Page 41 of Instant Bond

She stood and took a few steps toward me, looking deeply into my eyes. She’d done this since I was a little kid. It was her way of telling if I was lying or not. Unfortunately for me, the accuracy rating of this silly little trick was unreasonably high.

“So are you talking to someone or not?” She asked. There was no point in me lying or trying to avoid the question, becausethey would all lead her to the same conclusion. But yet, my instincts still led me to do so.

“I was under the impression that adults who live in their own house didn’t need permission from their parents to date anymore.”

“So there is someone,” she determined, poking her finger lightly into my chest. “Well, tell me about him.”

“No, no, no. Absolutely not.” I shook my head, taking a few steps back from her. “I’m not getting into this with you. It’s too soon and you’ll only nag me to death over it.”

“Is this about Lucas?”

My eyes narrowed as my stomach turned at the sound of his name. “Don’t bring him up to me ever again. I already made it clear how I feel. Whether you believe me or not is your prerogative, but I’m done discussing it.”

Sighing lightly, she gave me an exasperated look. “So you’re not talking to Lucas in that way?”

“I never have and I never will.”

Inhaling deeply, she gave a slow nod. “That’s fine. I don’t have a problem with that, you know. I just wish the two of you wouldn’t fight like cats and dogs.”

My jaw clenched. “It’s very difficult for me to get along with someone who deliberately tries to sabotage me when he doesn’t get his way.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“And I’m sorry you feel the way that you do too,” I retorted. It was petty, but at times she brought out the worst in me.

“So when do your mom and I get to meet this omega that you’ve been spending all of your time with?”

“You can put it on the calendar for never.”

She waggled a finger, shaking her head. “Now, now. You know that’s not going to work. Are you serious about thisperson?” She asked, once again trying to come close to stare into my eyes.

Pivoting away from her gaze, I raised my palms up in defense. “I already said I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You are, aren’t you? This one’s different for you.”

“Can you leave? I have something planned tonight and I’d like to get dressed.”

“You’re seeing him tonight, right? Are you bringing him back here?”

“I would strongly, strongly recommend you don’t plan some clever little ambush to try and meet him tonight. I can guarantee you’ll be walking in on some things you don’t want to see.”

Her expression immediately soured, and she made a sound of disgust.

“I can’t believe you would talk to your mother that way.”

“Only trying to spare us both the trauma.” I wouldn’t have been so blunt about it if I wasn’t completely sure that ambushing us was something she most definitely would have planned.

She stuck around for a few more minutes, poking at me about this and that, but eventually left. Without cleaning up my table. Swiftly trashing her mess, I made quick work of changing into relaxed jeans and a short-sleeved Henley t-shirt, my version of casual wear.

Glancing at myself in my full-length mirror as I passed it, it occurred to me that he’d only seen me dressed for work. I wondered what delightfully tacky shirt I would be subjected to today, realizing with a little amusement that I was actually looking forward even to that small part. It seemed that everything about him, no matter how insignificant or silly, was precious to me. I’d never felt that way about anyone.

In the car, my nerves about his reaction to my plan mingled with the anticipation of seeing him and finally having alone time with him again. We hadn’t had a chance to becomephysicallyreacquaintedwith each other since he’d been in heat. The thought of finally having him in my bed had my cock swelling to press into my zipper. But if he was unhappy with the suggestion that I planned on hitting him with, then there was a pretty high chance he wouldn’t want to be in my bed regardless.

I parked in front of his apartment, letting him know in a text that I was there. Stepping out, I stretched my legs a bit and leaned back onto the car as I waited.

When he came out, the sight of him instantly smacked me with a wave of unfamiliar longing. My alpha instincts clicked into my awareness, intensifying as he got closer and I could see the dark circles under his eyes and general exhaustion radiating from him. My omega shouldn’t be this stressed and sad and tired. It was my job to protect him from how cruel and dangerous this world could be, and I was not particularly flourishing in that position.

Despite the evidence that he had recently taken a rather severe metaphorical beating from life, his pretty hazel eyes sparkled with happiness to see me. Part of me felt unworthy of his admiration.

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