Page 37 of My Pucking Mate

“Okay,” she says as she releases a sigh that seems to have taken a weight off her shoulders.

“What else?” I ask. “Even if it’s not pretty, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Why haven’t I met my wolf since I’m out of my . . . vitamins? Shouldn't I be able to shift now?”

“We’ll need to speak to the healer about it. You were poisoned your whole life; it could have lingering effects.”

She nods, then says, “I meant it when I said I’d like you to work for this. I’d still like a semi-normal experience here. I feel the tug between us. I'm obviously drawn to you and feel more than I ever thought possible, but I'd still really like to have the experience of dating and such. I’m sure that sounds silly.”

I finally allow myself to smile.I’ve still got her.She feels all of this with me.

“You got it. I’m all in. I’ve never had the full human experience either. It will be something that is only ours,” I say, gathering both of her hands in mine. “All we have is time. No matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, I’m yours.”

The blush that starts on the apples of her cheeks and spreads down her neck is intoxicating.

“I uh . . . I think that’s all of my questions for now. Can we go back to our snacks? Did you still want to watch a movie?”

“Yes,” I say, kissing her on top of her head as I stand to get more food now that I can stomach it. “You can still ask me anything when you’re ready. What do you want to watch?” I ask over my shoulder.

I turn back to the couch with food in hand, and I’m struck by the adorable look on her face. Her nose is scrunched up, and she’s tapping her chin while she thinks. I make a mental note to ask her as many questions as I can, just to see this look on her face.

“Well that depends,” she says, “do we watch something fun or mushy or scary?”

“Anything you want.”

“You say that like that makes it easy to decide. Do you know how many good movies there are? Of course you do; you’ve probably seen them all.”

Goddess she’s cute when she’s all worked up. I like when she rambles. She just lets her thoughts flow straight out of her mouth. It’s hard to find such brutally honest people.Taking her and Benny out in public together will be fun, I’m sure.

“Okay, Roman, lesson number one, I’m incredibly indecisive about almost all things. I will need to be given options, or you will need to choose because it’s just too much.” She finishes with a small giggle, which I match with a low chuckle of my own.

“Got it. How about this? When I ask you what’s one of your favorite movies, what's the first movie that comes to mind?”

I should have been afraid of the smile that spread across her face, but I couldn't bring myself to care about whatever media torture she imposed.

“You don't want to watch that,” she says as she makes her way back to the buffet of pizza, with a mesmerizing sway to her hips.

She comes back with a plate full, and I love that she isn’t one of those women who starves themselves or won't eat on a date. She plops onto the couch so close to me that I find myself wishing she would have landed on my lap. Growling at the image, I shake it from my mind.Slow down. She needs time.

She notices and quirks her brow at me before returning to the conversation at hand. “Twilight,” she announces proudly as she takes a bite of her pizza and nearly moans. My brain is firing in too many directions. It takes me a moment to process what she's said when I'm groaning for another reason.

“Alright, but don't tell the guys.” I wink. “I'll never hear the end of it.”

She smiles and nods, moving her pinched thumb and pointer finger across her lips and pretending to lock them and throw away a key.

I chuckle and pull up the app on the tablet to play the movie through the projector.

“It’s so beautiful up here,” she mumbles around her mouth, stuffed with pizza, as she stares out at the lights of the city.

“It’s never been more beautiful,” I reply, staring only at her.

28

Waking up to Zoey crashing around our dorm room is my new normal. She’s basically my alarm clock at this point. I have an alarm set, but she takes longer to get ready in the morning, so hers goes off earlier, in turn waking me with her crashing around. It was a little frustrating at first, but now it’s just another Tuesday.

“Good morning!” I singsong to her. I’m a morning person, and she most definitely is NOT, so it always makes me giggle.

My phone goes off, and the smile that takes over my face is a bit ridiculous, but I know it’s him. No one else texts me in the morning. Very few people even have my number.

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