Page 41 of Wolf Mate

“They were using their link to communicate.”

We reached the back door to the student center, and I eagerly rushed through it. As soon as it closed, the tingling on the back of my neck stopped, and my heartbeat settled, allowing the fizz to downgrade to a jolt. Wanting to learn more about wolf shifters, I focused on that. “Link?”

“Let’s grab some food, and I’ll explain it to you.” He gestured to the people walking past us.

I nodded, and we hurried into the cafeteria. It was loud and busy, so I went to the right side, settling on a slice of premade pizza to get out of the chaos.

After applying the food to my account, I found our usual table vacant in the back corner and eagerly took the spot. Evenon a busy day, no one ever sat in this booth. I felt a slight vibration coming off it.

Strange.

I was opening my Dr Pepper when Slade arrived and slid in across from me.

“Did you do something to this table?” Between it always being open and the slight vibration, I figured it was spelled. “To prevent others from sitting here?”

He beamed and flipped his wrist, increasing the vibration.

“You did.” I smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to see how long it took you to figure out.” He leaned forward and winked. “But you can feel it. That’s great. You’re learning to sense other magic.”

My chest puffed out, and I didn’t even feel embarrassed. After failing almost every day for the last two weeks, I was ecstatic that I’d donesomethingpositive. “What spell did you do?” I wanted to know desperately.

“Nothing major. Just an aversion spell.” He shrugged and snatched his fork then started stabbing at his salad. “I like this spot, and you seem comfortable here.”

And Raffe and Keith had made it sound as if he wasn’t a good guy. Everything he’d done for me proved the opposite of that. I took a bite of my pepperoni and sausage pizza, reveling in the moment. I had a real friend, and I enjoyed it.

“What?” He put his fork down and arched a brow.

I placed my pizza on the plate. “I didn’t say anything.”

“But you’re over there smiling while you eat.” Slade leaned back in his seat. “What gives?”

He was right. I was smiling. I probably looked like a weirdo, but I felt content. “Just nice, us being friends.”

“Friends?” His smile dropped. “That’s it?” His attention dropped to the table.

My stomach dropped too. Shit. This wasn’t good. I’d hoped that the awkwardness between us on our way here was gone, but now he was asking about our relationship status. A year ago, I would’velovedthis conversation. It had seemed like a pipe dream. But now that it was happening, I’d give anything to skip it.

The best thing I could do was be honest with him. Leading him on would only make me a complete asshole. “Slade, you’re a great guy.”

He groaned, his head leaning back. “That is not a good sign.”

“What?” I hated that he’d called me out, but dammit, I didn’t want to move on without explaining the real issue. “You have no clue what I’m going to say.”

“Oh, I do.” He placed his hands on either side of his golden tray. “This is what my mom calls a bad-news sandwich. It’s when you want to let someone down softly while maintaining a relationship with the person you’re letting down. You start with something nice, then reveal the bad part, then end with something nice to ease the negative news you sandwiched in the middle.”

I’d never heard that before. Worse, that was exactly what I’d been doing. “Okay, fine.” If he wanted direct, I’d give it to him. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” I left out the part about me being borderline obsessed with a sexy, mysterious wolf-human prince. That would only upset Slade and had no redeeming explanation because it would imply I liked the star quarterback even though he ignored me and hurt me every chance he got unless we were alone.

“Who said it would?” Slade leaned forward. “There’s a reason Keith is giving me hell. I rarely give girls much attention and definitely not the amount I’ve been giving you. I obviously think we have something special.”

He wasn’t making this easy on me, but I couldn’t budge. I didn’t want to lose him. “You may be right, but Slade, you’re the first friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to risk losing you. You mean too damn much to me.” I feared this might push him into walking away from me, but if he did, I’d know his interest in me had been shallow.

“You’re right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve told me about the shit you’ve gone through, so I understand why you feel that way. Don’t worry.” He winked. “You just need more time to see how good things could be between us.”

That was definitelynothow I wanted him to react. He was still hopeful we would wind up together, and I was afraid to push it. At least he was giving me space, and Ididn’twant to lose him. I decided to change the subject and focus on my burning questions about what a pack link was.

I could figure the rest out later, but right now, I had to make sure I didn’t lose a friend.

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