Page 38 of Unbreak Me

"To mid-back. Why do you ask?"

I felt heat rising in my face. I didn’t have a proper reason—just outright curiosity, which felt borderline inappropriate. "I simply noticed you always keep it tied up. I get that it’s more practical, but… it’d be nice to see you with it down sometime. It can really transform how a person looks."

The expression on his face changed to one of barely contained anger, perhaps even a flash of aggression showing through. But it passed quickly and seemed to be only on the surface.

Then he turned his gaze back to the horizon without saying anything. The tension in his body melted away, but I made a mental note: this was clearly another topic to add to the growing list of things better left untouched.

???

Sunday passed even weirder than the previous week. I went swimming again, and just like before, Day didn’t join me. He just sat by the shore, watching me with that strange, indescribable expression on his face.

Later, I asked if he’d like to check out a small mineral and gemstone expo happening at the nearby shopping center. With some reluctance, he agreed.

We drove there in my Jeep. Day dressed in gray sportswear, like he wanted to blend into the crowd, and tied his hair up even tighter than usual. I had no idea what was going on.

As we got out of the car and headed toward the mall, I looked around attentively before glancing at Day, just out of habit. I had gotten into the routine of checking whether omegas felt comfortable in my presence when we were out in public. They often seemed ashamed of being seen on a date with a ‘beta’. But Day didn’t appear affected by it—his face remained impassive, as if he didn’t care what others thought, which gave me some relief.

Soon, we entered the expo and walked between stalls, browsing the jewelry and gemstones on display. Many of them were for sale as decorations or for making jewelry at home if you were into that kind of hobby.

I spotted a few ornamental pendants and said, "Look, some of these are similar to yours. Maybe you’d like a new one?"

Day’s eyes darkened. He didn’t respond, just turned away and walked off. Clearly, it was yet another sensitive topic.

Then I noticed a bracelet with gray agates—delicate and gorgeous. It looked like it would fit his slender wrist perfectly. While he took a break to smoke, I went back and bought it for him.

After we left the expo, we stopped for a snack at a small café attached to the shopping center. I took out the packaged bracelet and handed it to Day.

He raised an eyebrow slightly and opened the small box. His gaze froze.

"What is this?"

"A bracelet, for you. It matches your eye color," I explained, immediately realizing how lame I sounded. It couldn’t possibly work. What kind of cliché compliment was that?

He touched it with one finger, like it might bite him. His steel-gray eyes met mine, filled with some strange, intense emotion I couldn’t quite place. Strangely, at the same time, Icould almost feel his inner turmoil—he was all over the place, heart beating like a drum.

"Are you hitting on me?"

Wow. I completely froze at that question.

"You know it’s against the contract," he added, his voice tense. I shivered slightly at how serious it sounded and looked away.

"It’s not that. I just wanted to get you something nice, like a welcoming present, that’s all…" I stammered, struggling to lie. Let’s be honest, though—I was kinda hitting on him.

What he had said earlier about the contract only applying to marriages with ‘older alphas’ didn’t seem entirely true. Was it still very much in place?

Maybe I should stick to the original plan of waiting for his initiative, but it was… so difficult.

My alpha nature was, by design, very ‘take the initiative’-oriented, and I had to keep myself in check all the time, avoiding small gestures that might show him I was interested. It took a lot out of me to maintain this passive mode. And today, I had obviously had another slip-up.

Day stared at the bracelet again, then pushed the box away.

"I don’t wear jewelry anyway," he said flatly.

Silence fell between us. Yep, I’d screwed up, rushing it again. I tucked the box back into my pocket, not wanting to make things worse. The unpleasant silence lingered. We finished the cake and drank our coffee without saying a word.

I started wondering if my approach to this relationship was actually correct. It felt like a huge setback. I could sense his growing resistance, even toward my smallest attempts to get closer. It was kind of a new experience for me; in the past, all the omegas I dated expected me to show initiative—propose dates, suggest places, pick activities, make the first move, start the firstkiss… Here I was in uncharted waters. Day was an enigma, and I just didn’t seem to know the right code.

As we headed back to the parking lot, there was this one strange moment when Day slowed down and stopped, his gaze fixed on a bulletin board plastered with several campaign posters for state senate candidates. Since there were quite a few of them, I couldn’t tell which one had caught his attention. Suddenly, he spun around and rushed toward the car, his face pale and his brow furrowed.

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