Page 16 of You're Not My Mate

Even though they were sitting in a car, close together, she couldn’t help but feel further apart.

They arrived at Val’s bar in Poison. Rose had never been to the bar.

She’d been close to her parents and didn’t have many friends. Being known as the cleaner’s kid hadn’t exactly encouraged others to want to know her.

Rocco pulled the car up far away from the main bar. She figured it was to make a quick escape if the occasion called for it.

With the ignition turned off, Rose climbed out of the car and took a deep breath. This was not difficult at all. This was going to be easy. It was just a date. A date she’d never been on.

Rocco walked around the car and stopped in front of her. He reached for her hand but then stopped himself and frowned. “Ugh, this way.”

He spun on his heel and began walking. Rose had no choice but to follow. This was awful. He didn’t hold her hand, not that she expected him to. She was pretty sure her wolf was disappointed with the way the date was going. This was not good for them.

She knew it was busy in the bar. Where most of the Poison Wolves MC were dealing with the constant threat of a mad doctor’s experiments, the rest of the pack were quite content to go about their business.

Rose knew they hadn’t told the pack the severity of the situation. There would come a time that would change, especially if more people like Graham started to show up.

She noticed several women look toward Rocco, and she hated this but gritted her teeth. They were some of the biker groupies she heard the guys talking about. No one realized Rose was standing around waiting and listening, and there was a lot she heard. Most of the time, people treated her like she was invisible.

“Come on, let’s get to the bar,” Rocco said.

He didn’t take her hand again, and walked on ahead. People made way for him, but not for her. She had no choice but to work her way through the crowd and join Rocco at the bar. He hadn’t even realized she hadn’t been following him.

She’d not been on any dates, but she already knew this had to be one of the worst in history. What was even more pathetic about their situation was they were mates. Their wolves had connected, and the truth was, Rose was attracted to Rocco, even though she hated him and didn’t want anything to do with him. Why did life had to be so unfair?

Her mother had always talked about that moment she finally saw her father. It was like the whole world had faded for both of them. Her mother had never met a man so handsome, and her father had never met a woman so beautiful. They mademating seem like a good thing.

Rose had even looked forward to one day finding her mate, and now that she had found him, it was nothing but disappointment and heartache. Her parents had never shed a tear due to the pain the other caused, but she had shed a tear, more than a few. She wanted to cry right now, but instead she kept her shit together and just ignored it.

Rocco was clearly used to dates going a certain way, and it was not like this one. He ordered them both a beer and then turned toward her. Rose didn’t drink beer, not that it would have a huge impact on her body. She had tried it once, one of her dad’s, on the night after her first transition. They had done so to celebrate.

She hated the taste, but rather than tell him and run the risk of making it even worse, she picked up her bottle. Rocco looked at her, and then he moved again. They found a booth somewhere in the back, away from prying eyes.

Sliding into the booth, she noticed he kept looking around at the bar. Rose put the beer on the table, sat, and waited.

Seeing as he was intent on staring around the bar, she did the same, noticing several couples and a lot of people enjoying themselves. They made dating look fun. This was anything but. She couldn’t help but think about that care package in the car, and her thoughts drifted to Graham all alone in that cage. He must be so afraid.

Rocco’s attention came back to the table, but only long enough to have a drink of beer.

“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” Rose asked.

There was only so much silence she could take, and it’s not like she wanted to force him to be with her. It was why she had given him a wide berth. She had even tried to turn down her cleaning services because of him, but the Poison Wolves MCneeded her. This was about the whole pack, not just the two of them.

“What?” Rocco asked.

“Look, I get that I’m not Miss Popular, but if you didn’t want to be seen with me, you could have asked to come for dinner or something.”

Rocco frowned. “No, it’s not that.”

“It’s not?” She found it hard to believe.

“No, look, I’ve never been on a date,” Rocco said.

Now, this time she was the one frowning. “You’ve never been on a date?”

“No, I haven’t, and I know that is a shock to you, I can see it.”

“I do find that hard to believe. I know you’ve been with a lot of women.”

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