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Obviously, that would be cause for some unhinged pattering on about how this date was going to go. He wanted to impress Rose and make her feel as important as she was to him without coming on too strong.
He’d already done that on their last date by asking her out without even finishing their first.
Though, thankfully she’d taken it in stride.
“Gib?”
His friend sighed. “You know what day it is?”
“Saturday?”
The other shifter nodded. “Of?”
Dylan ran through his mental calendar. He checked off the dates in his head until he returned to the date with Rose circled in red. What else would be going on today, other than ...
He felt his eyes widen and his stomach drop.
“Jazzy,” he murmured.
Gibson gave him a pained look, walking over to him slowly. “Hey …”
Dylan leaned over the wet bar and grasped both of his hands around the marbled counter. He leaned his body weight into it, feeling the waves of regret crashing into him. How could he be so stupid? How could he let something like a simple date distract him like this?
He hadn’t even remembered when he’d asked Rose out at the restaurant. Hadn’t even thought about it the entire rest of the week leading up to today. All because he’d been too self-absorbed in his own world like he had been when Jazzy had passed.
Even back then, he’d let her slip through his fingers. Not remembering to check up on her until it was too late.
Dylan’s knees buckled, taking him to the floor. He felt a hand come up from behind him and curl around his shoulder.
“It’s not your fault.”
He wanted to slam his fist into something and scream, “of course it was!”
But what good would that do to either of them now? Jazzy was gone, and he was the idiot who’d forgotten to remember his dear friend.
“She’d want you to be happy, Dylan. Not mope around on her anniversary like you have been these past few years.”
He shook his head. It didn’t save him from the fact that he’d forgotten about her altogether.
“Dyl…”
“I’m angry at myself.”
“You don’t need to be. You’re no one’s hero by hating yourself for the rest of your life. Okay? She wouldn’t want that. She’d want you to be happy.” Dylan lifted his head and rubbed his hands over his face. “Go on your date. Don’t disappoint both of them by sitting here wallowing all night.”
He sighed. As harsh as Gibson’s words were, he knew that cutting off Rose at this stage was going to probably send him right over the edge. To what end? He had no idea. But keeping a shifter from their mate ... regardless of the circumstances ... was never ideal.
Standing slowly, Gibson clapped him on the back. “Get yourself cleaned up. And then go knock that woman’s socks off.”
* * *
When he arrivedat Rose’s door, he couldn’t help but feel a thread of nervousness winding through him, pulling tight on his anxiety.
Even though his sadness from earlier continued to linger, he still wanted Rose to have a good night. It wasn’t her fault that he came with preconceived baggage that had nothing to do with her. He could tell she had a good heart, and putting something like that on her wouldn’t be fair.
When the door opened, he couldn’t help his jaw dropping a little.
She had her long blonde hair pinned back from her heart-shaped face, making her smile pop even more. The dress she wore hugged every single curve she had, giving him half a mind to back her right up through that door and push her against the wall with his hips.
