Page 17 of You're Not My Mate

Rocco puffed out his cheeks. “It’s not … I know, and with you, I know I have already fucked up big time, and for that I am sorry. I don’t want to mess this up, I don’t know what to say or do.”

“Well, maybe you could start by looking at me,” she said.

He lifted his gaze and she offered him a smile.

“Was that so hard?” she asked.

“I like looking at you.”

Rose stared across the table at him. “You’re saying a lot of things tonight that I am finding hard to believe.”

“It’s true. I do like looking at you, even when you’re cleaning. It’s why I always volunteer to stay behind. To keep an eye on you.”

“You know, if you weren’t a wolf, that would sound very creepy.”

He chuckled.

“I always figured you stayed behind so I wasn’t tempted to tell the others that we’re … you know.”

“No, it’s not that,” Rocco said. “I guess it’s a little too much to ask for us to start over?”

“It’s complicated,” Rose said. “This is all confusing.”

Rocco sighed. “I said a lot of things I didn’t mean. I … you, me, and this … I panicked.”

“You do realize that as a member of the Poison Wolves MC, you’re not exactly known for panicking?”

“Yeah, well, being a member doesn’t mean that when I’m dealing with experimental mutants exploding and screaming, and then find my mate in all of it.”

Rose opened her mouth and closed it.

Rocco winced. “Yeah, I might also want to point out that when it comes to talking and communication, I’m not good at it.”

And for some odd reason, she found that to be utterly charming.

Rose had a horrible feeling she was going to regret what she was about to do, but she couldn’t see any reason not to.

“So, how about you enjoy this beer, since I don’t like beer, and you get me a plain orange juice and we start over? No bringing up the past rejection, and we try to be friends?”

“Friends?” Rocco asked.

“Yeah, it’s a start, right? You seem like you could do with a friend, and in case you didn’t notice, I don’t have a lot of them.”

“I’d like that.” He slapped his hand on the table. “I’ll go and grab you that orange juice.”

Chapter Six

“You’re in a good mood,” Draco said.

Rocco glanced over at the club brother he’d been partnered up with to do a perimeter check. Boyan and Wolfe were on Graham duty, and the rest of the guys were dealing with the beta team. Alpha was reaching out to Elizabeth in the hope of finding out more information, but if he was honest, he didn’t know how reliable that would be.

“It’s a good day.”

Draco nodded. “And Graham seems to be settling, which is good news.”

Rocco knew it was only a matter of time before it went south with Graham. After his date last night with Rose, where they finally broke the ice and made their agreement, he’d taken her to Graham with the care package.

He didn’t allow her in the cage, so he had to be the one to give everything to the other man. Much to his surprise, Graham had seemed quite touched by the gesture and even offered his thanks. Out of all the infected, Graham was showing the most promise. Rocco didn’t even want to think about what it could mean. Each time he got his hopes up, they were quickly dashed.

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