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Rowan seemed surprised to hear it. “I don’t know much about him, but I’ve heard the name. He seemed harmless to me, but he used to be in the Black Ops.”
“Oh good,” I muttered sarcastically. “So, he’s an asshole and he’s trained to be sneaky about it. I assumed as much.”
“You’re protective of her, which means you care about her,” he began, sitting more casually on the machine as we talked. “If smelling his scent anywhere near her drives you that mad, then it has to count for something. I’m willing to bet you’ve found your mate.”
Sighing, I dropped my head. “Getting mixed up in some possessive turf war is the last thing I want. I didn’t move here for that.”
“That might be true, but we can’t push fate away forever,” he said, wiping down his face. A smirk moved across his face. “In fact, if you care that much about her, I think the skills competition might actually work in your favor.”
I furrowed my brows at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Think about it. Winning the competition is practically free promotion and a way to prove you’re the superior wolf. If you win, you’ll establish dominance over him or anyone else that might have their eye on her.”
Initially, I didn’t want to be bothered with the idea. Showing off to the whole town like I was some kind of show pony wasn’t my ideal way to spend a Saturday.
But the longer I thought about it, the more I started to see where Rowan was getting at.
Grumbling to myself, I forced out a breath and stood from the machine. “I hate it when you’re right.”
Chapter 22 - Sara
Things were feeling too real with Griffin, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could go without addressing it.
He had become an important part of my life whether I liked it or not. Despite our bickering and yelling before, we got along well, and the version of him I came to know was worth spending time with.
I never thought I’d let my attraction to him get so out of hand. But after sleeping with him twice, it was almost impossible to get him out of my head.
He was still aggravating in his special way, but it felt harmless and almost like an inside joke.
As much as sneaking around and putting on a façade as an excuse to mess around with him, I didn’t want to keep up that charade forever. If he wanted to keep seeing me, then I wanted us to be official.
I had real, genuine feelings for him, but the thought of confronting Griffin about it was daunting. He seemed content with keeping things casual, and I didn’t want to ruin anything by pushing for more.
I never thought our arrangement would get so complicated. What started as a light-hearted, spur-of-the-moment deal, turned into a difficult situation to navigate, and I felt completely lost.
After the initial morning rush of customers, the shop started to die down a bit, and the two of us were granted a bit of a break.
I spent it sweeping slowly and not feeling connected to the present moment, all while I thought about Griffin. I didn’t want to spend every waking moment thinking about him, but he just had that effect on me.
Torn between two choices, I couldn’t decide how to proceed.
“Alright, what’s going on?” Willow asked from across the store while she sifted through a magic handbook of some sort.
Catching her eyes on me, I corrected myself and stood a bit straighter out of habit. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure if you know this, but you emanate exactly how you feel, when you feel it,” she said, fanning the air around her. “I can tell when you’re not being yourself, Sara.”
“Always so perceptive,” I said sheepishly.
She snorted. “It’s hard to miss. Now tell me what’s going on.”
Sighing, I glanced at the propped open door wearily. I didn’t want anyone walking in on us.
But with a flick of her hand, Willow used her magic to close the door and flip the ‘open’ sign. She gave me an interested smile and leaned her elbows against the countertop. “Better?”
Nodding, I didn’t mind the idea of opening up about everything. I figured it would be good for me, anyway. I had spent far too long keeping my thoughts to myself.
“You know how Griffin used to be the bane of my existence?”
