AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What does that mean for us?” Sidney asked.
“There’s not a lot of research available, so I can’t be certain. There’s nothing dangerous about it so far as we know, but we can do some blood work. I’ll make sure both of your birth control doses are updated, assuming the two of you aren’t interested in having children at the moment.”
“God, no. No babies right now. I just got settled in my career, and, no offense, but I don’t know Sidney well enough to be procreating with him.” There was no way in hell I was going to be a mother anytime soon. Years from now? Sure. But super duper not now.
Sidney took my hand, and while his touch was a comfort, the hurt in his eyes made me feel guilty for my outburst.
Dr. James looked at Sidney, and he nodded. At least he wasn’t going to argue against my statement, regardless of how he felt about it. Dr. James pulled out a pair of syringes and a set of vials. “Okay, let me take the larger blood samples, we’ll get you a fresh dose of birth control to offset any heat concerns, and we can go from there. According to what I’ve read, the hormonal surge should last a day or two, but I’ll send what information I have to your emails. Otherwise, you’re free to go about your lives once your hormones settle.”
Dr. James finished our appointment with ease and efficiency. We didn’t have all the information to explain what had happened, but at least we knew it wasn’t dangerous.
I stewed the entire trip back to Sidney’s place, trying to figure out how to tell my mom and my friends that I’d gotten myself accidentally bonded.
“You okay?” Sidney asked.
The question broke open my internal dam and my chest tightened, throat thickening. “Just thinking. Is that why it was weird all these years?”
“It would make sense, yeah. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t really know.” I sniffled, sliding out of the vehicle as he parked so I could get some air.
He drew me into a hug, and I leaned into his embrace. “Want to go inside and hold some puppies while you figure it out?”
I nodded, and Sidney moved us inside, sat me on the couch, and returned a moment later with Kassia. I stared into her sweet blue eyes and stroked her fur to soothe myself while Sidney put on the kettle for tea and draped a blanket over my shoulders. Too many thoughts tumbled around in my head for me to grab any particular one to dissect, so I focused on the wriggling floof in my lap instead.
When the chamomile tea was ready to drink, he quietly approached me and traded me the cup for the puppy.
“How’re you doing?”
“If I hadn’t found you again, would everything have felt wrong forever?” Would I have gone through the rest of my life feeling like something was missing?
“I don’t know,” Sidney said softly. “Maybe?”
“What if…?” I trailed off, not finishing the sentence, but my brain lined them up neatly: What if we didn’t like one another beyond these circumstances? What if we got together and broke up and then no one ever made me feel like he did? What if all the things I was feeling were only because we were ideal mates?
“This would have been better if we weren’t anything special,” I said instead. “This is too much pressure.”
Sidney sighed and sat next to me, settling Kassia in his lap. “I can’t argue with that.”
“I never liked how it felt weird with other people,” I told him. “There was nothing wrong with any of them, but…”
“Yeah, I get it.” He fussed with Kassia’s ears and watched me sip my tea out of the corner of his eye. “We don’t have to be together. There’s no pressure from me for that.”
“Don’t we?” I stared at him for so long that he got squirmy.
“I don’t know what to say. I like you, a lot. Whether that’s from a weird mates thing or not doesn’t change that.”
I nodded slowly. “I like you a lot too. I just don’t know if I can trust myself, you know? Do I like you because you’re amazing, or is it because the omega hormones won’t let me consider otherwise?”
“I don’t know. I am pretty amazing.”
That sent a helpless giggle tumbling from my lips.
Sidney wrapped an arm over my shoulders. “I think I’d like you regardless.”
“It’s hard to argue against that when you made me cake and let me cuddle puppies.” I let out a deep sigh and sank against him.
“We could try being together. This was only our first date, and, while things got a little weird, I had the best time I’ve had in a long while.”
