Dare, who’d been wiping down the bar, made his way over.
“I can’t help but notice you’re alone.”
He sighed and it came out edged with a growl. “She left.”
His brows winged up. “I’m sorry, man.”
“She’s human. I think she just needs time. It was…pretty intense.” And the most incredible thing to ever happen to him in his entire damn life. “I’ll give her time.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
He smiled at his brother and returned to the door. He pushed it open when he heard footsteps on the gravel outside, and while part of him hoped it might be Cassidy, he was not surprised it wasn’t.
For the rest of the night, his wolf was hyper-alert, filled with hope that she might change her mind and come back. But when the lights were off and the doors were locked, he walked home to his empty house, his mate in her own place and not by his side.
When he climbed into bed, all he could smell was her on the sheets.
The sweet scent of her, the memory of the way she’d clung to him as he’d wrung every ounce of pleasure from her until she’d fallen, sated, against his chest, playing on repeat in his head.
He didn’t sleep much, but he hadn’t expected to. Every little sound woke him up, his wolf expecting the beautiful brunette to suddenly appear like a specter in the night.
Bleary-eyed and tense, he’d taken a cold shower to wake himself up, made his coffee strong, and then stared at the cup without taking a sip.
Cassidy worked at a coffee shop.
And now he knew exactly what he was going to do.
He parked at The Coffee Shop Next Door and walked up to the front door, staring through the glass to his mate behind the counter for a moment before he opened the door and walked in.
The tinkling bell over the door made her look up. Her brows lifted and her posture stiffened. She only reacted for a moment, returning her gaze to the customer she’d been handling. He stepped in line behind three other people.
When he reached the counter, he said, “Good morning, Cassidy.”
“Morning. How can I help you?”
He noticed she looked tired, and he suspected she’d not slept well either. He was alittlesatisfied by that, and while he was tempted to suggest she could have slept really well if she’d stayed all night with him, he didn’t.
“I need a strong coffee. Whatever you recommend.”
Her head tilted slightly, and her mouth curved up at the corner. “All right.”
She rang in the order and he paid, putting a generous tip in the jar.
Before he moved aside to wait for his coffee, he said with a low voice, “I wanted to see you.”
“You did?”
“Of course. Because I wanted you to know that last night didn’t scare me off.”
He moved aside to let the next customer order, aware that her gaze lingered on him. He scrolled on his phone, waiting until his name was called by the barista, and then he picked up his coffee.
“I’ll be around,” he said to her. Then he lifted his coffee in a goodbye wave and walked toward the door.
He could feel her eyes on him, and while his wolf wanted to howl that she was his, he didn’t say anything. He’d said enough for now. She’d run last night for a reason he didn’t know, and he wanted her to see that he wasn’t going to let her go so easily.
They were truemates, and that meant she’d come around to him eventually.
He just had to keep showing up for her.
