again through her gaping mouth, and her fair skin flushed so pink that her freckles disappeared.

Fantasies of having that mouth and tongue wrapped around the crown of his dick didn’t help his current situation. When she licked her lips, still staring, Parker and his cock were goners. He wanted this girl. No, not strong enough. His bear pawed from his insides. Need her.

“What?” Blinking her eyes, she glanced back at him, dazed. As reality dawned on her, she woke up and covered her face with her hands. “Oh. Oh god.”

“Never mind. I see the sign. Stall for a few more minutes, and I’ll be right out.”

He moved away as quickly as possible without running. Once inside, he paced the tiled floor. He didn’t know who needed the break more, her or him? Whoever she was, she had his attention—both his and his bear’s. And before he left today, he’d make sure to find out why.

* * *

A couple mothers spent a little too much time thanking him for reading and hoping that he would come back to do it again. He didn’t mind taking pictures with the kids and signing a few autographs. Parker liked being an ambassador of UW and the top-ranked Huskies football team. That was one of the best parts of his job, and one he wanted to continue when he moved on to play pro ball. But some of the moms had no shame.

“That went better than I expected.” The sexy redhead leaned on the bookshelf outside the room, waiting for him. “You’ve already gotten several positive responses and requests to have you back.”

“Sure.” He looked her up and down, his brain moving a mile a minute trying to solve the mystery of her familiarity.

“You got something for me?” She held out her hand.

A big massive dick and some guaranteed orgasms. Not to mention a few questions. “Like what?” He covered up his frustrations with an eyebrow wiggle.

She crossed her arms again, pushing those enticingly plump orbs together. “Listen, I don’t date arrogant asses. In fact, I don’t date at all. So you can quit ogling me. You’re not gonna get anywhere.”

Nothing fueled his ego more than when a girl played hard to get. His large, dominant beast inside him loved the chase. Her saying no provided the tasty morsel to tease it out of its den to hunt. Walking toward her like a predator toying with its prey, he turned the charm up to ten.

“You sure about that? You didn’t seem so turned off when you eyed me before.” Pheromones and heated arousal scented the air around her again.

The closer he got to her, the more she squirmed. Her whole body warred with itself, wanting to be near him and to run away at the same time. With each step, the winning side changed. She turned to walk away, but stopped to look behind. When he reached out to grasp her arms, she grunted in frustration, but gave up the half-hearted struggle to pull away. With a small whimper, she surrendered to his touch.

He twisted her around and backed her into the end of the nearest bookshelf. Trapping her from running out the door with one hand by her head, he risked being a casualty of war and ran the back of his finger down her cheek. She visibly shivered, her eyes glistening.

Unable to stop himself, Parker ran his nose from the edge of her shoulder covered by a sweater over her left collarbone and up her neck. Her heated arousal laced with the citrus and cinnamon of her skin. Breathing in deeply, he scented her, trying to decipher why she felt different. Like she mattered.

A sound like the coo of a dove escaped her lips with his light touch. She shut her eyes, trying to block him out. He took off her glasses and kissed her eyelids, willing her to gift him with one more glance at her green beauties. They fluttered open. From up close, the color in them sparkled like cut emeralds.

“Gorgeous.”

“What is?” Her whole body trembled.

“You are.” He brushed his lips against hers, stealing a kiss from the enemy.

The second they connected, electrical currents charged through his veins. His bear roared to life inside. The air crackled around them. A longing ache seared his chest. The burn sparked a flash of recognition. Of finding complete peace in the middle of a storm. Of standing in the eye of a hurricane.

His heart thundered, and he tore himself away. “I know you, don’t I?”