A day like always

"BREAKING NEWS! Another body found washed ashore off Cape Shores. The victim has been identified as a male student from a local University. The cause of death appears to be the same as the other victims. The student's name has not been released. There are also no other details available about any of the other deaths at this time."

The local news anchor continued stories from her list of current news headlines as Shelly turned the volume on the remote down and turned to Russ, morbid curiosity riddling her expression. "Do you think it's anyone we know?"

"Are we out of tomatoes?" Joslyn asked from the kitchen, ignoring the news report and Raven's glare.

"Man, swimming at night is getting pretty dangerous around here lately, Joslyn," Raven said sarcastically. "Maybe you should stay out of the water for a while, Joslyn!" She continued in the same mocking tone.

"I live with twin werewolves and their fairy godmother… guardian, what could be more dangerous?" Joslyn laughed as she playfully threw a cucumber chunk at her group of friends seated on the sofa in front of the TV.

Shelly laughed, "Sorry Raven, she got ya there." All traces of concern and curiosity gone.

"In other news: Expect delays with heavier than usual traffic and some detours as several large conglomerate heads will be conducting business in our area over the next several weeks..."

"Oh great!" Raven huffed with sarcasm. "Just what this area needs more traffic 'cause of those rich bastards." She flung her hands up in the air in an over exaggerated state of annoyance.

"RAVEN!" Joslyn laughed as her best friend continued to grumble. "Just take the back roads. Anyways, you work in a bar. Wouldn't all those 'rich' people be a good thing?"

Raven wrinkled her nose as the others began laughing and agreeing with Joslyn. "You may be right about that, but it's still going to be a pain in the ass…"

"Change the channel, I hate the news," Joslyn said as she brought her finished salad into the living room to eat it. She sat down on the long sofa between the twin werewolves, in the space she normally sat.

"So, guys, what do you all want to watch?" Shelly said enthusiastically. "I can't remember the last time we were all off work at the same time!" Shelly began scrolling through the Netflix movies.

"Anything but romance!" Raven yelled from the other end of the extra-large sofa. "Did anyone make popcorn?"

"I'll make it, as long as you find something other than drama," Joslyn said as she pushed herself up using Russ's leg for balance. {I hope he didn't notice.} she thought as she glanced down at the strong thigh under her hand. She pushed herself the rest of the way up and moved quickly and made her way into the kitchen.

{Did she realize where her hand was?} Russ watched as Joslyn made a hasty retreat. {She must have realized it, otherwise, she wouldn't be in such a hurry to get away. Does this mean she took my confession seriously?} He moved to follow her into the kitchen.

Shelly clasped her brother's arm before he could leave the couch. "Russ, is there anything you don't want to see?" Shelly said, frowning in her brother's direction.

Russ shook his head to clear his thoughts before answering, "I'm not picky, whatever you guys want is fine with me.” Russ added as a second thought, "But I wouldn't mind a comedy movie or anime. Netflix has added quite a bit lately, some of it’s fairly good too." He smiled over at his sister, but his eyes wondered past her to the large bar opening into the kitchen where Jos moved around inside, her back to them.

Shelly scrolled until she found an anime that would suit all their tastes. "Will this work?" She asked?

"Works for me," Russ replied. His eyes followed Joslyn as she came back around the sofa.

"Me too," Joslyn answered setting back down, popcorn in hand, between Shelly and Russ. "Hahaha, Raven has already fallen asleep. Guess she really wanted this popcorn, huh?" Joslyn pointed out as she got comfortable on the sofa.

"Want some?" Joslyn asked offering the bowl to each of the twins she sat between.

Russ bent toward her holding her gaze intensely. He made sure to graze his hand slowly over hers as he reached into the bowl. "I would love some." He purred in a low husky whisper.

"Isn't Light hot!" Shelly exclaimed as the show began.

Shelly's excited shout snapped Jos out of the trance Russ's touch and fiery royal blue eyes was invoking over her. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and closed her eyes tightly as she waited for her heart rate to return to normal. Shaking her head and putting on a fake ease she turned her attention to Shelly. "Umm… Isn't he a killer?" Joslyn asked mock horror in her voice.

Russ laughed, amusement dancing in his eyes as he scooped up another handful of popcorn. "Only you Shelly."

"Hey!" Shelly yelled back playfully. She stuck her tongue out at her brother then went back to watching the movie.

***

Russ woke up to something tickling his nose. 'Sniff, sniff.' As he began to open his eyes, the smell of Joslyn's shampoo ingulfed him. {She fell asleep on my shoulder. Well it's not the first time, but when did my body decide to wrap around hers like this.} Her head was tucked snuggly against his neck and his head was resting against her head. {She fits against me so perfectly.} Without thinking he placed a light kiss to the top of her head, letting his lips linger there a bit longer than necessary. {I love her so much. I'll make her realize her feelings for me, too. I refuse to believe she still sees me as a child.} He felt her move against his body. Confused and sleep heavy aqua eyes met his. He smiled brightly down at her.

"Russ?" Joslyn spoke his name softly, confused by why she had just woken up in his arms. {What's going on? Last thing I remember we were watching an original series. We must have all fallen asleep because Shelly's legs are still across my lap.} As the fogginess of the sleep began to subside, Russ began lowering his head down toward her for what could only be a kiss. {Oh god, wait! What was going on with him lately? Did he think I fell asleep like this on purpose, that it was my way of accepting his confession?!}

His lips fell softly onto hers. His husky groan vibrated her lips. "I've waited for this chance since we first sat down." He whispered against her lips.

Jos's body leaned into him more on its own accord but then reality finally hit. Catching her breath, Jos pushed Shelly's leg off her lap and pushed herself up off the sofa and away from Russ. {Oh Shit!!! I guess it did look bad, I was nearly in his lap. How the hell had that happened?!} She ran into her bedroom and crashed against the bed within seconds of the door shutting behind her. Things had gotten weird since Russ and Shelly's birthday two months ago. Joslyn pulled her shorts and the long-sleeved shirt she had put on earlier off. She pushed the sheets back and crawled under the covers, letting the soft cotton cool her heated skin. As Jos replayed the strange events through her head, she began to drift back off to sleep.

Anger, hurt, and rejection colored Russ's emotions as he turned the nob for the front door. He had no sooner gotten the door open before he lost all control of his body and shifted to wolf form. He took off out the door as quickly as he could. {I must get away… FAST!}

Russ sped across the campus grounds paying little to no attention to his surroundings, even when he picked up the scent of someone who seemed to be following him. He pushed the thought of being followed away as he sped up faster. {The best part of being in wolf form is letting instinct take control over emotions…}