Page 18 of Defeated

ZOE

As I tape up a box, I mentally curse myself for telling Chris I had a mate.

I don’t ask myself why I did it. I know.

It was some kind of… I don’t know, a shield I could use to deflect whatever reason he’s decided to be nice to me. All my stupid exclamation did was shine a brighter light on me I neither want nor need.

He looked away, walked over to eat his sandwich, pretending a casualness I hadn’t bought for one moment. I saw the curiosity he tried to hide. Now he’s wondering why I’m not with the mate I was so eager to tell him about.

It’s been nearly two hours since we sat down to eat steak sandwiches and soups in front of the TV. He hadn’t seemed to mind I’d eaten more than my share of the sandwiches. I could have happily eaten everything twice over and still not been full. And that coffee? My mouth is still watering when I think about that pumpkin spice latte. I can’t remember the last time I ate so well.

In all the time we’ve been quietly packing up Colton’s apartment, Chris hasn’t asked me one question about my mate or even about me. He prepares the boxes for me, and when I’ve filled them with books, DVDs, and other small items, he tapes them up and stacks them along the wall on the far side of the living room.

I asked him why we weren’t taking them out into the U-Haul.

“We can add the smaller boxes once we’ve moved the bigger furniture in,” he told me, “easier to Tetris things in with the furniture in first.”

He had clearly spent time thinking things through. I’d have put everything in, and not realized until the last minute I should have planned things out in advance.

I’ve never packed up an apartment in my life. Just the small bag I filled when I left my pack, and that took five minutes and required no foresight. I shoved in everything I could until I had no more space left for stuffing.

Then I left.

Chris seems to know what he’s doing, which means my offer to help is probably slowing him down. So I pack what he quietly asks me to, and I pack slowly.

Once Colton’s apartment is packed, then I have to figure out where I’m going to go. Do I leave town with the clothes on my back, or risk going back to my apartment for my bag and hope it’s still there?

Neither option fills me with excitement.

Or I could wait until Colton gets here and maybe he might offer to help me?

This time, I wouldn’t say no.

Why would he offer to help? You come with trouble and he has a mate now. The last thing he’d want is to drag his mate into your mess.

“Zoe?”

I blink rapidly, realize I’m staring into space, and that this might not have been the first time Chris called my name.

He has his cell phone in his hand and his expression is more patient than it has a right to be. “Did you have any preferences for dinner?”

I stare at him. “Dinner? But we only just…” My voice trails off as I take in the shadows stretching across the floor.

I need to get out of my head, especially when I’m around a stranger.

But the shadows concern me. I’ve been packing as slowly as I could, but it’s not slow enough. Chris and I are efficient at packing up Colton’s apartment. Far too efficient.

We’ve emptied the bookcases, the media center with its DVD’s and Colton’s games consoles. We left the TV since if it’s going to be something that we put in the U-Haul last, it doesn’t make sense to unplug it and box it up now.

Soon, I’m going to have to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do. Worse. Figure out where I’m supposed to go.

“Zoe?”

And there I go again, busy stressing about the future instead of stressing about the shifter standing four feet away who I don’t know.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any requests?” Chris still has his cell phone in hand, the screen brightly lit like he’s seconds away from making the call. “I have a serious craving for pizza and garlic bread. How about I see if they do a meat lover’s?”

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