Page 132 of Untraced Magic
I was surprised she hadn’t left the party already at my rudeness. But I had every right to act this way.
Her disgruntled stare cut through me as sheattemptedto stand her ground, her mousy brown hair tousled over one shoulder, eyes ablaze. I hadn’t seen her walk into Ty’s man cave-turned-basement in the house we shared, but the moment I did, recognition dawned on me instantly.
Skye.
My best friend’ssister.
I tried to drag my mind from the gutter it threatened to settle in, but as my gaze ventured south to the place where her top didn’t quite meet her tights, the slice of skin between raised a predatory rumble through me.
Perfect breasts pushed from her white, cropped tee, just enough to fill a hand, and I imagined them soft in my palms, my thumb grazing her nipple. She looked as good as peaches and cream on a sunny day.
Mate.
The word tore through my insides like it was fighting for release. I had to call on every ounce of my restraint to contain myself, knowing if we hadn’t been in a room with my friend who was also herbrother, things would have gone differently.
Fuck.
This was the girl I’d spent the first fifteen years of my life with; but, as she stared me down like I had already fucked up somehow, I couldn’t help but think of how much we had to work through.
I’d ventured outside, caution slowing my steps. Because I’d loved Skye my entire life.
Turns out admitting your feelings for someone is really fucking hard, and it doesn’t always go to plan. Because what I thoughtmighthappen and whatdidwere worlds apart.
She fuckingleft.
No goodbye. No explanation.
My heart pounded in my chest, my stomach twisting into a knot. The girl who broke my heart in every way possible was back.
I bundled my hands into the pockets of my jeans, hiding the tremor in my fists. Moving over to the wall, I leaned against it, trying to remain casual. Like her being here didn’t meaneverythingto me.
“Are we not going to talk about this?” I asked.
She fidgeted with a ring on her thumb. “Talk about...” She left her sentence unfinished, causing the muscles in my neck to tighten.
I shrugged, trying to act like my sensors weren’t about to implode every cell inside me. “Well, there’s no ignoring it,” I countered.
Again, rude as fuck.
A hurricane formed in her irises. “Ignoring it?” she hissed. “How could I?”
Keeping my voice low, I squared her with a hard look. “Deny it as much as you want, but you can’t run fromthis.”
She threw an arm in the air. “Do you see me running?” She screwed up her nose. “Who even are you now?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to know,” I retorted sharply.
She stared at me but said nothing.
I waited expectantly for her to speak. To sayanything.
“Cat got your tongue?” I pushed.
Because she owed me more than silence. She needed to explain why she left. Then we needed to talk aboutthis.
There was no way she could deny the mate bond. A fated attraction was like a blood oath, and unless you really fucking hated the person and rejected them, only death could break it. The moon goddess herself had decided our fate. Gifted us this bond. This was a win-win situation because I could think of no reason for her to hate me. Eventually we would work through this, but, right now, pain smothered my words.
When she still didn’t speak, I let out an exasperated breath. “Great attitude, Skye. Welcome back.” I pushed off the wall, about to head inside. This was going nowhere.
