The Cynic and the Wolf by Julie Steimle (ebook voice reader TXT) 📕

started into teasing him then went into a different topic which was about their plans to ski, their grades for that term, and a few other things. Audry found it interesting how normal he was among his friends. In fact, he wasn't pretentious at all. He was just a normal guy. Indeed, his words at her from the past seemed to slap her into comprehension that he really was 'just a guy'.

Deciding to leave, Audry picked a direction to go next.

"Ow-ooooo! Werewolves of London! Ow-ooooo! …Ow-ooooo! Werewolves of London! Ow-ooooo! "

Rick's friends busted up.

"…Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking—"

"Hello?" Rick's voice cut through with a tone of irritation.

Audry halted, staring up at him. How many ringtones did Rick Deacon have? Or did he change it? It wasn't Hungry Like a Wolf.

"Yeah, Tom. All is good," Rick said, sighing with a mix of brotherly fondness and that old irritation. "I survived."

She could not hear the other side. But up above, Audry was sure his friends could. Their voices had hushed, and they only snickered and shushed one another.

"Well… you can stay at the lodge in my suite—"

"What? You're letting them stay in the lodge?" one of Rick's friends protested.

"—free of charge, or you can rent out a cabin for all of you. I can wave the fee, but the registration has to be done online." Audry could see him wave to his other friends not to have a cow.

 "I want to stay in your suite," one of the girls whispered.

Rick cupped his hand over the mouthpiece, "Sorry, this offer is only given to my old roomie Tom Brown, who would sneak in if I didn't let him in."

"What? Through the window?" one of his friends shot out incredulously.

"Through the roof, if he wanted to," Rick muttered. Then he went back to his phone call. "Look, Tom, I'm not exactly alone right now. So get to the point."

Tom said something.

Rick nodded, sighed, and with a peek over at his friends replied, "Details? This very second? I am out in the open, you know."

Tom replied with something that made Rick moan then snort with a laugh. "Fine. To sum up, I had help this time around. There was just this girl here on a project for her master's degree who spotted hunters on the lot. The rangers hunted them down and had them arrested. End of story."

'This girl?' That was what she was? Just 'this girl'? Was it his job to keep track of the wolf and he had screwed it up and had to be saved by 'this girl'? What a sexist pig!

All this time… 'Cynical Audry' from Paris had been reduced to 'this girl'. Admittedly, it bruised Audry's pride to be referred to in such a derogatory way. 'This girl'. That was all she was to him. Not even a new friend. Just 'this girl'. Not even the 'Vegan Girl' which was what a lot of people had called her. She didn't even mind being thought of as Cynical Audry, because at least he had remembered her name.

Huffing to herself, Audry skied off. She made sure he did not see or hear her.

 Audry made a loop. She circled the cabins then skied over to the left side of the ski slope, tracking snow depth, taking pictures of tracks and animal life along the way. Wolf prints had gone over here also. Apparently last night the wolf had snuck far from the hunters, despite their efforts to track it. It was smart.

When she skied around toward the slope, Audry took her last picture and gazed over the scenery. She was done for the morning.

"Hey! You're that girl from last night!" a woman's voice called from her right.

Audry turned her head to look.

The girls from the Brown University gang were standing on the slope a few yards away, waving to her, beckoning her to them.

Groaning inside, Audry wished to ski away, but that would be rude.

She skied over.

"What’s your name again?" one of them asked, grinning at Audry. She was a thin tanned twenty-something with a broad healthy smile. Audry could not make out if she were rich or poor as her ski outfit was well coordinated but generic. Some of the other girls were in thrown-together outfits, though one looked like a model for skiing.

"Audry Bruchenhaus." Audry sighed and asked to be polite, "And your name?"

The co-ed smiled. "Brittney Holt."

"Helen Lowell." "Amber Brown." "Onea Williams."

"So… you are all Rick Deacon's friends from Brown?" Audry asked.

The girls giggled. Brittany and Amber raised their hands. "We are. They are just along for the ride."

The other two girls giggled, ducking their heads between their shoulders. "He knows us."

"How many in the group are his friends?" Audry asked, now wondering how much they were using him.

Brittany's smile shifted a little, reading Audry carefully. "A lot of people like him and claim to be his friend, but he's not a party guy if that's what you are imagining."

Audry felt duly chastened, seeing the sharp look in Brittany's gaze. Yet she said, "I'm not imagining anything. He's the furthest from my mind. I was just observing that—"

"Please don't," Brittany said abrpuptly.

Audry stiffened.

Sighing, Brittany explained, "Rick has said nothing but nice things about you. I'd hate to have to tell him you had been bad-mouthing him."

"Bad mouthing?" Audry opened her mouth in protest. "I never—"

"You were about to," Brittany said, just as sharply.

Audry would have protested, but Brittany had been right. She was in a bad mood.

