Page 55 of Never Feed a Dragon

“Tell me what you know,” I ordered.

“Jas thinks I shouldn’t get involved,” she said, her voice reluctant.

“Eli does too,” Eli offered from the bed beside me.

“Both of them can screw off. Tell me,” I commanded.

She grimaced. “Having sex with random women would risk starting a mate bond every time. Eli would never risk that, even if he did want a mate. He’d make sure he found someone he’d like being with before sleeping with them. Which I doubt he did with anyone except you. I don’t know why he would’ve been flirting, but he definitely hadn’t been with any other women before he went home with you.”

I stared at my phone’s screen, struggling to process what she’d said.

“Maybe you should talk to him and call me back?” Randa suggested.

“Yeah. I’ll do that. Might be a while if heat gets intense.” My words were forced. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Good luck.”

She hung up, and I dropped the phone on the bed while my gaze landed on Eli.

He was still staring at the ceiling.

And he’d started whistling. I recognized the tune as one of the pop songs we’d sung karaoke to together the night before.

“You lied to me,” I said, my voice growing accusatory.

“I didn’t lie. You assumed, and I let you.”

“You said you’ve been sleeping around,” I shot back.

“You said I’ve been sleeping around. I just didn’t tell you that you were wrong.”

I scowled. “A lie by omission is still a lie, E. You knew what I thought, and let me think I was right.”

His eyes finally met mine. “You wouldn’t have agreed to spend that first night with me if you knew I was a virgin.”

The words stopped my thoughts in their tracks.

Was he right?

If I’d known… well, I would’ve realized it was a big deal for him. He wasn’t young, even for a supernatural. Having sex for the first time had to be significant after waiting for so long.

I’d only agreed to hook up with him because I thought it was casual. If I’d realized it was his first time, I would’ve known it wasn’t.

And I probably wouldn’t have gone through with it.

So, he was right.

“You still should’ve told me,” I finally said. “If not before, then while we were together. I would’ve tried to make it better for you, or?—”

He cut me off. “It was perfect, Spaghetti.”

The words made me feel good. Really good.

And even though I should’ve asked for more details, I didn’t.

Maybe I didn’t want to know.

I just turned my phone back off and settled down on the bed next to him.

---