“Hey Matt,” I greet the delivery guy. He’s a regular at the bar on his nights off. He also tends to bring in pizzas that are leftover after his shifts, so I’m a huge fan.
“What’s up, Meredith?” He grins. Matt is a tall, scrawny guy who’s barely old enough to drink. He’s got a mop of bleached-out hair and big green eyes. He’s the kind of kid high school cheerleaders fall all over themselves for. He’s got bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold written all over his smile.
“Not too much,” I say. He hands me my receipt. I add a tip, sign it, and hand it back over. “Busy night?”
He shrugs. “Not as busy as usual. There’s supposed to be a big storm tonight, so I think everyone’s just getting ready for that.”
“I didn’t know about that.”
Apparently, I’ve been preoccupied.
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be a shitty one,” he shrugs. “Make sure you have flashlights in your batteries, huh?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
He hands me the pizza and I close the door behind Matt before turning back around. Shit. A storm? I don’t have a lot of food on hand and everything’s already closed for the night, but surely one night of bad weather isn’t the end of the world. Besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen?
I walk over to the entrance to the living room and see Robert smiling at me from his position on the couch.
My heart does a flip-flop as I realize that yeah, I’m in big trouble. He might not be looking for something serious, but my inner-wolf is just begging to claim him as her mate.
Chapter 10
Robert
The pizza is good, and it disappears almost immediately. Meredith and I spend the entire night talking, laughing, and joking around. I talk almost too easily with her. There’s just something about her that makes me feel wildly comfortable and happy. By the time midnight rolls around, we’re nowhere near finished, but I know I should probably head home.
If I stay, I worry that I’m never going to leave.
“Well,” I say, and I place my hands on my knees, Midwest-style, to signify that the night is about over for me.
I don’t want it to be, and I think she can sense that.
“You don’t have to go,” Meredith says quickly.
“Meredith, I...”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to...I mean...nothing has to happen sexually,” she blurts out. She’s so nervous saying this to me that she blushes, but that just makes me like her even more.
“Meredith,” I cup her hand. “I appreciate that. I want you, baby,” I kiss her, pressing my lips to hers. “But I’m just not quite there. Not just yet.”
“It’s okay,” she says.
Neither one of us says what we’re really feeling. I can’t tell her that I’m dying to bite her, to claim her. I never felt that call with my ex-wife. In fact, I never believed in mates before. Not until I met Meredith. Now I can’t stop thinking about the idea of mates. Is Meredith my mate? Is that why I feel such a longing when I’m around her?
There’s certainly no logical reason for me to be feeling this way. There’s no realistic reason that I’m craving her so very badly.
“You can stay, though,” she says. “You know, Matt said there’s going to be a storm.”
And I walked.
It’s not too far to my home, but a quick listen lets me know that yeah, the storm has already begun, and I was too wrapped up in Meredith to notice or care. I get up and walk over to the window. Pulling the curtain back, I look out into the night just as thunder sounds, shaking the house. Meredith jolts, and I turn back to her.
“Sorry, I’m fine,” she says. “Just not a fan of storms.”