“Why not?” I asked.
“We dated right after the war ended. She wanted to be done with all things vampire and werewolf. I needed to figure out howto run the Alpha Pack without becoming as fucked up as my predecessor.”
“How romantic.”
He flashed me a grin. “It wasn’t. We were only together for a few weeks before she disappeared, and we barely saw each other.”
“Youwere ghosted? By a woman?”
“Yup.”
“Wow. I like you so much more now. Tell me you were heartbroken.”
He snorted. “I wasn’t, and I don’t think that’s a compliment.”
“I like her more too, now.” My eyes stayed closed. “Did you miss her?”
“Honestly, no. Our personalities didn’t mesh well together. She needed a lot of time alone. My pack was my life, and it was a mess that required constant energy and attention. When I wasn’t dealing with it, I needed someone to decompress with, and she wasn’t there.”
“TMI.”
“Not sexually. I needed someone to talk to about the difficult things. Rhone still hates her for not being there for me.”
“So I’m not the only reason you haven’t called her.”
“No. And you’re not going to be the most opposed to having her in Vast, either. He’s going to be pissed.”
I nodded. “As far as this thing between us…”
“Our relationship.”
“Right. Do you see it going that way, too? Because I know you’re obsessed with the way I smell, but you and I don’t exactly talk about the hard stuff. We’re barely friends.”
“We may barely be friends, but I’ve seen you with Harper. She’s going through something, and you’re there for her at all times of the day and night, even when you have a shitload of work to do. I can’t imagine you would treat your mate any differently.”
My face warmed.
He wasn’t wrong.
And he didn’t seem suspicious about Harper’s struggle, which was really, really good.
“Assuming I loved them, yeah,” I said.
“You’ll fall for me eventually.”
I smiled. I shouldn’t have liked his confidence, but I did. “Will I?”
“Yup. Much like your ears, I am?—”
“If you say irresistible, I’m going to smack you.”
He lowered his lips to my ear, and I elbowed him in the side when I smelled his skin fucking burning again.
“Irresistible.”
I smacked his leg. It couldn’t have hurt even a little. “I swear, youhaveto stop burning yourself on my earrings.”
“Take them out, and I will.”
