TWELVE
Zed parked in the driveway,then tossed some keys to Dax, who was waiting leaned up against the garage door when we got back. I realized they were my keys when Dax got in a sports car with the ab-guy I’d met in the kitchen that one day. If someone had said his name, I couldn’t remember it.
“What’s his name? The guy driving the car?” I asked.
Zed glanced over. “Ford. He’s mated to Ebony.”
I sort of recognized the name, though I wouldn’t have been able to put it to a face.
Zed walked around the car while I unbuckled my seatbelt, and he tugged the door open for me while I slipped out.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
He dipped his head in a nod.
The throbbing in my body hadn’t eased in the slightest, but surprisingly enough, I was getting kind of used to it. If we had sex once, I was pretty sure that would go out the window. But now that we’d made it this long, I was feeling a bit better about my ability to keep it in my pants.
“So what now?” I asked Zed, as we stepped into the house and he shut the door behind us.
“Now, we figure out what we’re going to do,” he said simply.
He waved me toward him a bit as we stepped inside, and I really looked around the place for the first time. It wasn’t luxurious, but it wasn’t shitty. The couch was black, with a couple of comfortable-looking shaggy pillows on it. There was a dark, geometric-pattered rug beneath it, covering a good portion of the nice, neutral wood that was spread through the kitchen and up the stairs.
The kitchen had dark green cabinets with white speckled countertops, and the way it was set up, it looked pretty damn masculine. Zed had been living the virgin, bachelor life though, so it wasn’t like he had a reason to pretty the place up.
Past the kitchen, the dining table was black and simple, with a rug of its own beneath it, but no centerpiece sitting on it.
“You’re staring,” Zed remarked.
I jumped a bit, turning toward him with a bit of a scowl. “You scared the shit out of me.”
He was definitely fighting a smirk. “Do you approve?” He gestured to the house.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “I usually spend a lot more time outside than inside, so I’m not really picky about where I stay. Though I guess that might change now that I’m not traveling”
That was true, but… well, if I had my own home, or even a permanent living place, I would check out thrift stores religiously until I found all the decorations I needed to bring life to the place. If I had a home, I’d do whatever I had to until I was absolutely in love with it.
Zed crossed the room and took a seat at the kitchen table, gesturing me toward the chair next to his. “So, what do you want to do?”
I reluctantly walked over to the table, but didn’t take the seat he’d pointed me toward. Instead, I left that one empty and took the one on the other side of it, so there was a chair between us.
“About what?” I checked.
“Everything. Life, jobs, mating, housing. Traveling.”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” I asked, leaning my back against the wooden chair and lifting my feet up to rest on the seat in front of my ass. My thighs met my chest, and my arms wrapped loosely around my calves.
“Mmhm.” Zed agreed.
“Well, we’re kind of stuck together, aren’t we? If I leave, you’ll follow me. And if you don’t follow me, your wolf will take over and chase me—assuming my wolf doesn’t take over to chase you first.”
“Yup.”
“I don’t have an apartment—just the storage unit. I’m not sure what your finances are like, but mine aren’t great. I spend almost exactly as much as I make when I’m traveling, and I poured my savings account into the gas tank when I was running from your wolf,” I admitted.
“Money’s not an issue.” Zed brushed that right off, which had me narrowing my eyes.
“What does that mean?”