TEN
DAX
“ShouldI ask how it’s going?” Elliot checked, as he pulled his truck away from Sabrina’s place.
I grimaced. “No.”
He wouldn’t push me for details; he knew I preferred to think my way through shit on my own.
“Do you know why your wolf waited so long to choose her?”
“No,” I admitted.
My head leaned back against the headrest, my fingers hanging loosely from the handle on the truck’s ceiling.
Elliot turned up the music; it was some kind of pop station, which I assumed was his mate’s doing.
Fuck, I’d kill for Sabrina to casually change the radio station in my car, or hook up her own damn phone because she didn’t like the music on mine.
I’d kill for her to look at me like I wasn’t a damned disappointment, too.
“She doesn’t want me,” I admitted.
Usually, I’d think things through on my own, but… well, I was lost. I had no idea what to do with the woman—my woman.
“You should see the way she looks at me. Like she was about to win a gold medal and I cut her leg off or something. Like she was going to have some charismatic, extroverted, football-player for a mate and instead she got the short end of the stick when fate saddled her with me. And fuck, she’s dying, because that’s how little she wants me.”
“Let’s take a second to breathe,” Elliot said, just as optimistic as always. Usually, I didn’t mind the optimism, but damn, it was bothering me.
“She’d probably be happier if I just stopped breathing altogether,” I snarled.
Elliot took one more glance at me and then changed the music to rock, turning it up. Something about the loud music was a little soothing, strangely enough.
Damn, I wanted to punch something. Badly.
“I’ll move the punching bag to Sab’s place,” Elliot called out, above the music. “It’ll help.”
It probably would.
“Doubt she wants that in her garage,” I yelled back.
“Sab’s got a hard time saying no if someone asks nicely—that’s why she was waitressing that night at Zed’s restaurant. Ask her if you can put it in her spare room, and she’ll say yes.”
I didn’t know that about her.
Fuck, why had I tried so damn hard not to get to know her?
My jaw clenched.
I almost said my thoughts out loud, but couldn’t voice them.
She didn’t think our connection was real.
She didn’t think we were actually mates.
Hell, she didn’t even want to be mates.
And she had paid such little attention to me before my wolf finally made his fucking move that she actually thought I hadn’t been attracted to her before we became official.