Chapter 7
seven
ETHAN
I forced myself to give Maya some space the next day. The last thing I wanted was to scare her away.
I thought sex would chill my wolf out for longer than it did, but he was riding my ass by that night. Though I wanted to text her to ask if we could meet up, I was giving her time.
So I didn’t.
Thankfully, she called me that night.
“Hey. There was a beautiful yellow dutch oven sitting on my porch when I got home today. Thank you.” The appreciation in her voice made my lips curve.
I was tired of being at my house.
It was too empty.
“We had a deal, Muffin. Don’t thank me for keeping my side of it.”
“How’s your wolf?”
“Being an asshole, but I’m managing.”
She paused for a moment. “Did you not want to meet up tonight? I kind of assumed you were going to come over for dinner, but if having sex calmed your wolf down, we can just get together tomorrow or the next day”
“I want to. I just figured you’d want a break from me.”
“Well, you are a pain in my ass…”
“I’m going to need a few minutes to nurse my broken heart.”
She snorted. “Just come over. We might as well make dinner together a regular thing. It’ll keep the wolves under control, and give me someone else to cook for.”
“I’m game if you are.”
“Dinner will be ready when you get here, so hurry up.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She hung up, and I couldn’t help but grin.
Eating together every night was a hell of a good step forward.
Dinner every night turned into sex every night, and a late drive home.
I asked if Maya wanted to share a hotel room when we traveled to Zoe’s hometown for her and Connor’s wedding a few days later, and she surprised me by agreeing.
Sharing a bed was so fucking nice that she was the one who asked if I wanted to stay the night on our second day back home. She slept much better with me there, apparently.
I was over the fucking moon about it.
We fell into a rhythm after that, spending our days apart while we worked. In the evenings and through the weekends, we were always together.
A month passed quickly. We had a few close calls with the glasses but managed to avoid accidentally starting a mate bond.
The second month went a little slower. My wolf started riding me harder during the day, and Maya was frustrated about something going on with her job but wouldn’t tell me what it was.
Because I’d been forced to agree to being just friends, I couldn’t just show up to her classes to figure out what was irritating her so much.
I thought about doing it anyway, but resisted.
Things got better when she spent Thanksgiving with the pack and stayed at my house for five straight days during the holiday. She met my mom and brother as well, which was less uncomfortable for everyone than expected, and she got along well with my sister-in-law.
As soon as she went back to her place after the holiday, my wolf descended again, and life got darker.
Emmy and Finn, and Abby and Nico, got officially engaged within a matter of days. Maya seemed happy for them, but that darkened my mood more.
I was so exhausted by my wolf all the time that I showed up late for work every day. When I didn’t make it at all, my asshole friends showed up at lunch time to drag me out of bed.
They could tell something was wrong and weren’t willing to leave me to deal with it alone.
Fuckers.
It took all of my energy to act like my normal self around Maya so she didn’t realize I was falling apart. She was the best part of every day, and I got a few hours of peace with her every evening, so that was where I wanted to spend my energy anyway.
I made it through three full months before I faded enough that my mask began to slip at her place.
She was sitting on the countertop next to the sink, leaning back on her palms while I scrubbed the dishes she’d used to cook for us. Her Friday afternoons were clear, so we always met up for lunch at her place or mine.
“You’re acting weird,” she said.
“Weirdly normal?” I tried to force energy into my voice, and didn’t look up from the dishes.
“Ethan,” she warned.
“Maya.”
She bumped my hip with the side of her foot. She always left it there while I washed the dishes, to drag out the break from my wolf.
Her touch wasn’t calming him down completely anymore, but she didn’t know that. She didn’t need to. She wasn’t interested in having a mate, and I wasn’t going to push her.
“I’m serious, Cupcake.”
“Hi, Serious.”
She scowled, leaning closer to put her hand on my cheek and turn it so we were looking at each other. Without the sunglasses on, we would’ve been looking into each other’s eyes.
I itched to have that.
To have a real, normal relationship with my mate.
To have her with me, the way my friends had their partners living with them.
“What’s wrong?” she pressed.
“Nothing.”
“Stop lying to me.”
“Nothing new is wrong.” I pulled her hand away, kissing her palm before turning back to the sink.
She set her hand on the countertop again and leaned back. “Have you told your friends about the issue with your wolf since we met?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t need their pity. They can’t fix this.”