"Rick doesn't throw away compliments," Brittany said, the other girls listening in yet not interfering. "He openly praised you, telling us all about your project and how perfectly you handled the situation with the hunters on the grounds and telling the rangers and everything—with proof. He said whenever hunters are after that wolf, they have never been able to get proof. He is really grateful."

"He was ready to kiss your feet," Onea cut in.

Audry blushed. And yet he had called her 'this girl' over the phone. That didn't match up. "Look," she said. "I've got a boyfriend. And I really don't think Rick meant any of that—"

"Oh, he meant it," Onea cut her off, nodding.

"I'm totally jealous," Helen chimed in, though she didn't exactly look catty about it.

"He even said, 'See that pretty girl there,' when pointing you out," Amber said.

Her face felt hot. Audry did not want to believe it.

"And the only girls he praises is Jessica Mason, his best friend's girlfriend, who is studying to be a police officer," Brittney explained.

But Amber cut in, "What about that girl Eve McAllister?"

"That surfer chick from California?" Brittney eyed her friend incredulously.

"Well, yeah," Amber exclaimed. "I mean he describes her as completely awesome."

"But isn't she dating a childhood friend now?" Brittney retorted. "I heard Rick complain that she talks all the time about her friend Hans a lot, which Rick doesn't like because that means his chances are done for."

"What’s she like?" Helen asked.

Audry rolled her eyes. She didn't want to overhear this gossip, and she did not want to end up as one of 'Rick's girls'. She turned to go.

"Hey," Brittney called out to get her attention. "All we are saying, is be a little nicer. He likes you."

Rolling her eyes, Audry smirked, "What? He can't buy enough friends?"

They stared at her as is she had slapped them.

"Look," Audry said, "I'm not interested in Rick Deacon. I have a boyfriend."

"I heard your boyfriend was a player," Onea said, chuckling.

Audry gaped. "He said that?"

They all nodded.

Her hands balled into fists. That jerk. If she ever ran across that rich boy, she was going slap him.

"He is not a player," Audry bit out. "And Rick is a big fat jerk. And you can tell him for me."

They all stared more, realizing that she meant it. Brittney looked dismayed, and yet at the same time relieved. Audry was not competition, and they had verified it. That was probably their purpose all along. 

Audry skied off.

Thing was, their jealousy had unsettled her. So had their assurances that Rick's compliments were sincere, even though he was complete ass. Because (and this was Audry being entirely honest with herself), she actually thought Rick Deacon was uniquely handsome. He reminded her of that character from the movie Beastly—and she felt like saying to him, 'You no vex me you stoosh ginnygog.' every time she stumbled across him.

Why did he have to be good-looking rich guy? Those were the worst. She could hate him, but she would also feel her heart thump when she saw him. It wasn't fair.

She had to think of Harlin. He was her only hope.

But as Audry skied down to the lodge, one notion settled in her brain, Rick was not flirting with her. Maybe he was complimenting her to other people and expecting the word to get to her, which was extremely sophomoric. But Audry had the feeling he genuinely was someone who did not flirt with another man's girl—though he most definitely crushed on girls.

But then that other rumored Southern girl came to Audry's mind. Why hadn't she asked about the alleged pregnancy? That girl he had that summer fling with. They didn't even bring her up.

Chasing Rabbits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

 

Audry was still upset when she returned to the lodge with her equipment, booting up her computer and uploading all her data. She spent the rest of the morning going through it all and sorting out the night footage. After that, to get out her stress, she went on YouTube to find something to laugh at. When that didn't help, she went to her Kindle and read for a bit.

But that gave her cabin fever.

Audry went out and climbed up and down the stairs for exercise, mentally going over her last day of data-gathering and what she had to do. To avoid the kitchen (as she expected to overhear more staff gossip and possibly bump into Rick whom she wanted to avoid), Audry went down the main stairs into the lodge. While passing through the ground floor to get to the cafeteria, she overheard some loud debating within the front of the lodge. When she got closer she could actually make out the topic. The second amendment. Audry didn't pay any attention to it though. It was her policy—as some gun owners got vitriolic in their anger, and upsetting a gun-toter wasn't exactly wise. She went directly to the buffet line and found the soups.

Tomato soup with bread bowls were on order that day. It was exactly what she wanted right then—comfort food. Taking one of the bread bowls, Audry ladled in the hot soup, setting the crusty top aside on the plate. The aroma was perfect. She could breathe it in and let go of stress. Audry took a side of fruit then went over to the spreads for the crusty tops. Garlic spread and pesto were out. Audry helped herself to both, spreading them both on her set aside crust lid. While she took a seat to the side, the debate had migrated into the dining hall.

"…unconstitutional! I have a right to carry if I want!"

"Not on private property where it is posted, you can't," someone retorted.

"This is America!"

"This is a no-hunting zone."

"I'm not here to hunt. It is for self-defense."

Audry cringed. These arguments always came up, and to