~
Like the first time, I’m not sure if we’ll hook up again after the second time.
But it happens again. And again and again.
Our bodies fit together naturally, and I think our physical connection captivates him too. But Bane needs to learn about more than my body and all the ways to make me scream if he’s going to Recognize me. We aren’t making much progress getting to know each other.
Eventually, I pick up on a few things about him. Not all of them are good. For instance, Bane Blackwood is perpetually tardy and literally incapable of punctuality. Whenever we make plans, he constantly leaves me waiting.
He’s late. Again. I check my phone for the 200th time. 9:45.
He was supposed to come to the apartment at nine. There’s nothing to do in the apartment, so I’m killing time on my phone and waiting for him, getting more and more frustrated by the minute.
Finally, Bane knocks at 10:17. I consider letting him wait out there for a while, but he just pounds on the door again. “Dude, I hear you breathing in there. Just let me in.”
I don’t let him in, but I do open the door enough to glare at him. “You’re late. Again.”
He shrugs. “Not a big deal.”
“If you were going to be late, you should have texted. Or not been late.”
“Sorry. Didn’t know our booty call was such a big occasion,” he scoffs as he moves to enter the apartment.
My arm shoots out and blocks him. “Well, if you wantthisbooty, I think I deserve a little basic respect.”
“God, just drop it.”
“Waiting on you is getting old. What’s your excuse? Do you evenhavean excuse?”
“Lost track of time.”
“Then it’s a good thing all cell phones have clocks.”
“Oh my god,” he huffs. “Are you done yet?”
“You aren’t doing this on purpose, are you? Like some twisted Iron Pack power move where you make people wait around for you?”
I’m only trying to annoy him as much as his constant tardiness annoys me, but Bane freezes, staring at me with a funny expression on his face. The tension seeps from his posture.
I stop guarding the door, though he makes no move to come inside again. What changed?
“No,” he says. “Not trying to pull anything. I was just late.”
“Okay?” That doesn’t really explain why he’s reacting like this.
“Dad does that all the time,” he admits quietly. “He’s the Alpha, so everyone else should adjust tohisschedule. He makes people wait just because he can. Me… I just lose track of time.” He rubs the back of his neck. Self-conscious? “Elias used to tell me that I was free to make others wait for me once I became Alpha, but until then, I’d be punctual.”
“What happened?” Obviously, that didn’t exactly work out.
He laughs darkly. “This is the one and only lesson he tried to impart that I was never able to learn, no matter what he did.”
Almost afraid to ask, I’m trying to decide which seems worse, what I’m imagining or the truth.
He only shrugs. “Think anything a drill sergeant would do but designed for werewolves, not army recruits.”
“Yikes.”
“Tough love is his favorite kind of love.” Not really surprising. “No matter how much I tried, I never managed to curb my lateness. Eventually, Dad offered me a deal. He’d back off as long as I showed up in a timely mannerfor himand never told anyone that punctuality was the one battle Elias Blackwood couldn’t win.”
