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She had a sip of the wine. It was good, its redness full and velvety in her mouth.
He sipped his, swallowing with a satisfied look on his face. She regretted not raising her glass in a cheer of some kind. She should have gotten his attention on what the moment signified. Let him know that this was meaningful, that she hadn’t entered into this bond lightly. Strangely enough, she worried that she would scare him, or put him off, if she told him she was happy he was her mate. As though it was better that he didn’t feel the pressure, in case he wasn’t of the same mind. Even though they were already tied to each other and there was nowhere he could run.
The rejection would sting too badly. She didn’t want to risk it.
“Did you always want to be a marine biologist?” he asked, taking her by surprise.
“Who told you that?”
“Your mother may have bragged a bit,” he smiled a small smile.
Safe to say her mother had probably bragged a lot.
“She didn’t corner you, did she?” she asked, a look of honest contrition on her face.
He tilted his head back and laughed.
“She absolutely did, yeah,” he admonished. “Literally got me into a corner and wouldn’t let me leave until she’d sung your praises. It was… really sweet, actually.”
“Not terribly annoying and slightly terrifying?”
He chuckled, shaking his head.
“Not at all.”
“It’s funny,” she said, having another sip of her wine. “I didn’t hear a single good word about you.”
“Weird.”
“Right? All evening, not even a whisper.”
“Maybe no one thought it was necessary,” he said.
“Oh, because you stepping into a room fills it with your greatness, so why should anyone be in any doubt about it?” She’d cocked an eyebrow, but the way he observed her made her self-conscious enough to want to take the comment back, undo it, or at least smooth it over. “I mean, it does,” she mumbled, eyes on her glass, the gleam along its rim where the light from the lamp was reflecting itself.
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice lowered.
“No need to apologize for it!” It was her turn to laugh.
“Not for… my greatness,” he said, half-smile on. “For leaving like that.”
“I should’ve known. I mean, it wasn’t like I didn’t know you were most likely going to college to do something great with your life, right? I was just…”
“Young?” he filled in.
“Excuse me, I am still young, thank you very much.”
It made him laugh again, a deep sound, from the middle of his chest. Her fingertips started to glow. Traitors. She acted as cool as she could, hoping he wouldn’t read too much into it. He did, but not in the way she’d been worried he would.
“When you’re ready, I want you to tell me about Nikolai.”
She nodded. It was all she could do. She couldn’t talk about that, not now, not this night of all nights. Not at their very beginning.
“What are we going to say tomorrow?” she asked.
“We’re going to tell them the truth,” he said. “And expect them to see sense.”
“Great,” she huffed, but they both grew serious.
