Page 61 of The Good Boys Club

I see-sawed my hand. “I guess, but he’s reached the top, basically as high as he can go without buying out the company, and now he’s plateauing. He might”—I put extra emphasis on the word might—“be looking for a new challenge.”

Dee-Dee took a sip of her water, and nodded very slowly. “I have something at Byte Tech. Maybe.” She paused, tapped her fingertips against the tabletop. “Don’t say anything to him yet. Not until I’m certain.”

“Oh, I won’t.” I tried to smother my smile.

“Look at how sickeningly in love you are.” She smiled back. “Let me have a chat with him over the next few weeks—see what his skill set is—and we’ll try to sort something out.”

“That’s honestly amazing, thank you.” I turned to pick up the drinks and leave. Dee-Dee very gently, but in a super authoritative way that I desperately tried not to find hot, cleared her throat, letting me know I wasn’t dismissed yet.

“How’s your job? You work at Remy uni, right? Dendrologist?”

I made a non-confirmational sound. Fine, we were being honest with each other. She told me about her and Riley. “It’s not, no.” I looked around just to make sure Mam or Nana weren’t loitering. “I don’t work there any more. They decided not to renew my contract.”

Dee narrowed her eyes at me, the silent “why” evident in her expression.

“Difference of opinion. Let’s leave it at that.” She couldn’t know the specifics, or I’d inadvertently admit Cian and I weren’t a thing.

“So, you have no ties to Remy besides Cian’s job? What I’m trying to get at is your duty to the pack, Mash. For years now, your alpha has been attempting to arrange some kind of mating between us.”

I nodded. This was nothing new to me.

“I’m under the impression that Rita believes the moment you’re mated you’ll return to Lykos. But if you’re asking about a job for your mate at my Remy branch . . . Mash, my employees need to be in the office. Sure, we have remote working, but we have a three days in two days out policy. He can’t commute to Remy every single week, and a wolf cannot be without their mate, so what’s going on here?”

Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. I’d been rumbled.

“You’re not planning on returning, are you?”

“I am!” I said. Realised I’d shouted and lowered my voice. “I am. I will. I know I have to at some point. But . . .” I blew out a breath and raked a hand through my hair.

She watched me for a while, waited for me to finish my sentence, but I could see the cogs turning behind her eyes. “You haven’t told him yet?”

I bit my lip.

“Mashew! What the hell are you playing at here?”

My thumbnail was in my mouth, between my teeth. Maybe if I yanked it off through force, the pain would drive any real thoughts from my mind.

“Mash?!”

“I don’t know, okay? I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you love him?”

I didn’t answer, just continued chewing my nail.

“Do you love him?” She repeated the question slower, each word with its own separate emphasis.

Besides my pack, Cian was the most important person to me. I loved him just as much as I loved them.

But maybe . . . just maybe, I loved him a little more.

He’d been there for me in ways nobody else ever had. He was the first person I went to with news—good or bad or anything in between. He’d seen me naked more times than I could count. He bought me the best gifts. We watched rom coms. He finger-combed my hair. We cuddled.

These weren’t things men—or boys—usually did. I only found this out during my second year at uni when one of Cian’s regular hook-ups had, in no uncertain terms, demanded I stayed the fuck away from his boyfriend. When I asked Cian about it he told me not to worry. It was obviously a were-culture thing, and that he liked our Sunday movie nights just the way they were. I never saw that guy again. I guessed Ci had made his decision.

I couldn’t imagine a life without him. Which was why I should definitely not balance our friendship on the tightrope I currently was.

“Yes. I do. More than anyone.”

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