Page 10 of Rejected Broken Mate

"Well, good thing I didn't see it then," I said, turning the hose off. "How is that girl you're dating going?"

Lucas shrugged. "I broke it off."

"Why?"

Lucas made a noise before he shrugged again. "I don't know, I wasn't feeling it. She wasn't catching my attention."

I glanced at him, not understanding him sometimes. Lucas was always so reserved and calculated. Sometimes, I thought he was heartless. It was why we butted heads so much. Lucas didn’t date. He was searching for his mate, and you weren't worth his time if he didn't feel even a tug towards you.

Lucas glanced at me. "No smartass remark for that?"

Maybe, but I had a lot of other things on my mind. Mostly Laura.

"You've been off since Laura started. Would you care to explain that?" he asked. "You got a little crush on her?"

I almost laughed before I looked at him. I know we talked about not telling everyone we dated, but I knew the truth would come out eventually. "We dated."

Lucas looked at me with a straight face and then frowned. "You're joking."

I shook my head. "Nope, we dated in college."

"She isn't from here, though."

"I know." I grabbed the soap, attaching it to the hose. "We dated in college when I went up to Nevada. I have no idea how she ended up here, but she's here."

"Was the relationship long?"

I turned the hose on, spraying the truck with soap. "She's my mate."

Lucas's eyes widened. "Shit. Does she know?"

I shook my head. "I didn't even tell her I was a shifter."

"Well, that doesn't sound like you."

That's because it wasn't. The guy I was today wasn't who I was back in college. I was a lot like Lucas. I followed the rules and wanted to appease my parents, but I quickly learned it didn't make me happy. I changed a lot after my return home.

"I broke it off a couple of days before I moved back. We haven't seen each other since."

"Damn," Lucas shook his head. "And I thought I was mean."

"You are mean," I said, throwing daggers at him. I didn’t like being compared to him when I knew his dating history. "Ihurt one woman, while I know you have a line of women you've broken things off with because you didn't feel it."

"I'm not going to drag a relationship along if I know she isn't the one," he said calmly.

"How do you know the person isn't the one if you don't get to know them?" I snapped back, suddenly angry. "You hardly speak to them, hardly get to know them. You think you'll feel a snap when you see them?"

I watched Lucas grind his teeth together. "Says the man who ran from his. I won’t create a relationship and break their heart because they aren’t the one for me."

Someone cleared their throat, and we both turned to see Laura standing a few feet away. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, with a few strands falling free. She was wearing jeans and a green shirt. She looked uncomfortable as she stood there, holding a clipboard.

"Sorry," Lucas said, giving her a tight smile. "Did you need something?"

"I had a few questions for Miles. Ayden said to ask him about the budget."

Lucas threw a look at me before walking around the truck and into the garage. I took a deep breath in and rubbed at my face.

"Was I interrupting something?" She asked. “I can come back if I was.”

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