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I didn’t miss the way she swallowed hard again. Or that a little breath stuttered out of her. Good. Now I felt better and—
Maya’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t think Ava’s into that sort of thing.”
Salem bristled. “What?”
Ava went wide-eyed. “Wait, I was part of the fantasy? Do tell.”
“I did not mention Ava,” I told her growling mate.
Meanwhile, Maya bust a gut laughing again. “I was just joking, Salem, I swear.”
This fucking woman would be the death of me.
CHAPTER TWO
(Maya)
Sitting at a table across from Coop, I held back a sigh. It was never a good sign when the person you were dating kept talking about someone else. It didn’t take a genius to work out that he was highly attracted to one of the legion members, Arlo. Especially since Coop repeatedly blushed when mentioning him.
I might have been miffed if I thought Coop’s interest in me was faked and he was wasting both our times, but I sensed that he did like me. He just liked someone else more. Which, to be honest, was a two-way street. I’d much rather be on this date with Ryder.
Really, neither Coop nor I could fully emotionally invest in the other. Not when we had other people on our minds. It was a shame, really, because he sure was cute. Funny, too. Very open and forthcoming. And he listened. Really listened. I liked that. Liked that there didn’t seem to be a mean bone in his body. Liked that, for once, the guy I was dating wasn’t remote or self-contained.
That was my specialty, you see. Attracting emotionally unavailable men. I wasn’t sure what it said about me that I had a weakness for them, but it couldn’t be anything good.
It wasn’t that I wanted to melt or tame them. I believed in accepting people for who they were. Cassie theorised that I was a little too accepting; that I made too many allowances for people if they had a lot of personal baggage. Maybe. I truly didn’t know.
Setting down my glass of wine-flavoured NST, I spoke, “Can I ask you a question?”
Coop dabbed his mouth with his napkin. “Um, sure.”
“How long have you been crushing on Arlo?”
Coop spluttered. “I’m sorry?”
“When you told me about how you recently separated from Derek, you mentioned his friend an awful lot.”
Red stained Coop’s cheeks. “Only because I’m thankful to Arlo for letting me know that Derek was cheating on me with his ex. I know Derek and Beatrix have a fair amount of history—they were together a long time, and it’s no little thing that she followed him to The Hollow when he joined the legion. But that’s no excuse for how he betrayed me. And I don’t like that he goes back to her again and again. I believe Arlo is right. Derek wants to prevent her from moving on. It couldn’t have been easy for Arlo to tell me about this, considering it meant disregarding his loyalty to Derek. If Arlo hadn’t … I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
Nodding, I felt my mouth curve. “Arlo is pretty hot. Very rugged.”
“He is,” Coop reluctantly agreed, a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. “But I don’t think anything would happen between us. He’s close to Derek. Friends don’t get involved with their friends’ exes.”
“Friends also generally keep each other’s secrets and don’t interfere in their relationships, but Arlo broke those rules for you.”
“He said he thought I deserved better than Derek.”
“It could be that he has feelings for you.”
Coop studied me carefully. “This doesn’t make you upset? I mean, you and I are on a date.”
“And I’m coming to realise something. You like me, but you like Arlo more. That’s making you uncomfortable, since he should be off-limits. You want to convince yourself that your attraction to him doesn’t matter, that you can move on with someone else just fine, so you asked me out.” My voice was empty of judgement.
“No, I don’t think it’s …” Trailing off, he winced. “Maybe you’re right. I’m not using you, though.”
“No, you’re not. But right now, you’re not ready for anything big.”
He cocked his head. “You talk like you have some experience with trying to force yourself to move forward.” His eyes briefly slid to the side. “Ryder?”
“Ryder,” I confirmed. “Here’s my idea. You and I keep dating, but not exclusively. If it comes to something, great. If instead Arlo makes a move and you’d prefer to explore things with him, you have the freedom to do so. I think we’ll enjoy our dates if for no other reason than it’d be nice for us to have someone to talk to who understands how we’re feeling.”
Coop gave a slow nod, tension slipping from his shoulders. “I can agree to that. You’re right, I’m not ready to commit just yet. And it will be nice to talk to someone who understands. You don’t have any hope that you and Ryder might—”
