Higher Education - 7. Higher 7

The sun was beginning to fade behind the western mountains as Trevor grabbed his keys and headed out the door. Life felt so relaxed compared to Boston. Even a simple drive to run errands was a pleasure as there was no traffic to cause him to grind his teeth in frustration. It was but a moment’s wait at the stoplight before he was able to turn. There was no hunting for a parking spot either since they were plentiful. For all the perks a big city had, he loved small-town life.

Trevor pushed his shopping cart through the Safeway grocery store in Burney. He missed his regular supermarket in Boston, Massachusetts as he knew where everything was. Trying to find the items on the list Thad and Wade gave him, plus what he wanted, meant wandering most every aisle. Turning into the snack and soda section, his cart crashed into one pushed by a pretty, blonde woman. He guessed she was in her mid-twenties. A quick scent of the air let him know she was human. The shoulder length hair and seductive blue eyes almost made him woof.

“Sorry about that.” He immediately went into flirtation mode. “Hello there.”

The woman stared at Trevor for a moment before a smile formed on her red lips. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m sure it was my fault for not looking where I was going.” Her eyelashes batted playfully. “I know most everyone my age around here. You, I’ve never seen before. Are you new in town or a tourist visiting the falls?” A blush rose on her cheeks, likely from how forward that sounded.

A chuckle rumbled deep in Trevor’s chest. “I’m working in Burney for the next three months.”

“Oh, wow. If you need anyone to show you around, I’d be happy to.” She blushed again.

“That would be great. I’m Trevor.”

“Cassidy. Would you be interested in trading numbers?” She held up her phone.

Taking the device, he entered his digits and returned it to her.

“Since I know you’re not from around here, just out of curiosity, where’s area code eight-one-four?”

The rumbling chuckle erupted into laughter. “Central Pennsylvania. I’m from a small town similar to Burney. Maybe a bit smaller.”

The two began moving again, pushing their carts side by side while finishing their shopping. “I’ve rarely left town. I mean I went to college in Redding and I’ve shopped there a bunch of times, but it would be cool getting to travel across the country.”

“I can tell you about some of the places I’ve been while you show me things around here.”

“That sounds fun.”

Having worked their way through the last aisle, they moved to the register and paid.

“It was great running into you, Cassidy. Hope we can get together soon.”

“My pleasure, Trevor. Oh, we definitely will. In fact, if you’re free Friday night?”

“Friday it is.”

“I’ll text you my address.”

Finally hopping in their respective cars, they headed their separate ways.

******

“So, you’ve been here just over a week, crash your shopping cart into one a pretty woman’s pushing, and come out with a date? What the guys said about you seems to be on par.” Wade fist-bumped the younger man. “Way to settle into a new town.”

“You’ve got protection, right?” Thad stood in the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed. “Your mother and I don’t want any accidental pregnancies.” He ducked to avoid the dish towel Wade threw at him. “I guess I should count myself lucky it wasn’t a knife you threw at me.”

“After we put him to bed tonight, I’ll show you mother while you nurse for your milk. We can show each other our claws. No cutlery needed.”

“TMI, TMI, too much fuckin’ information.” Trevor threw his hands in the air and stalked around the room. “I’m an innocent, impressionable college student, and you’re discussing unnatural sex acts between perverted shape-shifters.”

Thad and Wade stared open mouthed for a moment before crossing their arms. “Innocent? You?”

“Well, he nailed it with the perverted part. But anything that feels that good can’t be unnatural.”

All three burst into laughter.

“I can see staying here’s gonna be no different than being at Aiden’s place. Oh, and what can I say? Chicks dig me.”

“Conceited much?” An eyebrow rose on Wade’s face.

“Me? Never.”

“With your reputation, you don’t need to be. Gotta be all those young wolf pheromones working in your favor.”

“If it gets the job done.” The grin on Trevor’s face went from ear to ear. “Now, get out of the way so I can cook.”

“What ya makin’?” Wade took a seat at the breakfast counter.

“Figured something simple but filling. Tacos.” He looked around the kitchen. “Umm… Where do you keep the frying pans?”

“Lower cabinet next to the stove, upper shelf.”

