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“A guy who looks like you isn’t the awkward kid on the playground, or in high school.” I grabbed my fork and gestured to his abs again. “There’s not a chance in hell that you were bullied, or even just ignored. A body and face like that gets you an automatic ticket into the popular club.”
“You’re objectifying me,” he told me, matter-of-factly.
My face flushed, and I started eating to dissolve the tension in my belly a bit. “Am I wrong, though?”
“I don’t know. I went to school here, surrounded by other werewolves, who are all men. There was only one human girl in our class, and she was pretty much one of the guys. Didn’t even end up mated to anyone in the school, because everyone had seen her as a friend for so long.” He lifted a shoulder. “There’s not really a popular group in a school like mine. People stick with their packs, and no one is alone. Ask Del about it; she’s a guidance counselor there.”
Damn.
I’d known Del was a guidance counselor, and I’d called her crazy for doing it, but I’d assumed she was at a normal high school.
“What about at your job?” I checked.
“The girls all flirted at first. One of the guys, too. After I turned them down a couple of times, I was just their head chef. People get used to your appearance.”
I doubted I’d ever get used to the way he looked. Ever. I wasn’t emotionally ready to be married to anyone, but I was damn sure I’d be happy looking at Zed for the rest of my life. And maybe that meant I was objectifying him, but… it didn’t feel like I was.
“You’ve called me, ‘Beautiful,’ a couple of times, so you’ve objectified me too,” I finally countered.
He laughed. “That’s not me objectifying you; it’s me stating a fact. And it’s not just your face and body that I find beautiful, it’s your whole damned soul. You’re a fighter, and it’s sexy. And for the record, I wasn’t complaining about you objectifying me. You can do that any time you want; I appreciate all objectification coming from you. I was just stating another fact.”
“If you’re allowed to objectify me under the guise of stating a fact, then I’m allowed to do it too,” I warned, my mouth full of food.
Zed grinned at me. “Alright, deal.”
I couldn’t help but grin back.
Rice fell out of my mouth when I did, and Zed snorted. I covered my mouth, laughing hard into my hand. “Wow, so beautiful,” I made fun of myself.
“Yup.” He reached over and brushed a couple grains of rice off my face. “Absolutely breathtaking.” His lips brushed my chin where the rice had been, and I laughed again, shoving his head away with my free hand. No rice fell out that time at least.
He caught my hand and kissed my palm before releasing me with a grin, and returning to his food.
Whatever tension had been there before the meal only dissipated even further.
