Page 18 of Christopher

“I have many stories if you ever want to hear them, but I think that right now, we should be talking about something more important.”

Chris grimaced. “I guess we should. Where does this leave us, then? What do you expect from me and from our bond?”

“Well, for one, I don’t want you to think that we have to bond.”

Chris blinked as if he didn’t quite understand what Drake was saying.

Drake knew why. He’d just offered not to bond with his mate, and it probably didn’t make a lot of sense.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked.

“Exactly what I said. Both of us are shifters, which means we’ll live long lives. We don’t have to bond to a human mate to ensure they won’t age faster than we do. We can take our time, even if it takes years, or you can decide you don’t want to bond, and that’ll be fine with me, too.”

“How can it be fine? Don’t you want to bond with me?”

“Of course I want to bond with you, but not if it’s going to scare you and push you away. If I have to choose between being bonded to you but not having you in my life because you’re too scared and not bonding with you but being happy, I know what I’ll choose.”

“I don’t understand you.”

Drake snorted. “I think a lot of people don’t understand me. It’s why they tend to run away once they get to know me a bitbetter.” Drake hesitated. He’d sworn to himself that he would do his best to change to make it easier for Chris to accept him and welcome him into his life, but maybe he should still give Chris a warning. “I can be a lot,” he confessed. “My last boyfriend dumped me because he thought I talked too much.”

“Do you happen to know where he lives?” Chris asked casually.

“No. Why?” The less Drake thought about the guy, the better he felt. Why would he want to know where he lived?

Chris shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just curious, I guess.”

“Well, be curious about me, not about my ex-boyfriend.”

Chris gestured at Drake to continue, but it took Drake a second to remember what he was talking about. “Right. I’m not going to talk about my exes, but you should probably know that most of them felt like I was too much to deal with. It’s why they left me.”

“You still don’t remember that address?”

Drake couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t believe that Chris was already making him happier than he’d ever been in any of his past relationships. “I’m not letting you go there and beat him up. It doesn’t matter anyway, because he’s in the past, but you’re in the future.”

Chris’s cheeks flushed. “You really think so?”

“We’re mates, aren’t we? Of course I think so. I don’t know what the future will be like and how things will be between us, but yeah. I want that with you.”

“So let me get this straight—you want whatever I’m willing to give you, and you don’t care if you have to wait for weeks or even longer. You can even accept that you might never bond with me.”

Drake leaned closer. “I only care about you and your happiness.”

He suspected it would take some time for Chris to believe him. He looked like he hadn’t had a lot of happiness in his life, andDrake hated that for him. Luckily for Chris, he was here now, and he could help him.

He’d make Chris the happiest man on earth.

“It’s hard to believe that,” Chris murmured.

“Well, I’m your mate, so I’m kind of supposed to be interested in your happiness. I guess I know that mates don’t always work out, but the majority of them do, and they’re very happy. I’ve met many mated couples over the years, and you know when they’re happier? When they’re doing something that makes their mate happy. That’s what I always think about when I think about my mate and what I aim for when it comes to you.” He cringed. “And I’m talking a lot again, aren’t I? I’m really sorry. You need to tell me if I’m taking over conversations. You could even smack me. Usually, that’s enough to get me to shut up, but I should probably not tell you how I know, because you would threaten another ex if I did.”

Chris reached for Drake.

For a second, Drake expected to be hit. Carson hadn’t smacked him hard, but it had still hurt, mostly Drake’s heart and soul. He’d deserved it, though. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.

But Chris didn’t smack Drake. Instead, he hooked a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him forward.

Drake yielded easily, allowing Chris to manhandle him until he had him where he wanted.

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