Page 36 of Semi-Rejected Life

He disappeared into the bathroom and I went to the kitchen. Fetching a bottle of wine from the fridge, I uncorked it and sat it on the counter with a pair of glasses. We were going to talk tonight. I had some things I wanted to say to that boy. And, if he knew what was good for him, I expected him to say a few things back.

I also turned the oven to a low temp and tossed in a couple boxes of leftover pizza. It was all I had to offer at the moment and I had a feeling River would be just fine with it. Most of the time he seemed more excited about pizza than I did. However, he hadn’t been eating it nearly every day for the past five years. But I figured we’d need the energy.

With things percolating away, I stopped by my room, stripped down, and joined River in the shower. He was just standing there, his head under the hot water as his wet hair clung to the sides of his face. I wrapped my arms around him from the back, his body flinching in surprise at my touch.

“I didn’t hear you,” he said softly.

“Sorry.”

He shook his head, reaching up and grabbing my hands. “Don’t be. I like it when you touch me. Even if it’s a surprise.”

A tingle ran over my skin causing it to break out in goosebumps. I loved it when he said things like that. Those compliments always got the butterflies moving along with at least one other body part. I shifted slightly, ignoring my cock that was already chubbing up from the contact. But River pulled me tighter against him, leaning his head back on my shoulder.

“Want a round two?” he asked, kissing my cheek.

“Maybe in a bit,” I replied with a sigh, knowing full well that I’d love to fuck him again. “First, I want to talk with you for a bit.”

“Oh.” He paused. “Something on your mind?”

“No,” I replied, kissing the side of his neck. “But I think it’s time you and I said some things to each other. I need to get an idea of where I stand with you.”

He let out a long sigh, like he’d been hoping for and avoiding this exact situation. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Here.” I turned him around so that he was facing me and grabbed a bar of soap from the shower niche. “Let me help you.”

River seemed a bit surprised by my offer, but he reached back, grabbing the washcloth and handing it over to me. I soaped it up, getting it nice and bubbly, and then I started to wash him. River closed his eyes as I made slow circles with the cloth, careful to get every nook and cranny of his body. I started at his neck and worked my way across his shoulders. From there I scrubbed his chest and torso gently, spending an extra moment or two teasing his sensitive nipples. He bit his lower lip, doing his best not to moan. But his cock was rock hard, so I knew he liked it no matter how much he pretended not to.

From there I turned him around and worked over his back. He seemed to think I’d stop there, but I dropped to my knees and took care of everything. His face was bright red as I washed him. Maybe he was embarrassed, but he didn’t tell me to stop. Some part of him liked it and I did too. It was an intensely intimate way to express how much I cared without the need for words. Besides, I liked doing it. Touching him in this way was more personal than anything we’d ever done.

But, as good things are want to do, the shower eventually came to an end. I got us both a towel and instead of getting back into dirty clothes, I just led him out to the living room with it wrapped around his waist. I took the reheated pizzas out, poured us each a glass of wine, and sat down with him on the couch.

“So,” I said, draining half my wine glass in one draught. “I think it’s time you and I had a heart to heart about some things.” I stared at him from over my glass as I took a bite of pizza. “And I want you to go first.”

His expression shifted to one of terror in an instant, but it was quickly replaced with a palpable nervousness. He put down his plate and took a long drink of his wine. There were a couple calming breaths, another drink, and then the glass came to rest next to his plate. Clearly he was gathering up the courage to say something, and I just waited patiently.

“Where do you want to start?”

“How about the mate thing,” I replied.

He nodded. “I… uh… well, I guess the first thing to say is that I meant it.”

“I gathered that.”

“Do you believe in fated mates?”

I gave him a shrug. “It’s a cool fairy tale for lovesick preteens, but I don’t know if it has a lot of weight in the real world.”

“For me, it has even less weight,” he said, a tone of defeat in his voice. “For Alphas, mates are usually chosen. An Alpha needs a Luna to lead the pack and a strong Luna can’t be left up to fate. They are trained, the best is chosen, and the arrangement is made.” He looked up at me, a note of fear in his eyes. “And that’s why, when I said those words to you, I was terrified. Not only have I been told that it doesn’t matter who I feel a bond with, but that it’s hardly more than a fairy tale to begin with. When that word came out of my mouth, I was just as shocked as you were.”

“I didn’t know things were like that for Alphas. Not that I ever really got a chance to see anything in my old pack. But, while I was surprised by what you said, there was a part of me that already knew it too.” I reached up, cupping his cheek. “I felt the mate bond with you too. Honestly, it hit me the first time I met you. That’s why I was such an idiot when you smiled at me. I was smitten.” I pulled my hand away, taking another sip of my wine. “And that’s why, when you told me you were going to leave regardless of how I felt, I got so angry and defensive.”

“I wondered if that had something to do with it…”

“Obviously I cared about you and I wanted to see you more, so I couldn’t just stop thinking about you. Instead, I thought if I just got the lust out of my system, I could walk away and go back to a normal life. But I couldn’t. I wanted to be with you all the time.” I looked up at him, my brows furrowed. “And then, after we fucked, you didn’t text me back.”

“I wanted to, I really did. But I… I was… scared.”

“An Alpha scared?”

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