Page 35 of Her Fake Mate

“I was kind of hoping that it could stay here. And I could sit in it. Here,” he adds.

I put the menu down. Is he… flirting with me?

“You want to sit here?”

“Yes.” His smile widens.

“With me?”

“If that’s okay with you. It’s not every day that a woman as stunning as you wanders into a small-town restaurant.”

I wave the menu. “It was the promise of breakfast burritos. I’m from New Mexico.”

Why am I flirting back?

It feels… good, I guess. Good to know that Zander didn’t break my ability to attract men, or flirt with them. However…

The wolf shifter sits. He’s handsome. That’s clear to me. He’s got brown eyes and blonde hair and a smile that seems easy and open.

I imagine, for a split second, taking him back to my family. Would he sit next to Lana and listen to all of the little kid gossip she knows? Would he hold AJ when he’s too tired to crawl?

Does he know how to fix a sink, or get rid of a hornets’ nest?

I shut my eyes.

Those things don’t matter now. Zander isn’t mine. He never was. Our fake relationship worked. He has Terra. Judging by the actual friendliness coming from the wolf group, I got accepted into the pack.

We both won.

I swallow around the ache in my chest.

“New Mexico, huh? That’s a long way from here.”

“Seven hours,” I say firmly.

He laughs. “Guess you know that information inside and out.”

“Definitely.”

Just when I think I can finally relax, that these wolves aren’t going to call me a thief and run me out of the restaurant, I hear a voice. “Hey, you’re the fox girl, aren’t you? The leader? From Oakwood pack?”

Ice floods my veins. “What?”

It’s another wolf, one that wasn’t out here originally. He must have been in the bathroom or something. He turns in the bar seat and smiles, too. “I recognize you. It’s the hair. Kind of hard to miss,” he says politely.

I snort. “Well. Yeah. I am a fox.”

The wolf’s eyes widen slightly before he looks at his friend. “Wait… if you’re the fox girl… You might want to back off of this one, bro. She’s with Zander.”

“Not anymore,” I mutter.

I can’t help it. The words just pop out of me. Since Zander and Terra have undoubtedly settled their future by now, it’s probably not a lie.

I definitely should have waited to get Zander’s opinion. He probably has a time and place that he would have chosen for us to officially break up. He’s good at stuff like that. Controlling the narrative.

I pretend that doesn’t bother me.

The wolf sitting across from me leans forward. “Not anymore? Y’all broke up?”

---