“Thanks. Should take about ten minutes.” He busied himself with browning the ground turkey and adding what he wanted in it. Soon, he had taco shells filled with seasoned meat and the guys added the toppings they wanted.

“This is good. Consider yourself officially in the cooking rotation.

“Thanks, Thad. It’s not much, but lets me ease in. If I don’t give any of us food poisoning, I’ve got a couple days to come up with something else.”

******

Trevor and Cassidy texted back and forth the remainder of the week and made arrangements to meet at her apartment Friday evening. He had showered and returned to his room to dress for his date. Stepping into a pair of Andrew Christian boxer briefs, the whistles behind him reminded him he had not closed the door all the way.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve already seen it.”

“Maybe so, but even though I watch him change,” Thad hiked his thumb towards Wade, “I still find it oddly strange how sexy it is seeing a guy pull up underwear over a nice, furry ass.” He chuckled. “Sorry, we’re honestly not perving on you. I never paid attention to guys doing that before he and I got together.”

“Nice choice in undies though. Might have to get a pair or ten for Thad.”

“Underwear for me? With the exception of the ultra-rare occasions a suit is required, you know I like to go commando.” Thad pulled at the front of his shorts. “The boys like to have breathing room.”

“Remind me to show you the video of me dancing at a club in San Diego with my buddy, Brandon. The guys loved me in a jockstrap.”

“Tease. That’s the firefighter in SoCal, right?”

“Ethan put him on the free access list to the territory, Wade. Remember?

“That’s right. Still want to meet him after everything we’ve heard. So, where you goin’ for dinner and what time will you be home?”

“Gepetto’s Pizza. And I wouldn’t wait up, Mother Wade.”

“Great choice. All their stuff’s fantastic. Not that there’s many options around town.”

Trevor grinned as he finished getting dressed while the banter went on. Once again, it was almost the same as being around his buddies back home. There was nothing sexual in them standing in his doorway, merely a byproduct of them having a conversation while he got ready for his date.

******

Knocking on the door to the upper-floor apartment, Trevor waited with a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. It was but a moment before the door swung open.

“Hi, Trevor.” Cassidy stepped to the side to let him in. “Wow, you’re here at the time you said you’d be. That never happens with guys around here.” She giggled.

“Well, being new in town I wanted to make sure I didn’t get lost, or be late because I couldn’t find parking. Plus, it’s usually better to make a good impression on the first date.” He looked around the room. Typical apartment in most every way, but nice and homey. “Cool place, Cassidy. These are for you.”

“Thank you. They’re beautiful. I can’t remember the last time someone gave me flowers.” She batted her eyelashes. “Did you want to hang out here for a bit or head to dinner now?”

“It’s your apartment, and since you’re playing tour guide, I’ll defer in this case.”

Cassidy moved in and suddenly acted coy, seemingly waiting for him to make the first move. Trevor did not make her wait, closing the remaining distance and giving her a light kiss to test the waters. She was not ravenous, but he got the response he had become accustomed to when on a date with a human.

After nearly ten minutes of their lips locked together with ever increasing heat and fervor, Cassidy pulled back, panting for breath. “Wow. You’re good at that. Let’s go eat. I think we’re both going to need the energy for later.”

“Where is this place? A friend told me the food was good.”

“Just the other side of Main Street. With how nice it is tonight, we could actually walk from here.” She appeared puzzled for a moment. “You have friends here already?”

“Walking sounds good to me. Yeah, a couple guys I work with.” Trevor felt it technically was not a lie since he did work with Thad and Wade through the pack. He did not want to volunteer too much information on that relationship yet.

“So what brought you to Burney? I know you said you’re working here for a couple months, but there are so many more interesting places to be.”

“I’m on a summer internship for school. Trying to finish up a master’s degree in business. I was offered a position with an accounting firm that’s working for a local company. It sounded like a fun place to come, and I’ve heard the falls are beautiful.”

“Not sure fun’s the word I’d use to describe life around this place. It is nice though I guess. Is your school in Pennsylvania?”

“I got my bachelor’s degree at Penn State. I’m at a school in Boston for another year until graduation.”

