Page 49 of Plus-Size Bullied Mate

“I know what I did to her, and I don’t get to pretend like it didn’t happen.”

Zane nods slowly to himself. “Then you know what you need to do.”

“I do,” I agree, already on the difficult path forward. “I’m trying to prove myself to her, but sometimes I don’t know if I’m doing enough.”

“We know who you are, and what you’re capable of when you decide to go after something,” Caleb tells me, reaching over to grab the whiskey. He pours it slowly, then pushes a glass to me. “It’s Tessa who needs to find out the same. You’ll get there.”

Picking up the glass, I glance out to the living room to track the noise and the warm light cascading over the girls.

Unexpectedly, Tessa glances over at me again, and our eyes meet just like they had earlier. That’s something else I’ve picked up on tonight… even if she doesn’t trust me, or doesn’t know where we stand, she finds me in the group anyway, more like it’s second nature. That has to count for something.

Her expression looks complicated before she looks away, as if she’s struggling with her thoughts too.

The bond responds to that brief eye contact like it’s the most significant thing to happen tonight, and I try to keep it down.

***

The house has gone quiet by midnight, with everyone splitting off to get some rest.

Dominic fell asleep on the couch unceremoniously while the other couples took up the spare rooms, and I now stand in the dark hallway listening to the house settle with everyone inside.

And, of course, the pull in my chest points me towards our room, where I already know Tessa is.

With a slow breath to brace myself, I approach and step into the room while she’s dressed in sleepwear and brushing out her hair.

It takes great restraint not to react to the way that soft fabric clings in all the right places, leaving little to the imagination. Or maybe I’m so post-ceremony repressed that I find everything about her alluring.

Tessa pauses her movements and looks at me with quiet consideration, likely deciding how much energy she wants to expend in this conversation.

“Is everyone settled?” she asks.

“Dominic took the couch without asking.”

“Did you expect different?”

“No. I was going to make him sleep there anyway,” I murmur, heading over to the closet to grab something to wear. I glance at her. “How are you doing after tonight?”

She focuses her gaze somewhere on the floor while she idly runs the bristles through the length of her hair, already perfectly brushed. “I’m fine.”

“Tessa.”

“Hunter.” She says it in the exact cadence I said hers, which is deliberate and funny enough for it to move something in my chest. “I am fine, and you don’t have to keep checking in like I’m fragile. Your friends aren’t what I expected.”

I hesitate at that and lift a curious brow at her. “Good or bad?”

“Good.” She says it as an admission that even she hadn’t anticipated. “The girls were easy to talk to. I didn’t expect that.”

“They liked you,” I tell her, because they did. It isn’t just me telling her something to make her feel better about the situation.

Lila and Sera told me directly, and Naia seemed especially impressed with her once she opened up more.

Tessa’s expression changes slightly, and I sense that it’s also the good kind of change. Likely not knowing what to do with it, she looks away and sets the brush aside.

I cross the room without fully registering it, and I find myself on the edge of the bed next to her.

I’m close enough for the bond to light up at the proximity, both impatient for more and vaguely satisfied by that small step. I know she feels it too, given the slight change in her breathing and the way she goes perfectly still.

Bracing myself for potential rejection, I push forward anyway.