Instead, I force myself to stand, to pull back. Sofia remains facing away. Her hands braced on the wall in front of her, and her back arched. Almost as if she was thinking the same thing I was.
“Let’s go, Prin—sorry—let’s go, Sofia. We have a reservation to get to,” I say, taking her hand and leading her towards the door and then over to my truck. My wolf preens when she lets me continue to hold her hand all the way there. I open her door and lean in to buckle her seatbelt before jogging over to my side and climbing in.
Sofia is uncharacteristically subdued, and it’s starting to feel weird. “You okay?”
She shakes her head as if she’s dislodging a thought. “Um, yeah. Let’s go.”
Arriving at the restaurant, I put my hand on the small of Sofia’s back as we are led to our table. She hasn’t said much since we left my place, and it’s starting to put my wolf on edge. Gnawing at the part of me that already feels such shame.
“Was that too far?” I ask, keeping my voice low so that we aren’t overheard by the mostly human patrons of the restaurant. “With the scent marking? I can stop doing it if you want?”
“It’s fine. I suggested it.”
Silence stretches on again and fates, I hate that I’ve done this to us. We used to talk so much before.
“So, do you come here often?” she asks eventually, and a laugh bursts out of my throat. She narrows her eyes at me, and my wolf is conflicted between feeling bad for annoying her and being happy she’s jealous of the idea of me on other dates.
“No, I haven’t really done the whole dating thing. Not like this. I never wanted anything serious before.”
“Me either,” she admits, and neither my wolf nor I are conflicted on that in the slightest. I fucking love the opportunity to be her first anything.
The waitress stops by and takes our orders. We both skip starters and order the biggest steaks on the menu, rare—the only way it should be cooked.
“So, I’m not sure how this works exactly, but how about we try to get to know each other again? What’s going on in your life?”
“Hmmm,” she hums, tapping her chin with her index finger. “Well, recently I found out my mate was this asshole I used to have a crush on.”
“That must have sucked. Is he at least hot?”
She laughs, and, fates, it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life. “Yeah, he’s pretty hot. If only he weren’t so sure of it,” she teases, and I beam at her. For the first time in years, we’re having a conversation without animosity. Without barbs and insults. Relatively speaking.
I need more of this.
Sofia leans back and takes a sip of her wine and grins at me. “What about you? What’s going on in the life of Luca Taylor?”
“Oh, that’s easy. I met my mate, and she’s amazing. Breathtakingly beautiful, full of fire and smart as a whip. I’m trying to figure out how to get her to give me a chance, but I got this crazy idea, and I’m gonna give it a try.”
“Oh yeah? And what would that be?”
“I’m going to shut up and listen to her when she tells me what the problem is. Then I’m going to do whatever I need to so I can show her how much she means to me.”
Sofia’s eyes shine bright. A hint of her wolf’s gold flickering in the brown.
“That sounds like a good place to start,” she says, her voice a fraction above a whisper. I reach out for Sofia’s hand and take it in mine. Something has shifted in us, and I need to build on my words with actions. I need to show her, not just tell her, how sorry I am.
Walking into the bar a couple of hours later, I feel closer to Sofia than I have in years. I offered to carry her rather than her walk in her heels, and when she said no, I listened and backed off. Progress. I think.
Emily, Jackson, Mike, and Simon are already in a booth when we walk in, and Sofia shoots me a glance. Like she doesn’t know what to expect now, but she’s ready to fight me if needed.
“I’m going to chill at the bar,” I say before dropping a kiss on her forehead. “Have fun.” I take a step away, but Sofia grabs my hand and pulls me back.
“For appearances,” she mutters. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and presses her lips against mine. It takes me half a second to realize what’s happening. To start kissing her back. I lick along the seam of her lips, and she opens up to me. Fates, she tastes delicious. Peanut butter, chocolate, and cream mixed with something uniquely Sofia.
She pulls back, winks at me, and waltzes over to her friends. Leaving me with another raging case of blue balls. Jackson movesout of the booth to let her in beside Emily and then comes over to join me.
“Thought I’d leave the kids to it,” he says, signaling to the bartender for another drink.
“How do you… let her go like that?” I ask, already itching to cross the room and wrap myself around Sofia. To make it clear to everyone that she’s mine.
