Page 61 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

The smell of bacon cooking made my stomach rumble and my nose twitch.

I was going to have to face Clay.

It wasn’t as intimidating as I expected. I’d been exhausted when he helped me in the shower, but I remembered it vividly.

He had admitted how attracted he was to me. He’d suggested we become friends with benefits. There hadn’t been an expiration date tagged on, but he could never do the mate bond thing, because of his wolf.

And I had promised Hunter I wouldn’t go there again.

Not that I owed Hunter anything. I didn’t.

But Clay was my friend, and I wasn’t going to destroy his relationship with his brother by agreeing to something that could make Hunter’s wolf despise him indefinitely. A mate bond was the only way to free Hunter, and I couldn’t leave him trapped just so I could screw his brother.

So… I was going to have to turn Clay down.

That sucked.

A lot.

I liked him and had more chemistry with him than I did with any of the guys I was meeting with.

But I was just going to have to deal with it. Love and physical desire could grow over time.

Hopefully.

I padded across the room and opened the door.

“Hey, Gorgeous,” Clay called from the kitchen. “How’s the arm.”

“Hurts like hell.”

“At least it’s your left.”

That was a good point. If it was my right that I’d broken, I would have to take work off. And I’d have to wonder if I broke something badly enough to have a difficult transition back to work.

I made my way into the kitchen and set my good hand on the countertop, using it to boost myself up. He grabbed my hips and helped me.

“Careful.”

“You’re just hoping I’m ready to ink you in time for our appointment. When is it supposed to be? Tomorrow?”

He chuckled, returning to the eggs and bacon he was cooking. “Yesterday.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“You were out of it for a while. And in the bush a while after that.”

I grimaced. “I’d rather pretend none of it happened.”

“Alright. Consider it erased.”

I bit my lip. When my stomach growled, he handed me two strips of bacon from a plate beside me. I didn’t eat them right away, though.

“We have to talk, Savage.”

“That sounds ominous.”

I smacked him on the arm with my good hand, and he flashed me a grin.

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