Page 42 of Instant Bond

“Wow,” he said, letting out a cute giggle as he very obviously appraised my appearance. “I never saw you without a suit on before. You look… Um, really good. Like, too good.”

“How is that possible, exactly?” I wondered. I couldn’t stop the smirk that rose to my face at the way his eyes devoured me, his pink tongue flitting out to lick his lips. I clearly wasn’t the only one who was looking forward to some alone time. He rose up to his toes, flattening his palms on my chest as we kissed.

“I just mean… Next to you, I probably look like a hobo.”

“You absolutely do not look like a hobo.”

He looked youthful and lovely, even with the hardships. His skin was clear and pretty, blooming with warm tan, his dark bangs fluttering around his face with the light wind. His outfitwas just another version of his standard. High top sneakers, tight and frayed jeans, with a colorful t-shirt. Today was various forms of ice cream including a rainbow popsicle and a banana split hovering over the suggestion to ‘Chill’.

“You said we’re not going anywhere fancy, right?”

“I thought we could order food in and watch a movie. You said you’d like that, right?”

“Right,” he confirmed. “So you want to just stay here?”

“I was hoping to take you to my apartment.”

“Oh.” He looked unreasonably surprised by the suggestion, but quickly recovered. “Well, okay. I guess there won’t be a dress code or anything, then.”

“I’d prefer if you weren’t dressed at all, actually.”

Pink rose to his cheeks as he laughed, covering his mouth with his fingers. “You aren’t supposed to say that! We have to at leastpretendit’s a real date.”

“It’ll be a real date,” I promised him. “We’ll talk, we’ll eat, we’ll cuddle. That spells date where I’m from.”

“That’s all?” He asked, raising an eyebrow flirtatiously.

“No.”

He laughed again, hurrying over to the passenger side of the car and strapping himself in.

CAM

IN THE CAR, with the A/C blowing and classic rock softly wafting from the speakers, I couldn’t help turning to stare at his perfect profile every few seconds. I felt like a teenager with a crush. My body was practically vibrating with the anticipation to be alone with him.

“So have you had any luck with finding a place yet?” He asked. He’d asked every day since the notice to vacate, but we hadn’t had much of a chance to text today.

“No,” I admitted, although it was the last thing I wanted to talk about. I just wanted him to slam me up against a wall and make me forget about all that stuff. “Everywhere is just way too expensive or they require way more of a deposit than I can give. I’m looking into applying for some financial assistance but everything’s so strict about how much you can make to qualify.”

“Are you worried?”

“Well, yeah, of course.” How could I not be? “But I still have time, so… I hope I can find something.”

He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes forward. “You’re doing everything you can. You’re amazing.”

“I’m amazing because my apartment is randomly getting demolished?”

“You’re amazing because you never give up, no matter what life throws at you.”

“I can’t give up,” I reminded him. “If it was just me, maybe.”

“I know. But you’re still incredible. You’re stronger than you think.”

Amazing, incredible, and strong. Three things I was pretty positive I hadn’t been called in a really long time until Karter came around. My chest tingled with the positive affirmations, my omega nature purring with pride at his praise, even if I wasn’t entirely sure it was accurate.

When we got to his building, it was huge. Like definitely the tallest one I’d ever been in. In the entrance lobby, he led me to a private elevator down a small hallway that you needed to enter a code to get on.

Of course he’d live in some fancy penthouse with a private elevator and keypad to unlock the door. For me it was like walking onto the set of a TV show about a billionaire bachelor or something. Which I guess he technically was. Lucky, lucky me.

---