My best friend was okay.
I was going to move in to Elliot’s house, but I could bring my mattress—we could sleep separately, and just do things slowly.
Elliot closed the door behind us, locking it again, and my lower belly clenched.
Yup, that was definitely the climax trying to break through. I was still exhausted, though—definitely too exhausted to be horny.
Even if I was horny, I’d ignore it. I would have to. If Elliot and I had sex, everything would change. Not for me—for him. He had saved himself for his mate, and a person who’d done that just couldn’t see sex as a casual thing. Not for their first time, or times, at least. And not with their soulmate.
So, there would be none.
Zilch.
Zero.
Sex was off the table, period.
“So what about us?” Elliot asked, as he pulled a clean pair of boxers out of his drawer. I knew he usually slept naked, so if he was getting dressed to sleep, he was doing it for my sake.
And damn, the man was gorgeous. All werewolves were, but he was just… huge. He practically dwarfed me, but there was no undercurrent of the fear that I usually felt just a tinge of when I was around a male werewolf. Usually, I knew they could hurt me.
But Elliot was gentle, and patient, and calm.
There wasn’t even one tiny piece of me that thought he might cause me pain on purpose.
“What do you mean?” I was dodging the question, and I knew it.
He leaned up against the wall.
There was a knock at the door. “Lizzy? I’ve got clothes for you here,” Sabby said, from the other side of the door.
Holding my towel to my chest, I tugged the door open. My eyes met my best friend’s, and we both grinned. She threw her arms around me for a quick, fierce hug. “Ford’s about to go, so I’ve only got a minute, but I figured you’d want some clothes,” she said rapidly. “It’s really too bad he’s mated, because hot damn, that guy.” She fanned her face.
My grin stretched wider. Sabby had a habit of checking out every mated guy she met, and always gushed about them, even though we both knew it would never go anywhere.
Her eyes latched onto Elliot, leaned up against his dresser, and her lips parted as she checked him out.
My spine tingled, and I tugged the bag from her hands before shutting the door in her face.
Her laugh burst from the other side, and I rolled my eyes at the door. “Bye, Sab.”
“Please tell me you’re banging that, Lizzy. Please. For the sake of human women everywhere, just do it.”
“Bye, Sab,” I repeated even louder, ignoring the warmth in my cheeks.
Elliot’s eyes were on my back as I crossed the room, setting the backpack Sab had brought me onto the bed and unzipping it. I half expected to find brand new lingerie in there, but instead she’d thrown in my typical sports bras and crop tops. In place of my usually full-length leggings, though, I found short yoga shorts that most definitely weren’t mine. Sab sometimes attended the gym—but only in sexy workout clothes, and only because she was hoping to find a wolfy mate there.
Mumbling a curse under my breath, I tossed my towel over the end of the bed and slipped into Sab’s workout shorts, followed by my cropped tee. Most of my body was on display—thank you, Sabrina.
The damned shorts weren’t even high-waisted, so they showed off the softness in my belly that I’d come to the conclusion I would never be free of after having Evan.
“I’m going to sleep,” I told Elliot, hoping to avoid the conversation he’d brought up.
“You’re dodging me,” he murmured, his voice soft.
If I turned to look at him, I’d probably drool or something. So I didn’t turn, just slipping into bed.
“Am I?” I whispered back.