Page 95 of To Challenge a Wolf

“Don’t go far,” she said.

Trevor glanced between them a few times. He bent and picked up the sundae glass, which he’d set down at a safe distance in case Rhett resisted. He handed it to Rhett, then set off toward the truck.

Vivian crossed her arms as she continued her glare. She was dressed down in neon-green yoga pants and a black hoodie printed with the wordreputationin a cool etched-looking font. Though her eyes were molten with the anger that crackled in her compromised scent, she looked drained.

When Trevor had driven away down the street, Vivian said, “Mates?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t believe you.” She eyed the tall glass in his hand. The whipped cream was half-melted, and the topping of fresh strawberry slices had begun to sink into the shake. “And I said no flowers.”

“Which is why I didn’t bring you flowers.”

“Did you steal a sundae glass from my favorite local restaurant?”

“I borrowed it.”

She made a scoffing noise.

“A takeout cup would’ve made a lousy presentation. I promised to bring this back and left a twenty-dollar bill as collateral with Johnny, the manager.”

Vivian blinked. “You are next-level all the freaking time.”

“Thanks.”

She still didn’t move to take the glass. “We’re not mates.”

Every denial twisted a knife in his wolf heart, but the justice was obvious. So many times, he’d hurt her with the same words. “Will you hear me out?”

“I don’t know if I should. See, I kind of just decided to get on with my life and rethink several life choices of the last ten years.”

She meant it. Nothing in her scent to indicate otherwise. “Well, go ahead. Let me have it, Viv.”

She gave a snort and rolled her eyes, and more than anything she’d said, this sliced him open to the core of the heart he had begun to feel.

“No,” he said and hoped she didn’t hear his desperation—stay and fight, let me still be worth a fight—but on second thought, he’d let her hear everything, even the new and terrifying things. His voice shook, and he didn’t try to steady it. “You’ve got to have more than that, and I want to hear it.”

“Well, guess what, Jamie? I no longer give a flying fig what you want.”

The name betrayed her. Rhett said nothing. He just held her eyes with his own and waited.

“You have no idea,” she said. “We don’t do vulnerable, you and me, but I was as open this last week as I’ve ever been in my life. I forgot how not to be. That’s how much it meant, seeing you.To not only know you’re alive but—but seeing you in the flesh, hearing your snarky comebacks and your growly wolf voice after all these years. The ways you’ve changed and the ways you’ve stayed the same. And I showed you what you meant to me every way I could, and now I’ve got nothing else to give to this mess of—of whatever we are, because I already gave it all.”

He nodded.

“I gave youme. Tried to anyway. And you didn’t want me.”

Her voice remained angry, but her scent shifted to pain—not thick and stifling but faint and almost soft, the sort of hurt she would hide at all costs despite knowing he could smell it. His mate was in pain, and he had caused it. As the thought crossed his mind, a searing took hold of his insides. He curled his free hand into a fist and held still.

“So I talked it all out with a friend—yeah, with Blaine—then walked myself through it all again. Told myself I was worth more than this and actually believed it. Andnowyou drive up here and…and…I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but if you wanted me heartbroken when you got here, you’re a full day late.”

His wolf heart howled, but he kept quiet.

Vivian pushed her hands through her hair, standing it up all over her head in cute black spikes. “And then you go all growly that I’m your mate—which, again, not buying it—but you still have yet to apologize.”

“Thought you wanted me to listen first,” he said.

“Oh, shut up. Or if you think you have something to say that won’t put you in a deeper hole, by all means, take your shot.”

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