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The food wasn’t a problem, but the other two wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
They were set up in one of the underground warmup rooms. He’d moved the gymnastics mats together and lined the back two-thirds of the floor, and had like-shapeshifters in little bunches, relaxing together in comfortable piles all over the place. His pride had the best spot, of course, but there wasn’t really a bad location. He walked the room, taking in the general energy and checking on those who didn’t feel quite right. After his circuit, he sat just outside the door, in a chair he’d situated out there earlier. This gave him control over those who entered and left — mostly to use the restroom, since they had food available in the room with them.
He heard the rhythm of Lauren’s walk a few minutes before he scented her, but he didn’t move to acknowledge her.
“Can we talk?”
He looked past her a few seconds without acknowledging her, but he knew they had an audience — everyone awake in the room behind him was listening, and those at an angle to see through the glass panes in the door were likely watching. Lauren was seen as Gavin’s partner, and he couldn’t get away with a complete show of disrespect.
“I’ve made my stance clear, but in this building and in this situation, you have the right to speak, I suppose.”
She stood in front of him another fifteen seconds without speaking, while he kept looking down the hallway, past her.
And then she dropped to her knees and stretched her body out into the full-prostrate pose of his lionesses, used mostly when they needed to show respect to their king, or when they needed to beg their Rex for something.
He sighed. “What are you doing, Lauren?”
She spoke from her position, without rising. “I didn’t show you respect. You’re my friend and I was pissed, and I acted as one would when angry at a friend. I forgot you are also Rex of the Branson Pride, and that we can’t have those arguments in front of others.Please, Nick. I regret my words that night, and I don’t know any other way to show you how serious I am, or how sorry I am. I sent you away because I was terrified I’d say something in anger that would damage our friendship, and I was trying to make sure I didn’t do that. Instead, my actions and words sending you away damaged it, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. I can’t lose your friendship.Please, Nick.”
He sighed. She wasn’t going to get up until he figured out how to defuse this. “Okay, I get it. You’re sorry. It doesn’t change anything though, does it? You chose the vampire, not me. It was absolutely the right move politically, so I can’t even be angry with you for it.”
She stayed on the floor without moving. “You know me better than that. You know I’ve cared for Gavin for the better part of nearly two years, though I had no idea what to do about it for most of that time.”
Yes, he absolutely knew that, which was why it made sense that she’d picked the vampire, but he didn’t say anything because he didn’t feel like repeating himself. She stayed on her knees, waiting him out, but lions are patient, so she eventually sat up, but stayed on her knees. “Can we go somewhere private to speak, please? I know you have someone you can put in charge when you need to catch a nap or attend a meeting.”
“Where?”
“My office is soundproof.”
He stood, Lauren levitated up to standing, and she motioned for him to walk, so she could follow. It seemed she was truly going to try to show him she saw him as Rex, but he didn’t want her following him.
He let her, though. The cat in him wasn’t prepared to offer her a spot by his side.
They made it to her office, and Lauren followed him in, closed the door, locked it, and told him, “I love you, too. I now realize I have for years, but I convinced myself it was just as friends. I knew better, but it was easier to believe the lie.”
Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you trying to say, Lauren?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m nottryingto say anything. I’m quite clearly telling you I love you.”
Oh no, she wasn’t going to just close the door and push his buttons. He gave her a look he hoped showed her how little he cared about who she might or might not love. “You’re the vampire’s partner now, so what does it matter?”
“Neither of us are monogamous to the other. I’ve agreed not to have sexual relations with anyone blood bonded to him without checking in with him first, and he gave me permission to have them with you before I even asked. He’s told me many times I should work on repairing my relationship with you because true friends don’t come along often. He isn’t even a tiny bit opposed to you and I having a relationship, so long as you aren’t opposed to the one I have with Gavin.”
He stared at her without moving. He didn’t want to share her with the vampire, but he’d been friends with her while she’d dated others. Politically, he’d be seen as more powerful, sharing a woman with the Master of the City, but not even Nathan would advise him to make this decision based on that. Not with Lauren involved, anyway. With any other man or woman, he probably would.
“You were right,” Lauren told him. “I hadn’t realized it, but I chose two men who can’t give me monogamy. I don’t know why, exactly, but the fact it pissed me off so badly tells me it’s probably important I figure it out.”
“I could explain to you and probably piss you off all over again.”
“Will you sit with me and explain? I promise I’ll try not to attack the messenger this time.”
He sat in one of her chairs, and not the loveseat she’d intended. The cat saw it as a half-conciliation, a small appeasement, but the man realized he was still being an asshole. He didn’t much care, though.
“You don’t want to let anyone have a leash on you,” he told her. “If you get a dream job offer in Orlando or Paris in five years, you want to be free to accept those offers. A personal life, connections, might keep you from going wherever the best jobs are.”
“Oh. That’s not so bad.” She walked from her spot in front of the door to the loveseat, and sat facing him. “It’s mostly true, but it isn’t, you know,intensebaggage, the kind of thing that takes hours and hours of blubbering and tissues to work through.”
He grinned. “You mean, like the poor little orphan with attachment issues who doesn’t want people to get too close, lest they abandon her and hurt her?”
