Chapter 7
seven
ZOE
Emmy knocked on our door bright and early. We were still in bed when she did.
I groaned.
“Think they’ll leave if we ignore them?” Connor mumbled against the blanket over my neck. We’d never gotten around to pulling it out from between us, despite the hours we’d spent curled up together. His hand was on my waist, over the scarred bite there.
They knocked again.
“Not even maybe,” I said.
Connor sighed.
He kissed the back of my neck over the top of the blanket before his arms tightened around my middle.
A bleary laugh burst from me as he rolled us both over in one motion.
He adjusted his grip on me before he stood up, padding to the front door barefoot and bare-chested while cradling me, blanket and all.
“You’re insane,” I said, my lips stretched in a wide smile.
“That’s been established, Gorgeous.”
He pulled the front door open, and found all of my mated friends on the porch.
Emmy grinned widely. Abby, Stella, and Jade wore knowing smiles.
“I was going to ask if you’re ready, but I think I know the answer,” Emmy teased.
“I just need five minutes. Come on in.” I waved them toward us, and Connor carried me to the guest room.
“You don’t have any jokes for them?” I teased, as he closed the guest room door behind us.
“Nah. I saved them for you.”
He leaned against the door while I pulled some clothes out of my bag. After a moment of hesitation, I swapped the oversized sweatshirt I’d been holding for a cropped tee, just in case the store needed to measure me while I was still dressed.
Everything was final sale at the place I’d booked an appointment at, so I needed to make sure it fit as close to perfectly as possible. I’d definitely be paying to rush any adjustments that needed to be made.
After I swiped some mascara on my lashes and tied my hair up in a ponytail, I met Connor at the doorway.
His hands skimmed my waist, brushing the scar his wolf had left there. He seemed to have a thing for touching it.
“You look really fucking good, Zoe.”
“I think you’re obligated to say that.”
He cupped my face, tipping my head back so he could kiss me slowly. When he pulled away, I was breathing a little fast.
“I’m not obligated to want you, Gorgeous. Just really fucking attracted to you. Accept it.” His thumb dragged slowly over the scar on my hip.
“Okay. I really need to leave, though.”
“After you’ve acknowledged my attraction.”
My face flushed. I was definitely slick between my thighs. “How do you want me to do that?”
“Repeat after me,” he said.
I sighed. “Alright.”
“Connor, you’re really fucking horny for me,” he said.
“Dear lord,” I muttered.
“Say it.” His grin was enough to turn me on more.
“Connor, you’re really fucking horny for me.” My cheeks blazed.
“Good girl.” His thumb dragged over my scar again, and I shivered. “Go pick a wedding dress. Have fun.”
“Okay.”
Despite our words, neither of us moved.
“You’d better not be screwing while we’re all waiting out here!” Jade yelled from the living room.
“Oh god.” I pressed my palms to my cheeks.
“Feel free to wait on the porch,” Connor called back.
My friends all burst out laughing.
I shook my head at Connor, my hands still on my flaming face.
He kissed me again, slower.
When I pulled away, we were both breathing faster.
“I’ll meet you at the dress place. Text me when you know a time,” he said lightly.
I nodded, not quite in the right position to speak.
He finally took a step to the side.
Though leaving was the last thing I wanted to do, I slipped out. His hand brushed my waist again as I went, and he leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets while my friends met me in the hallway.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Are you ready?” Emmy teased. “You’re blushing like crazy.”
“I’m just testing your pink obsession. Is it working for me?” I pressed the backs of my hands to my cheeks again. I never blushed red, just really pink.
“One-hundred percent,” Stella confirmed with a thumbs-up.
Abby winked. “Mated life looks good on you.”
“So does the werewolf,” Jade put in.
“I’m feeling strangely objectified,” Connor remarked.
“Don’t pretend you don’t like it,” Jade tossed back.
I looked at Connor, and found him wearing a lazy smile. “Have fun. Call me if you start shifting.”
I nodded.
“Are you in the shitty shifter boat with me?” Jade asked on our way out. “I can’t seem to learn how to shift less painfully to save my life.”
“Unfortunately.”
“It’s because you’re both control freaks,” Stella said. “I’ve watched a shit-ton of the guys’ coaching, and the main concept is learning to respect your wolf enough to let them take over whenever they want to.”
“How are you supposed to respect a wolf you can never meet or otherwise talk to?” I asked.
Emmy shrugged as we all climbed into Stella’s truck. “You just do.”
Me, Emmy, and Abby all took the back row while Jade and Stella sat in the front. Someone gave me a massive plate of food, and I dug in immediately.
“Your wolf is a living, breathing being just like you are. If you can respect dogs, bears, or cows, you can respect your wolf,” Abby put in.
“It can be difficult to let go even if you do respect the wolf,” Jade pointed out. “I think mine is great, but it’s still hard to let her take over.”
Stella pulled away from Connor’s house. My gaze lifted from my plate to the porch, where he stood leaning up against the railing.
He was insanely hot.
When he caught me staring, his lips curved upward and he waved. After a beat of hesitation, I waved back.
“The drive is pretty long, but Maya is going to meet us there,” Emmy said.
“Hmm?” I looked at my friend. We were too far to see Connor anymore anyway.
Emmy smiled. “I called Maya, and she agreed to come to the dress store. It sounds like she’s even going to come to the wedding.”
My eyebrows shot upward. “Does she know Ethan’s invited too?”
“She knows. Apparently he’s been texting her constantly since we gave him her number,” Stella said with a grin.
My eyebrows lifted higher. “I thought she blocked him.”
“She did. He found an app to get around it,” Jade said.
“Is that legal?” I asked.
Shrugs went around the vehicle. None of us were tech people.
My forehead creased. “I thought she was going to leave town to hide from him.”
Abby smiled. “I don’t think she wants to leave. She let him come over last night, and they watched a movie together while wearing mirrored sunglasses so they wouldn’t trigger the bond.”
“They what?” I leaned closer to Abby. “Why did no one tell me? How did it go?”
“I don’t know, he didn’t tell us much. We’ll have to bother her for info while Zoe tries on dresses,” Abby said.
Emmy changed the subject by asking what style of dress I was thinking about. I showed all of them a few inspiration pictures, and we spent the drive scrolling through more photos and pointing out the things we all loved about the dresses.
We finally left the shop a little after lunch. My stomach was growling intensely, and I was feeling a little woozy despite eating at least a dozen of the store’s branded mints.
I stopped just outside the door when I saw Connor sitting on his truck’s tailgate. Ethan was next to him, and Nico was on the other side. Ethan wore a large pair of black, mirrored sunglasses.
Connor’s gaze went to me immediately, and mine hooked on him.
Maya’s back interrupted my view as she strode over to Ethan. I noticed a matching pair of mirrored sunglasses perched on her nose, concealing her eyes too.
I thought that was actually pretty clever.
He hopped off the truck’s tailgate with a grin, and they walked to her car without bothering to greet anyone else.
“That’s interesting,” Stella murmured.
“Figure out the tux thing with Connor, Zoe.” Emmy caught my hand and squeezed it. “We’ll make sure they’re okay.”
“Alright. Thanks.”
She smiled. “Any time.”
My expression matched hers as she strode away, along with everyone else.
Connor met me on the sidewalk a moment later. He dragged me into his arms. “Hey, Gorgeous.”
“Hey.” My lips curved upward.
His lips met my temple. “Ready to help me find a tux?”
“Finding one big enough for all this muscle is going to be a challenge.”
He chuckled. “We can handle it.”
After a stop in his truck to eat far too much takeout food, we headed into the store.
The process of finding a tux together ended up being some of the most fun I’d ever had.