Page 198 of Knot What I Expected

Like he can't quite stop touching me.

My heart does something embarrassingly soft. I cover his hand with mine.

His fingers immediately turn beneath mine and lace through them, and a deep, satisfied rumble echoes through his body in the cabin of the truck.

Neither of us says anything.

We don't need to.

For a few minutes, Matteo fills the truck with excited chatter about Gia's birthday, barbecue, the mountain, whether Bears actually like honey, and approximately seven thousand questions about whether Rowan has ever seen a real dinosaur fossil.

Rowan answers every single one.

Even the ridiculous ones.

Especially the ridiculous ones.

I watch him. And the fear inside me gets tangled up with longing.

Because I have to tell him.

I can't keep hiding what I am from my mate.

Not after last night. Not after accepting the matebond.

If Rowan is choosing me, he deserves to know exactly who he's choosing.

An Avian Shifter female who ran from her Wake.

A mother whose child's father is dangerous.

A woman whose past might have just followed her straight to Ember Hollow.

What if he looks at me differently?

My fingers tighten around his.

His thumb immediately strokes mine. The automatic response makes my throat ache.

What if he doesn't?

That possibility is almost scarier. Because if Rowan hears everything and still wants me?

I don't know if I'll have any defenses left.

It’s not that far a drive, around thirty minutes or so, and as the town falls behind us and the road begins winding higher into the mountains, I find myself staring through the windshield.

Thirty minutes.

That's nothing.

I could do this every day.

The thought arrives so naturally I don't catch it at first.

Then I do.

Every day?