“Don’t worry about inconveniencing us,” he told me, flashing me a small grin. “We’ve got nothing going on, and it’s good to see Rocco with you while he’s trapped in his wolf form. The other girls didn’t really let us around them while their guys were hunting, and we’re curious.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip. “Then you’re welcome, I guess?”
Dax chuckled. “I’ve got to go grab my tools, but I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Alright.” I didn’t really want him to leave—I was actually starting to like the gorgeous skyscraper, surprisingly enough. Not romantically, obviously, since we’d just met and he was waiting for his mate for—
Wait, he’d said werewolves waited for their mates?
“Are you a virgin?” I blurted out, then groaned, “Shit.”
Dax laughed, and Rocco snarled, shoving his furry self over most of my body as if he was going to physically prevent me from jumping his friend.
“I wasn’t trying to flirt,” I said quickly. “I just meant—dammit, this is weird.”
“It’s not weird.” He flashed me a grin, much bigger than any he’d given me before. “All werewolves are virgins until we meet our mates. A werewolf’s mate will be his first, and his only. So yes, Rocco’s a virgin.”
My face was on freakin’ fire. “What about the girls? Are they usually supposed to be, like, experienced?”
His grin didn’t budge. “It doesn’t matter to us. Most guys would want to murder any asshole who’s been with his girl, but it doesn’t change anything for a werewolf. If you’ve slept around, it won’t matter to Rocco. Unless you bring your exes around—then he might eat them.”
I snorted. “I haven’t touched any guys, remember?”
“In five years,” Dax pointed out. “I don’t know how old you are; that doesn’t mean you’ve never touched anyone, ever.”
Rocco snarled even more furiously, and I patted his head in condolence.
A knock at the door distracted both me and Dax. I tensed as I waited for it to unlock and open, but it didn’t.
Dax followed my line of sight to the lock. “Are you comfortable with us having keys?” he asked.
The question relaxed me, honestly.
“Not really,” I admitted, as Dax headed over to the door and undid the lock.
“We’ll have everyone bring them over and leave them under the mat. We handed them out as a convenience thing; not to cause stress.” He tugged the door open.
Elliot stepped inside with a grin and a drill-thing that I assumed was Dax’s impact driver. “Hey, Del. Thanks for letting us come help.”
He was thanking me for asking for help?
Damn, what kind of world had I walked into?
“You’re welcome?”
He chuckled, and Dax stepped past him. As he went, Dax asked, “Can you tell everyone to drop their keys to this place under the mat sometime tomorrow? Del wants some privacy.”
“Sure.” Elliot leaned up against the couch, pulling his phone from his pocket.
He was just as gorgeous as the rest of them, but after talking to Dax for so long, I was a lot less intimidated by him.
“Thanks,” I told them both, shooting Dax a grateful look as he left.
“No problem,” Elliot replied for both of them. “We want you to be comfortable here, since you got dragged into this mess.” His fingers moved over the screen on his phone for another moment, and then he put it back in his pocket. “The furniture is upstairs?” he checked.
I nodded.
“Any rooms you want us to stay out of?”
The question surprised me, but in a good way.
They would respect it if I didn’t want them going into one of the rooms, and that was a big deal. Especially considering that I hadn’t wanted anyone upstairs at all a few hours earlier.
“No. Just don’t touch Rocco’s bed, maybe?”
It was stupid, but I didn’t want them to screw up his scent on the blankets.
“Sure.” Elliot didn’t so much as bat an eye at the request, which made me feel a lot better.