Chapter 10
Zoey
I talked in my sleep? What the hell did I say? The smirk on his face told me it was probably embarrassing.
Had I called out his name?
Oh God, did I say someone else’s name?
No way would he be grinning like that if I had. His wolf was too easily pushed to the edge. I’d noticed that numerous times now. So if I’d said another guy’s name, he’d be a mess right now. It was more likely I’d said his name.
I wasn’t really sure which scenario was worse.
“Come on, let’s get you checked in to your room.”
“Oh, you aren’t coming?”
“Of course I’m coming. Unless you tell me no.”
I should have told him to stay. Spending so much time with him was only going to encourage the bond.
Was that really such a bad thing?
I never really thought I would find my true mate. I certainly didn’t imagine it would feel so insane. But after just one day with Monte, I was struggling to see my future without him and that scared the shit out of me.
So many guys at the ARC wanted to hook up with me. They wanted my popularity, my money, my success, my body, bragging rights, always something. What did Monte want?
Maybe that was a jaded way to look at my love life. He was my one true mate. That should mean something more, right? But did it?
On some level, I was brought up to believe that true mates were destined to be together, but I didn’t really know many true mates. Maybe that was all bullshit, just some weird shifter fairy tale.
I looked at him, trying to think through everything. He hadn’t blurted out about our bond or everything the second we found each other. Many guys I knew would have bragged to everyone within five packs. But not him.
He rescued me when I was choking. He followed me into the woods while also giving me my space and not demanding or asking anything of me.
And even though I’d run away from him, when he found me here in distress, he’d saved me.
Then when I all but told him I wasn’t ready to get close to him, he tried to offer me my space and sleep on the floor.
I didn’t let that happen. We ended up together in the bed, but he hadn’t once tried to touch me.
I laid in bed for quite some time after he fell asleep just looking at him. He really was handsome.
All the brothers of Delta Omega Gamma were gorgeous.
I was pretty sure it was a requirement to join.
Theta had a similar requirement for all my sisters.
Appearances were important to some, and it was no secret that Theta girls wanted to be the prettiest on campus.
I personally never cared about such things, but my freshman roommate had convinced me to rush with her.
She graduated a year early and this semester wasn’t the same without her, but I had my hands full with my business, classes, and taking over as president of Theta.
Still, while the D.O.G.s certainly seemed to adhere to impressions, they sometimes surprised me.
Jax, the obnoxious mind reader who definitely knew about us but didn’t seem to have really shared that information with his brothers, did not look the part of a Delta Omega Gamma brother.
Even his suit had been black with a black shirt and a black tie.
His hair was dyed black and he had facial piercings.
Nothing about him screamed frat boy, yet he was still just as good looking in his own right and somehow just fit in with his brothers.
It was weird if I stopped to really think about it.
Monte certainly looked like a frat boy, yet he wasn’t like stop-and-stare gorgeous, if I was being honest. But as I laid there staring at him, I was surprised at just how beautiful he was.
And then I remembered seeing him naked.
Holy hell!
I had seen him naked when he shifted after our run, but I was still very much in shock at that time. I noticed he was lean cut and well defined, but seeing him like that in the light of day had still been a shock.
Hot damn, he was magnificent.
It made me uncomfortably wet just thinking about it.
I really hoped he didn’t notice or smell my arousal because I definitely wasn’t ready to commit my life to this man.
I’d at least like to know something about him.
I didn’t even know what Pack he was from or what his major was.
Aside from the fact that he was definitely my mate—which my wolf wouldn’t shut up about—I literally knew nothing about this guy.
“Zoey?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“You didn’t respond. Should I let Karla know that I need this room another night?”
“What? No. You’re fine.”
I meant it too. I wanted him to be with me. I owed it to the both of us to get to know him and maybe even let him get to know me too. Not Zoey the influencer, but the real me. That thought scared the shit out of me. I wasn’t good about letting anyone get that close.
He gathered up the last of our things and shoved them into his bag.
Was he even aware that he was mixing our stuff like that?
Maybe I was reading too much into things. All of this was new to me, and I could fully admit my emotions were all over the place. I didn’t even trust myself right now because I felt like I was going insane.
Keeping my mouth shut, I followed him out of the little room and back to the front desk.
It was the same woman that I’d seen last night. The one that was flirting with Monte.
Mine, my wolf growled angrily.
This time she wasn’t looking at my mate though. She was staring at me with a look of adoration.
I sighed.
She knew who I was now where she hadn’t last night.