“Wow. We definitely don’t get many guys like you around here. I went to Shasta College in Redding for two years and got a job as a medical assistant.” She pointed to the parking lot they were approaching. “This is Gepetto’s. I’d planned on finding a job away from here, but I came back after I finished the program and here I’ve stayed. Maybe someday I’ll move to Redding or someplace better.”

The dinner conversation was light and enjoyable. Cassidy filled him in on life in the Shasta County community. He talked about going from a small town to school in a major city. After a pleasant meal, in spite of the occasional group of high school kids making a racket, the pair departed.

“There’s probably not much I can show you tonight, unless we go back and get my car. Or we could always stream a movie. I’m really enjoying spending time with you, Trevor.”

“A movie sounds great.” He took her hand as they walked.

The next morning, Trevor opened the door, turned, and gave Cassidy a kiss. “I’ll head home and change, then we can go for that driving tour you promised me.”

“Hurry back.”

******

“Well, doesn’t look like you’re doing the walk of shame this morning. Your head’s held too high for that.” Wade looked up from his tablet with a devilish smirk while sitting beside Thad at the breakfast bar, coffee mug in hand. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, I did. And no shame in what we all knew was likely to happen.” He fist-bumped both men as he passed through the kitchen. “Gonna shower and change, then Cassidy’s taking me to see a couple of the sights. I think I’ll be back for dinner, but will text if I won’t.”

“Need anything for breakfast?”

“I’ll grab a couple protein bars.”

“Enjoy yourself.”

******

“I thought we’d go to our claim to movie fame first.” Cassidy drove her older Subaru Forester east on Highway 299 until she reached the intersection with Highway 89. After heading north for about eight miles and crossing over Lake Britton, she turned off onto a dirt road. A half mile later, she brought the car to a stop. “We’re here.”

“Looks nice. Where are we?”

“You’ll see in a minute. It’s a short walk. Come on. This way.”

They each grabbed backpacks from the car and headed out on foot. Walking the road for a bit, they turned onto a flat section of ground that appeared to have been used for something in the past. The brush and trees opened up to reveal a railroad bridge above the Pit River.

“This is the bridge from the movie, Stand by Me.”

“Oh, cool. That’s a great movie. I had no idea they filmed any of that around here.”

“Too bad we can’t go out on it. They put the fencing up over ten years ago because of how unsafe the decking is.”

“Yeah, it would be fun going across, but it’s still great to see.” He pulled out a selfie stick and connected his phone once they had moved to where they had a good shot of the trestle behind them. “Do you mind if I take this with you in it?”

“Not as long as I get to take one of us.”

“Deal.” He grinned at her.

They hiked around the area for a couple of hours before returning to the car to head to their next destination.

******

“Do you feel like doing a little more hiking?”

“Sure. Where we headed now?”

“About thirty miles south on Eighty-nine, just outside a place called Old Station.” The scenery was pleasant as they made their way down the two lane highway, taking their time to get to know each other more. “Here we are.” A left turn onto the small side road took them a little ways from the highway. No other cars were in the parking area as she pulled to a stop. “Grab your pack.” She refilled their water bottles and grabbed a couple of extras from the ice chest she had packed. Glancing at a bag sitting on top of everything, she looked over her shoulder at Trevor. “Want to have lunch before we hike?”

“That’s a great idea.” He helped her carry a few items over to the closest picnic table in shade. “I’m glad we stopped at Subway for sandwiches. Until you mentioned lunch, I didn’t realize just how hungry I was.”

“There’s a place called JJ’s Café I thought about stopping at. The food’s really good. They’re only open for breakfast and lunch. It’s nice being outdoors though and having this place to ourselves instead.” She moved into his personal space making sure their legs touched.

“I like this. I’m an outdoorsy guy that’s been stuck in a big city classroom most of the school term. I’m glad to be out here and really happy I ran into you.”

Trevor ravenously devoured his foot-long sandwich while Cassidy took her time enjoying the six-incher she had. Chips and some other snacks rounded out their meal.

“You must spend a lot of time at the gym. The way you ate last night and now.” She glanced at his waist while running a hand over his bare, muscular arm. “Well, you do have an incredible body and not an ounce of fat on you, so I guess you can eat any way you like.”

