Page 106 of How to Lose a Pack in 10 Dates

I don’t know.

…But for the first time, I feel ready to accept that there’s at least a part of me that wants to try.

I set the dish towel down. My grip on the sink tightens once more, then I let go.

I sit back down beside her on the couch and shift a little closer, enough for our knees to brush, for the heat between us to settlelike fog. It’s a weird kind of quiet between us. Not the charged silence that’s filled every room we’ve shared since she came back, not the kind that’s always one breath away from shouting or sex.

Just…quiet.

I clear my throat. “I owe you an explanation.”

Her gaze flicks to mine, but she doesn’t interrupt.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I say, voice low. “Back then, I mean. I was just… I don’t know. Young.Stupid. And scared.”

Her arms fold across her knees, but she still doesn’t say anything.

“I was barely twenty-one, Aimee: finishing law school and halfway convinced I wasn’t cut out to be an alpha, let alone one bonded to someone like you. And I didn’t exactly have the best role model.”

She snorts, but it’s soft. “Yeah. Your dad really is something.”

“Commitment-phobe of the century,” I sigh. “Couldn’t even keep a pack house plant alive, let alone a mate. I watched him mess everything up over and over again, and somewhere along the way I started believing that was just what alphas did.”

I pause, staring at the floor.

“I needed space. I thought if I just had time, I’d figure it out. But instead of talking to you about it… I just ran.”

She exhales, shaky. “I didn’t know.”

“I know.”

“I thought you rejected me.”

“I didn’t.” I force myself to hold her gaze, even though everything in me is screaming, roaring,dyingat how uncomfortable and unfamiliar and out of place this feels. “I never would’ve. I just… when you started acting up, when you went cold and sharp and glittery as hell, I got stubborn. I thought,Fine, if she wants to push me away, I’ll let her.Like an idiot.”

“Wes…”

“I regret it. All of it.” I let out a breath. “I never should’ve let it happen. And I know I should’ve called, should’veexplained. But I thought if I gave it time you’d cool off… Well. That didn’t happen, as we know. And by the time I realized I’d fucked it all, it felt too late.”

She nods slowly, then sighs. “I’m not exactly innocent either,” she comments.

I give a dry laugh. “You can say that again.”

Her mouth twitches. “I guess you could say I went a bit nuclear.”

“Abit?” I lift a brow. “You superglued my mailbox, Aimee. Youglitterbombedmy car.”

“You deserved it.”

“…Maybe.” She nudges her foot against mine, and I roll my eyes as I fight back a smile. “Okay,definitely.”

She laughs, and it’s real: the first genuine sound I’ve heard from her in days. Well, apart from the sounds she was making an hour or so ago. But that wasslightlydifferent.

“I didn’t learn from it, either,” I admit. “Look how I acted the other night. You pushed my buttons, and I lost it. That’s not the alpha I ever want to be.”

Her dark eyes soften as they trail over my face, and I see the way her fingers twitch, as though a part of her wants to reach out and touch me.

God, I wish she would.

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