And he'd gotten that attached...
I cleared my throat. "Is it different than it was with Scarlet?'
She gave an obnoxious scoff. "Scarlet was fun and all, but that was hollow compared to how Marcus makes me feel. There's nothing like being together with the person you're destined for."
I absolutely agreed. I'd experienced as much with Charlie.
But her choice of words had me worried. "Kallie... this is dangerous."
"Why?" She immediately got defensive. "You and Charlie did thefriends-with-benefitsthing."
"And it turned out horribly."
"Until it didn't!"
"You guys need to have a commitment in place, so it's safe for both of you," I said firmly. "Messing around... especially having sex with your bonded partner... if you're not on solid ground, you're testing that soul connection. I'm not saying you need to rush to the altar, but ancestors, at the bare minimum you should be his girlfriend. You deserve that much."
“Like Marcus would ever go for that. The man’s more afraid of his feelings than he is his own shadow.”
"You can't keep stringing each other along becausefeelings are scary."
Kallie scowled. "Look, Ava, you haven't even been married for a year. You can't sit here and say you're some maven of nuptials because Charlie put a ring on your finger."
"But it takes a lot to make a wife, Kallie. I haven't been married long, but I know that much. This isn't some fling. You and Marcus love each other."
"Yeah, easy to convince him," Kallie replied. "Whenever I bring it up, he just goes alltroubled bad boy, and complains about his dark past or whatever."
She did a simpering impression of Marcus, with the trembling lip and everything. It was quite good.
“This is small stuff,” I argued. “There’s something else holding you back.”
Kallie took a breath. When she finally began speaking, her voice trembled. "Because... because at the end of the day, he's still in love with Anya. I know he is. And until he can let her go, we can never be a thing. She might be dead, but it's not over between them, Ava. Not by a long shot. I can't compete with his feelings for a dead girl."
I didn’t believe her. She might think Marcus was still in love with Anya, but I knew where his true feelings were.
"You can," I reassured her. "Because Marcus loves you more. He’s confessed that to Charlie, and I know he's not lying."
She sighed and dropped her head. "Maybe."
“Look, you’ve gotta give this mating thing a shot. Marcus just needs a littlepush.Hell, maybe things aren’t as bad as you think!”
"You sure are sayinghella lot." Kallie smirked.
I shrugged. "Charlie's rubbing off on me."
"Is that the only thing he's rubbing?"
"I could ask Marcus the same thing about you."
I knew by the spark in her eye she was about to come back with some smart-mouthed answer, before the door to the room opened and cut off what she was about to say.
“We’re back!” Marcus’ triumphant voice echoed through the room. “We got the books!”
He and Charlie had returned. The books that had been buried were in their arms, covered in dirt but presumably unharmed.
“Yeah, and they’re still readable,” Charlie said in what seemed like relief. He put one of the filthy books in front of his glasses, and they robotically read a few lines. “We can still gain some information from these.”
The books were cool and all, but I was more wrapped up in the Marcus-and-Kallie drama. Fuck, I couldn’t look at him now without picturing what Kallie had told me. Our Marcus, a true stud. I wanted to shake his hand and congratulate him myself, but if I did, he’d melt into a puddle on the floor.
