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FOURTEEN
NERO
Nero did it on purpose.
Not that he wouldeveradmit it to Valentine.
If she found out the truth, she would probably find a way to punish him that put her choice of music to shame.
Not that there was anything actually wrong with her musical taste.
Nero just wanted to give her a hard time because she was cute when she was mad. He liked bickering with her.
And so, that was why he did it.
He booked their hotel room and lied, lied, lied.
He lied that there was only one room left.
He lied that said room only had one bed.
He lied that he had tried to find somewhere else without any luck.
He wasn’t evil or manipulative. He was a shifter falling head over heels with his mate. The issue … and the reason for his three little white lies, which were really justonelie … was that he didn’t know how to tell her.
It should’ve been the easiest thing.
Her, Val, guess what. You’re my mate, and we can be together forever.
Easy.
Only it wasn’t, and Nero had no clue why he couldn’t tell her. He could pretend it was because she was too worried about her sister. He could even pretend that he didn’t want to rush her into anything now that he knew she was inexperienced in all things love and sex.
But that wasn’t it.
There was something else in the back of his mind, and every time he tried to think about it more clearly during the long driving hours, something in his head shouted loudly,leave me alone!
It was new.
Usually, Nero was very sure of himself. He knew what made him happy, and he took it without making any apologies.
This was different.
This was opening himself to loss, and there was a bit of resistance inside him. He had grown up around loss, and he wasn’t sure he could deal with more.
Losing his mate … his Valentine … would kill him.
There was no doubt in his mind that was true, and so, like a coward, he held off and found shit reasons to keep the important detail of what she was away from her.
As soon as they walked into their home for the night, Valentine eyed the bed with suspicion. As if it were the bed’s fault.
“Do you mind if I take a shower first?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yup.”
“Are you going for a run?”
Nero shook his head. “There isn’t any place around here that could work. I’ll survive.”
