“Luke said that a mate bond doesn’t guarantee a good relationship, so he wanted to be sure before he made any decision.”
“Luke’s right. Not every mate bond’s a good one, especially when one or both of the people in the bond is a bad person. Having a mate doesn’t change who you are. But that was a dumb comparison because neither you nor Luke is a bad person. In fact, you’re both some of the best people I know. Both your hearts are in the right place. I know Luke’s being frustrating right now, but I also know it’s because he doesn’t want to hurt either you or Lucy. At some point, someone’s going to have to get hurt, and he’s going to have to decide who it will be.”
I snuggled against Blake, the position feeling so natural with how well our bodies melded together. He wrapped his muscular arms back around me.
After some time, he took me back to the car and drove me home. “How are you going to get home?” I asked.
“I’ll just shift and run home. I brought a bag to put all of my clothes in and carry home in my mouth.” He pulled into the driveway. I was relieved to see that all of the lights in the house were out, meaning my parents had already gone to sleep and not waited up for me. He parked the car and slipped out. I looked at his empty seat and noticed that a shopping bag was left behind.
Chapter 28
Jasmine
OnMonday,aftertemple,I was once again working the late shift at the café. Reena had opened, so she left as soon as I walked in at ten o’clock. Just Valerie and I were working together, which was a relief. After everything that happened this past weekend, I was not ready to face Lucy yet.
“So, major hangover on Saturday?” Valerie eyed me suspiciously when I walked in.
“Yeah, major. I was out all night celebrating my birthday on Friday night.”
“If you were Lucy, I’d maybe believe you. But even Lucy’s never called out hungover before.”
“There’s a first time for everything!” I shrugged.
“Hmm, ok. I’m going to pretend to believe you since you’ve never called out before and you’re one of my best employees. But don’t let it happen again.”
After doing some cleaning, I pulled out my textbook to get some reading in before the lunch rush. But I found that I had trouble concentrating, rereading the same words over and over again. After a while, I closed my textbook, giving up.
Valerie walked by. “Hmm, it’s not often I see you close your textbook when it’s dead in here.”
“Mm,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
“A lot on your mind? You seem really spacey today.”
“You could say that,” I replied.
“Well, come on, spit it out. I’m dying to know what kept you from coming to work on Saturday. Did you finally get a life?”
I looked at her crossly. “Hey, that’s not very nice!”
She laughed. “I’m only saying. You’ve spent too much time living your parents’ life, and it’s about time you live your own. So, I’m going to use my imagination until you tell me what’s really happening. And the alpha’s one fine man, so I have some very vivid images of him in my imagination right now—of what you did with him all day Saturday.” She grinned.
“Do I even want to know?”
“Oh, trust me, you do. I’m imagining some intense porn in my head right now. Some of it may possibly be illegal in this country.” She laughed.
“I definitely don’t want to know. Anyway, the alpha and I have decided to just be friends.”
“Why would you do something crazy like that?”
I groaned.
She continued, “I’d be groaning too if I were friend-zoned by him.”
“It’s not that—”
“Well, what is it?”
“If I tell you something, can you please not tell anyone, especially not Lucy?”