Page 169 of Forget

“I really like the idea,” Aisling says, sounding excited. “Who will be invited?”

“We’d offer spots toOmega’s Havenfirst, and then open it to the community,”Hollis says. “Having multiple ways for people to meet makes sense.”

My lips curve into a smile because it’s a good idea. Hollis is a solid businesswoman.

Evan:

You know what? Yeah, that’ll work. We’ll have to take two cars, but the bed of my truck is eight feet long. It’s enough space for us all.

Aiden:

I really want in on this but…

Me:

No excuses, Aiden.

Aiden:

I’m just trying to respect her boundaries.

“Fuck!”I yell, hitting the steering wheel with the palm of my hand.

He’s right, but I’m beginning to get tired of waiting. The psychotic side of me is peering out, wanting to make things gofaster. I want my fucking mate. The bond is only half formed, which means I’m itching to fix it.

I want her bite to claim me, make her mine.

Growling under my breath, I drop my head back as I wait for Aisling to finish. As I hear her saying goodbye, I drive out of the parking lot across the street from her to pick her up.

“Next stop,” I tease her as she settles in the vehicle. Head rolling over to look at me as she clips her seatbelt in, she smiles at me.

“This car reminds me of Aiden,” she sighs. “I can smell him everywhere.”

“Mmhmm,” I say, pulling away from the curb. I’m not saying anything else because I don’t want to fuck this up.

“Is it wrong that sometimes I want to duct tape his damn mouth so I can snuggle with him?” she asks, making me snort in amusement. “I have a feeling you were following his lead, so he’s the one that pisses me off the most.”

“While some of that is true,” I grunt, “we all walked off the cliff of fuckery. It physically hurt to not be able to see you every day, so we stalked your every move instead. Well, everywhere we could access, anyway.”

“Does it hurt now?” Aisling asks, wide eyed. “You might see me less than when you were stalking me, unless you’re the one driving me around.”

“We’ve all been really busy, but it would be a lie if I told you no,” I sigh. “Our bond is half finished, so I feel twitchy and anxious. Every time I see you, I think, ‘mine.’ I’m not an animal, I can mostly control myself, but sometimes I worry that I can’t. So I pick up jobs on purpose where I know I’ll be away from you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“But I’m hurting you by keeping you in limbo,” she whimpers.

“That shouldn’t matter,” I insist. “We’re all doing what we can to fix things. We suck at telling you what we’re doing, though.”

“Aiden said something like that to me once,” she says softly.

“He does a lot you don’t see,” I admit.

“I see it, I just don’t know who’s doing it,” Aisling grunts. “The new coat, flowers in the morning, new gloves, and law offices suddenly clambering to work with us. Okay, so the last one is Domh.”

Chuckling, I shrug. “It’s not enough, but it’s our way of telling you that we’re thinking of you. We appreciate how much you have on your plate every day, and we want to help in the ways we know we can. Have you found the new knife in your pocket yet?”

“I did actually,” she says with a begrudging grin, showing me where she has it on her thigh.

For weeks, Aisling would wear pants, which felt odd. I can see her mood is a little better, there’s some color in her cheeks, and she seems happier after the meeting with ROWS. Dressing up, skirts, those are all things that are a part of her self care. She wore a pants suit yesterday as well.

---