“For the record, you’ve got a great body too. I loved exploring every inch of it last night.”

Stuffing their trash into a bag and carrying everything back to the car, Trevor flashed a big wolfish grin when she took his hand and led him towards wherever they were headed.

They reached what looked like a good size sinkhole. A short chain link fence surrounded most of it, with concrete steps descending into the void. Large boulders lay strewn around where the ground had given way. At the base of the steps, an oddly smooth cavern extended into the darkness in front of them. It appeared as if a tunnel boring machine had passed through the area.

Trevor turned to face Cassidy. “This is cool, but what is it?”

“This is the Subway Cave. It’s a lava tube from Mt. Lassen, I think. Or possibly Mt. Tehama that predates Lassen.”

“So that’s why it’s smooth and shaped the way it is?”

“Yep. Lava once flowed through here like water through a garden hose. The way this was described when we used to come here for school field trips was that the lava flow formed a channel and the top portion exposed to air cooled first. The upper crust kept molten rock hot and able to travel further than if it would have on the surface. From the area that broke through, you can see how thick the crust was. Eventually, the flow of lava stopped at the source, but was liquid enough in here to keep draining to wherever it ended up going. These tubes were left.” She pulled out a flashlight and took Trevor’s hand. “Come on. We can walk through to a surface break at the other end.”

The pair moved deeper into the cavern. Eventually, the light from the opening was nearly gone. Trevor’s wolf vision allowed him to see a little better than his companion would if her light went out.

“I love this.” His voice echoed in the space. “If you hadn’t told me what it is, I’d swear it was man made.”

“I didn’t know what you’d think of the places I planned to take you today, but your reaction makes me happy. Now, if you like this, you’d love Lava Beds National Monument about two hours north of here. There’s supposed to be a bunch of lava tubes like this you can hike through. I’ve wanted to go since I saw an article online. Before reading about it, I didn’t even know it was there.” She pointed off to the side. “Come in here.”

The large chamber seemed odd since it had only one point of entry. The ceiling was domed as if a bubble had formed in the magma. The floor was a bit more jagged than the mostly smooth area in the main tube. Being a side chamber, it also had not accumulated as much sediment as the main tube. The ground angled from a high point at the back of the room to where the entrance was. A plaque mentioned that without the aid of a light, the chamber would leave a person in pitch blackness.

At that moment, Cassidy switched off the lamp but kept her hand on Trevor’s arm. Her lips met his as they made out in the darkness. Hands roamed over each other, cupping and groping body parts. A familiar sound resonated through the chamber. When she pulled away and turned on the light again, she smiled at the very hard column of flesh extending from his open fly. She gently ran her fingers along its length.

Trevor growled in frustration, and it sounded as if a wild animal were in there. “So not fair to tease a guy like this.”

“If you’ve got a condom, you could always put that to good use. Though we’d need to hurry in case anyone else comes out here today.”

“Damn. The one time I don’t have any on me.” Even though he had a supply in his pack, he tried to think through his horniness and considered the prospect of getting caught. As much as he wanted to bury himself in her, he decided to hold off.

“Too bad. I’ve always wanted to do it down here.” She giggled as she moved back towards the main passage.

Tucking his now flagging hardness back in his shorts, he gave another growl.

“That sounds funny down here. As a kid, I used to hear stories about people getting scared by the sounds of wild animals in the cave. They said there are wolves in the area, and visitors would get into the darkness and hear the growling. I don’t think anyone ever found a wolf or any other animal.” She took his hand. “I’ll make up for teasing you when we get home. We’ll have to be quick though. Before meeting you at Safeway, I’d already promised my mom I’d come over for dinner tonight.”

At the other end up the cave, there was an additional set of stairs, leading back to the surface and into the bright sunlight. Three more cars in the parking lot meant not going at it was the right decision.

“Maybe we could plan a drive to that national monument you mentioned sometime.” He was pleased with her grin and nod.

******

A little before dinner time, Trevor strolled into the house with a big wolfish smile on his face.

“Looks like you enjoyed your day.” Wade was emptying the dishwasher.

“I did. Saw some cool sights. Cassidy’s fun to be around. I think I’m gonna enjoy my time here.”