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“Well, we’ve established that he likes you. As I said before, he invited me in once he knew you were coming for me.”
“Likes me? The man barely spoke to me.”
“Maybe he’s shy.”
I almost barked a laugh. Oh, he wasfarfrom shy. He just didn’t bother his ass with social niceties.
Exiting his gates, I pulled out onto the main road. “I really can’t believe you did this.”
“In a few months, you’ll be thanking me for meddling.”
I felt my brow pinch. “How do you figure that?”
“Because you two will be humping like bunnies, of course. Give it a year or so and he’ll be talking about putting a ring on your finger.” She smiled. “Trust me, I know these things.”
My jaw dropped. Her mind was one weird place. “You’re nuts, woman. Nuts.”
“I don’t like how often you say that.”
“I don’t like that you so often give me reasons to say it. Now maybe you could put down your bow for good, Cupid.”
“But I’m such a good shot.”
I snorted. “You’re the worst shotever.”
“I’ll make you take that back when he proposes.”
“For the love of God, woman, there’s not gonna be a proposal.”
Chapter Four
As I walked through the Vault’s manned side entrance with my friends later that day, I gave Izzy’s arm a little squeeze. “I’m so pleased for you, Iz. This is great news. Not surprising, really, though. I figured Cole would nibble at your resolve until you eventually got with the program.”
Izzy’s lips curled. “There was some nibbling. He didn’t push me to agree to move in with him, but he did give me gentle nudges rather than let me make a decision in my own time.”
Cat gave her a pat on the head as we strode down the hall toward the elevator that would take us down to the basement. “Oh, sweetie, you were neverreallychewing on the decision at your own pace. He just let you think you were.”
Izzy’s forehead creased. “What?”
“It’s an alpha male thing,” said Cat. “They’ll ease their foot off the pedal just enough to let you think you’re in control of what speed things are moving at. But they’ll very subtly put pressure on that pedal as time goes on, all the while smoothly steering the wheel in whatever directions they please.”
Briar gave a firm nod. “Having grown up around alpha males—and currently dating two—I can attest to that. My suggestion? Learn to roll with it, because they won’t change. But also, make them pay for it in fun ways.”
“Whenever Cole gets too pushy, I arrange for us to spend another evening in the basement’s lap dancing room,” said Izzy. “Nothing seems to annoy him more. He positively hates having to follow the ‘look but don’t touch’ rule. He acts like I’m torturing him.” She rolled her eyes.
Cat grinned. “Danton doesn’t like that room much either. Itisa fun method to remind them that we have our ways of making them suffer.”
Briar sighed. “I can’t lie, Iz, I’ll be bummed when you move out—I like having you as my neighbor. But I’ll also be super happy for you.”
“I’ll miss having you so close, you do make the best neighbor.” Izzy scratched at the side of her neck. “A little voice in my head keeps whispering that I’m rushing things by moving in with Cole but, at this point, I honestly don’t care if that’s true or not. I want to live with him. And life … it’s unpredictable. There’s no guarantee that any of us will grow old, let alone spend our entire lives with the people we love. I’ll never get back this time I have with Cole, so I don’t want to spend it chewing on stuff.”
Reading between the lines, I gave her a sympathetic smile. “It plays on your mind that he could be seriously hurt during a fight, huh?”
“Yes,” Izzy confirmed, pushing the button on the wall panel to call the elevator. “Not that I’d ever tell him that. I don’t want to make him feel that I don’t fully support his goals.”
“I think he’d understand, but I can see why you wouldn’t want to tell him,” said Cat.
Izzy swept her gaze along each of us. “You’re all sure you don’t mind helping me box up all my stuff?”