“You’re closer to them than you are to your family, Ethan. They wouldn’t pity you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“My friends don’t pity me or judge me for what happened with Aidan, and I was the one who chose to stay with him. You didn’t choose to struggle like this.”
“Just drop it, Maya. Please.”
She sighed, leaning back on her hands. “Alright, let’s make a deal. If you tell them, I’ll tell you what’s going on at work.”
She had my attention with that.
I didn’t let her see it, though, focusing on the sink. “I’ll buy you another pot if you tell me.”
“You already bought me every pot I wanted, remember?”
Dammit. I had. In the exact colors she wanted. She used at least one of them every time she cooked. I was pretty sure she left one or two out on the stove like decorations at all times too.
“A pan, then,” I said.
“I have enough pans.”
I held up one of them. “This bastard has seen better days. He could join your rainbow of pots. Think how happy he’d be if he got to retire and a bright green one took his place.” She didn’t have a green one yet.
“Nope. If you want the story, you have to tell them,” she said matter-of-factly.
“How about I tell them tomorrow, and you tell me the story today.”
“No. If I tell you now, you’re just going to buy me a bunch of pans and make an excuse to get out of telling them.”
“You know me too well, Muffin.”
“I know.”
“What if I set up breakfast with them tomorrow and tell them then?” I suggested.
“No. You tell them first, and I’ll tell you what’s going on at work,” she repeated.
“Fine.”
“Great.”
I focused on the dishes
She looked at the time. “I have to get ready for that bachelorette trip. Are you still good to drop me off at Stella and Graham’s place on your way home?”
“That’s today?” I asked.
She looked at me like I was crazy. “Yes. We’ve talked about it like five times this week.”
Shit.
“I… forgot.”
“You’ve been forgetting a lot of things these last few weeks.”
“Have I?”
“Don’t play dumb, Cupcake. What the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing,” I repeated. “I’ll finish the dishes. You go ahead and pack.”
“If you don’t tell me soon, we’re going to have serious issues,” she warned, sliding off the countertop.
She could add them to my list.
I dragged out doing the dishes until she was ready to go, and turned some music on while we drove back to the pack’s land. Maya was very clearly pissed at me. She definitely wasn’t passive aggressive, by any definition of the term.
Despite her anger, she kissed me goodbye for a solid five minutes before leaving me with a murmur of, “Don’t do anything too stupid, and tell your friends already.”
I wanted to follow it up with an, “I love you too,” but was pretty sure it wouldn’t go over well.
Even if it was true.
I went back to my house, stopping in the doorway to stare at my empty space in silence.
I missed her.
I fucking missed her.
Constantly.
I rubbed the center of my chest absentmindedly. My fucking wolf wouldn’t leave me alone.
“Why are you just standing there?” Graham asked, turning to the side to slide past me into the house.
I blinked at him. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re meeting up for pizza. You’ve got the biggest couch.”
“We used to meet at the fire pit.”
“That was before we all got civilized,” he said.
“Guess mating can do that to you.”
Graham nodded, plopping down on the couch.
“Who’s getting the pizza?” I asked.
“That would be me.” Nico nudged my back with his shoulder, propelling me inside the house so he didn’t have to scoot by like Graham had. “We were told it had to be from one particular place.”
I eyed the stack of boxes in his hands. They were from the only pizza place in Moon Ridge that Maya thought was worth eating at. The woman was picky about her food.
“Maya put you up to this,” I said.
“No. She strongly suggested it,” Graham said.
“Let me see the text.” I went over to the couch and held out my hand.
Graham reluctantly handed the phone over.
I scanned the message she’d sent all of the guys in the pack, minus me.
Maya
You should get together at Ethan’s place when we leave. With pizza. And caffeine.
Don’t bother getting the pizza anywhere other than here->
She included the link to the pizza place’s location.
I shook my head, handing the phone back to Graham. “She’s pushy.”
“As if you’re not. How many times did she block you when you first started messaging her? Three?”
“I didn’t count.”
It was probably more than three, though.
“You didn’t count what?” Wyatt asked, as he and Connor walked in together.
“How many times Maya blocked him,” Graham explained.
Nico set the pizzas down on the coffee table in front of my couch. Wyatt handed out paper plates, but most of us already had pizza in our hands when he did.
I hadn’t taken a bite of mine.
I wasn’t all that hungry, having just eaten with Maya and been dealing with my wolf’s obnoxious presence.