Chapter 4
Trick had never felt so perfectly content in his entire life.
With Cassidy snuggled against him after they’d had sex, his wolf humming happily in his head, he finally understood why Sigh had been walking around with a goofy smile on his face for the last two weeks.
While he traced aimless patterns on her back, marveling at how soft her skin was, his wolf was chanting the same words on repeat: Mine. Home. Forever.
And he liked it.
A lot.
She was beautiful and his wolf was entirely enchanted by her, and so was he.
That’s how he knew she was his truemate.
Just like getting hit by lightning.
As he mused on fate and Sigh’s burger of the week magic, he was aware that Cassidy slowly grew tense. He could feel it like a slow wave of tension pouring over her, as her spine stiffened and her fingers curled into his chest.
She slipped her hands to the bed and pushed herself upright.
She blushed, but it wasn’t from arousal, because he’d seen that earlier. This was the sort of blush that came from embarrassment. So, he wasn’t entirely surprised when she said, “I should go.”
He didn’t like it, and his wolf sure as hell didn’t. But he wasn’t about to growl stay like a barbarian.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I have work in the morning.”
“You can stay here tonight. I can make sure you’re up in time to get to work. Hell, I would drive you to work and pick you up too if you’d like.”
Her eyes went a little wide and she stared at him in silence.
Clearly, she didn’t realize just how much he was willing to do for his mate.
Everything. Every freaking thing.
He softened his earnestness. “I’d like it if you’d stay, Cassidy.”
She slipped from the bed, crouching to pick up her clothes from the floor. “I need to get going.”
She looked at him and in her eyes he didn’t see rejection, he saw fear.
What happened between them spooked her, but he wasn’t sure why, and she was shutting down faster than the tavern at closing time.
He got dressed while she did, the silence settling over them like a wet blanket. He wasn’t sure what to say other than please stay, because he’d already said she could and she’d said no.
When he followed her outside the house, she said, “I’ll see you around, Trick.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” he said. “Besides, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I didn’t know you got to your car safely.”
She looked up at him on the front porch, illuminated by the light spilling from the front window, and said, “Okay. Thanks.”
They walked in silence, and he put his hands in his pockets, because all he wanted to do was touch her, hold her hand, and she had all the warning hands-off signs going off like police car lights.
When they reached her car, he said, “Can I see you tomorrow?”
“I’m working.”
She opened her door and put her hand on the top, her fingers curling over the edge.
“I didn’t ask if you were busy, beautiful, I asked if I could see you.” She didn’t answer him, she just stared at him like she couldn’t figure him out. “I’m glad you came here tonight,” he continued. “It feels like you were supposed to.”
Her brows lifted. “That seems a little crazy.”
“How so? Don’t you believe in fate?”
She let out the softest sigh. “That’s a dangerous thing to believe in.”
“Only if you’re afraid of it.”
“Goodnight, Trick.”
“Goodnight, Cassidy.”
She sat down and pulled the door shut, then turned on the engine, and pulled forward out of the parking spot.
He stood rooted in place, watching until he couldn’t see her car’s lights anymore.
His wolf surged against him, anxious to shift and follow her to make sure she got home safely. But she’d been sending all the signals that she was embarrassed by what had happened between them and needed space, and he wasn’t the kind of guy to be pushy with a female, mate or not.
Her leaving felt wrong on a hundred different levels.
As he stared into the darkness, his gaze following the bridge over the river, he knew that because she was human, she didn’t have the same instincts that he did.
She might think what happened between them was too fast or borne of some kind of impulse, not the bringing-together of two mates destined to find each other that night.
As he turned to go into the tavern, the only thing worrying him was that she might not trust the feelings she was having. That she wouldn’t believe that she was his and he was hers.
But there wasn’t anything he could do about that tonight.
When he walked into the tavern, the music and the noise of the patrons was suddenly too loud and his wolf gnashed his teeth at the intrusion to the post-sex bliss he’d been enjoying until Cass fled like her butt was on fire.
He scanned the main room, then moved to the bar and leaned against it.
Dare, who’d been wiping down the bar, made his way over.
“I can’t help but notice you’re alone.”
He sighed and it came out edged with a growl. “She left.”
His brows winged up. “I’m sorry, man.”
“She’s human. I think she just needs time. It was…pretty intense.” And the most incredible thing to ever happen to him in his entire damn life. “I’ll give her time.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
He smiled at his brother and returned to the door. He pushed it open when he heard footsteps on the gravel outside, and while part of him hoped it might be Cassidy, he was not surprised it wasn’t.
For the rest of the night, his wolf was hyper-alert, filled with hope that she might change her mind and come back. But when the lights were off and the doors were locked, he walked home to his empty house, his mate in her own place and not by his side.
When he climbed into bed, all he could smell was her on the sheets.
The sweet scent of her, the memory of the way she’d clung to him as he’d wrung every ounce of pleasure from her until she’d fallen, sated, against his chest, playing on repeat in his head.
He didn’t sleep much, but he hadn’t expected to. Every little sound woke him up, his wolf expecting the beautiful brunette to suddenly appear like a specter in the night.
Bleary-eyed and tense, he’d taken a cold shower to wake himself up, made his coffee strong, and then stared at the cup without taking a sip.
Cassidy worked at a coffee shop.
And now he knew exactly what he was going to do.
He parked at The Coffee Shop Next Door and walked up to the front door, staring through the glass to his mate behind the counter for a moment before he opened the door and walked in.
The tinkling bell over the door made her look up. Her brows lifted and her posture stiffened. She only reacted for a moment, returning her gaze to the customer she’d been handling. He stepped in line behind three other people.
When he reached the counter, he said, “Good morning, Cassidy.”
“Morning. How can I help you?”
He noticed she looked tired, and he suspected she’d not slept well either. He was a little satisfied by that, and while he was tempted to suggest she could have slept really well if she’d stayed all night with him, he didn’t.
“I need a strong coffee. Whatever you recommend.”
Her head tilted slightly, and her mouth curved up at the corner. “All right.”
She rang in the order and he paid, putting a generous tip in the jar.
Before he moved aside to wait for his coffee, he said with a low voice, “I wanted to see you.”
“You did?”
“Of course. Because I wanted you to know that last night didn’t scare me off.”
He moved aside to let the next customer order, aware that her gaze lingered on him. He scrolled on his phone, waiting until his name was called by the barista, and then he picked up his coffee.
“I’ll be around,” he said to her. Then he lifted his coffee in a goodbye wave and walked toward the door.
He could feel her eyes on him, and while his wolf wanted to howl that she was his, he didn’t say anything. He’d said enough for now. She’d run last night for a reason he didn’t know, and he wanted her to see that he wasn’t going to let her go so easily.
They were truemates, and that meant she’d come around to him eventually.
He just had to keep showing up for her.
Then she’d see he wasn’t just looking for a quick lay; he was looking for forever.
With her.