“Bottom line, I never looked at you the way I do now. But we’ve been friends. We’ve always had banter. I tease you and you blush. You follow me around and act like I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. And I didn’t know how much I loved that until it was over. You always looked at me like I could do anything. And I started to worry about how it’d affect you when I mated. I never saw you dating. I tried to nudge you away for your own good. But you were so relentless and stubborn that I had to spell it out.”
“My stubborn brain is my best gift and my worst flaw at the same time,” she says, staring at the ceiling. “I’ve been so stubborn despite being offered everything I ever wanted on a silver platter. Because I wanted itmyway. I wanted you to wake up one day and be in love with me.”
“Iamin love with you,” I tell her.
She blinks a couple times and gives her head a shake.
I explain. “Yeah, I wanted you once I knew. I definitely felt entitled to have you. I got arrogant and cocky about it, but also… I had severe biological reactions to being kept from you both in that bubble and then again with that no-touching spell. But watching you since we got back, reflecting on all I know about you, I'm done for. I see you through new eyes. And baby... I’m so fucking sorry for-"
She throws a hand up angrily. “No. Stop.”
I jolt in surprise.
Now her eyes are full of fury.
“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Jason!” she snaps. “And I’m fucking it up because I had unrealistic expectations. Yes, logically, you’d think I would’ve been ecstatic the minute I got the news. Me of all people. I know how the mate bond works and I’ve always known how important that scent connection is. That whole… primal sense and gut instinct a shifter has. How your animal guides you and protects you using the senses. I knew. Or… I thought I did. But until you’re in it…”
“Yeah, it’s a whole different ballgame,” I say.
“But just before we were abducted, I was trying to convince myself I was over you. And if you act like a jerk, I’m going to call you out on it. I won’t be treated badly by anyone. I’ve put up with too much of that and I’m done. I decided it and I really meant it. And then when everything happened, I got angrier and dug my heels in.”
“And you got results. You got a law changed. You got my head out of my ass.”
“Well… it might not be the last time I get stubborn about something. Fair warning.”
I smile and my chest feels lighter suddenly.
I say, “I don’t know how to be in a relationship, but I’m ready to learn.”
“I don’t know how either. I guess we could try to figure it out?”
“Don’t look so scared. Am I doing that bad so far?”
“No,” she whispers, bottom lip trembling. “I’m the one that’s doing bad. Terrible, actually.”
“How about I grovel some more, then you forgive me and we decide on a clean slate?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head vigorously.
“No to what part?”
“No more groveling, Jase.”
“But Iamsorry.”
“Shut up. Don't. I don't need that from you. I already know,it is so, so worth it.”
Joy bubbles up in me. “You’re not gonna let me grovel a bit more?”
“You’ve done enough of that.”
“You’ve had a lot of supporters putting me through this agony, woman. Fuckin’ everyone wants me groveling. My own ma wants me on my knees kissing your feet.”
Her shoulders slump. “It feels too late, Jase. It feels like… unrealistic.”
“It’s not.”
“But it was everything I wanted, and… and…”