“Ms. Jones, let me just say what an honor it is to have you stay at Cedar Ridge Lodge with us. If there is anything at all that I can do to make your stay a positive experience, please just let me know. You already have my sincerest apologies for last night’s accommodation.
In all the madness I failed to recognize you on check-in. ”
“It’s fine. I wasn’t scheduled to arrive until today so there is no reason to apologize.”
It wasn’t her fault I’d run like a piece of chicken shit and showed up early in the middle of a snowstorm. Not my finest moment.
“That’s very gracious of you, Ms. Jones. I do hope this will make up for it. I have you set up in the presidential suite. I think it will hold up to your standards nicely.”
The presidential suite? Yes, please.
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
Did that make me sound like a snob or somehow entitled?
I always worried about stuff like that. I didn’t want to appear to be pretentious but sometimes it was easier to live up to people’s expectations of me instead of being myself.
I had this deep-seated fear that if I showed people my true self, they wouldn’t like me.
It was easier to take on the persona of Zoey Unboxed.
“I’ll personally take you up. There are extra security checks to ensure you have privacy.”
“Thank you.”
She came around the counter and led us to a private elevator that she used the keycard to access. I was careful to keep my face neutral and hold my head high. When I acted confident, others seemed to believe it. I just needed to pretend like I deserved this special treatment.
Once in the elevator I caught Monte looking at me with a strange expression on his face. It was almost a scowl, but not quite. I didn’t like it at all, but I couldn’t falter my exterior with this lady around.
She took us all the way to the room, and after unlocking the door and ensuring the card worked, she passed it to me.
“Please let me know if you need anything during your stay with us. It is an honor to have you stay with us.”
I nodded, but smiled warmly, or at least that’s how I hoped it came across. I never wanted to be a bitch or disrespectful to people, but if I was too nice it seemed to invite them into my personal space and I hated that.
“Thank you.”
I paused, dug into my purse, and pulled out some cash plus a signed business card and gave it to her before turning and walking inside.
Monte said goodbye to her. I couldn’t help but listen.
“We’re still on for this afternoon?”
“Of course.”
I bit back a growl.
“Thanks Monte, you’re the best.”
Unable to stop myself, I glanced back at them, half expecting to see him kiss her or something. But he just nodded and closed the door, leaving the two of us alone.
Still, I couldn’t seem to just let it go.
My arms crossed over my chest as I glared at him. I knew I was being irrationally jealous, but I couldn’t seem to control that.
“What the hell was that about? You made plans with her this afternoon?”
He shook his head and grimaced. “It’s not what you think. I told you I help out around here sometimes. One of the guys couldn’t make it in because of the roads. So when I checked in last night, she asked me to pitch in for a couple hours today. Of course, I said yes.”
“Oh.”
“And what the hell was that you were doing? You looked like you had a stick up your ass. Why were you acting like that?”
Oh no, he noticed. I had clearly let my guard down too much with him if he had noticed that.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.
He scowled at me. “That’s bullshit. You knew exactly what you were doing. You were in complete control. It just wasn’t you, Zoey. And just so you know, I can tell when you’re lying.”
“What?”
He smirked.
“Were you just lying?”
He shrugged.
Shit. Can he read me that well or not? Is he just messing with me? At this rate Monte was going to make me paranoid.
“Wow. Check this place out,” he said, completely changing the subject.
I wanted to press him for more, but I instinctively looked around.
“Holy shit.”
The place was enormous, with a big open concept broken out in a kitchen, dining area, and living room with a big u-shaped couch with an enormous fireplace focal set between floor to ceiling windows on either side that provided gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains.
“It’s beautiful,” I reverently whispered.
There were four doors off the room, two on each side. We both scrambled to the nearest to check out the rest of the place.
“Bedroom,” Monte said at the first door, then opened it.
We peeked inside to find he was right. Though I surprised myself by feeling disappointed that it had two beds.
The room next to it was exactly the same and the two rooms connected with a shared bathroom.
Across from the first door we opened we found a half bath and then the last door opened to a cavernous bedroom.
“This is huge.”
Monte frowned. “Bed’s too big.”
“It’s a king bed.”
“I can see that. It’s too big. I’d rather have a smaller one.”
“There are four smaller ones in the other rooms. But why do you want smaller?”
“Because you’re more likely to cuddle me tonight. I’m liable to lose you in this one. Too much room for you to roll away.”
I opened my mouth to speak then shut it again.
I already knew I was the one who had breached sides and snuggled up to him in my sleep.
And I had a feeling that I’d find him again if he tried to sleep in here with me tonight.
Though I doubted that would happen with two other bedrooms for him to sleep in.