Page 101 of Just One Bite
I sniffle, drawing my arms around my torso.
His eyes soften. “You think I don’t care about you?”
“I think some magical bond told you that you should. I knew there was a reason I couldn’t think straight when you were around and why I agreed to all these ridiculous things. And we never would have done any of this without that and—”
“Olivia, that’s not true.”
“You don’t know that. I just need a minute to think. I need to be alone.”
I wanted it to be real. I wanted him to choose me for me.
I’m moving back toward the opening when the flash from a camera stops us both.
“Linked mates, huh?” A man with a camera I don’t recognize takes another succession of photos. “Beautiful mark, Parker.”
Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I slip on my shoes and head for the cover of the trees, not caring what Parker plans to do with him.
I just need to run. It’s familiar. Freeing.
“Olivia, wait!” Parker’s voice is a far-off echo.
But I keep running.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Parker
I can’t sleep without her. I keep staring at the place she should be. There’s a gnawing in my skull that won’t let me close my eyes. It’s the bond urging me to go to her and patch this up, but not for me … for her. Her sadness thickens in my lungs, making each breath more difficult, like a bruised rib.
It’s past midnight when I finally will myself to get up and stand at her door.
“Olivia? Can we talk?”
There’s rustling and whispering inside. The hall is dim, and all the noise is down in the common room. I’ve ignored all my mentions and texts. None of it matters without Olivia.
“I know … today was a shitshow and I probably should have just told you when I woke up, but I was scared.”
Scared of this exact thing. Her leaving. Rejecting me. My stomach is in knots, and I don’t know if I can make myself get back into my bed alone.
“Please, just open the door.”
There’s more whispering, movement. I smell cinnamon. A signature Emma scent. Gavin is right. My alpha blood must be awakening because everything is getting easier. Even the scent of their blood is easier to identify now. I can sense it all in one long breath.
Nothing but silence follows, and I lean my head against the wood door.
I wish I could call my mom. She’d know exactly what to do.
It’s not Olivia’s fault. I know what it’s like to not feel what I’m supposed to feel. She can’t sense the bond at all. After going my whole life being the one who can’t sense anything, it’s almost ironic. If she could, she’d see that it’s never been just the bond, it’s her I’m in love with.
“Fuck the mating bond, okay? I just need you to talk to me.”
I can’t go back to my room and sit in the silence. I’m a groveling, pathetic man seconds from getting on my knees at her door, and I don’t think I’d care if a whole host of photographers came to publish this moment on the front-page news.
“We’ll figure it out. Don’t shut me out. Not now … not after I just found you. We don’t have to complete the bond. We’ll reject it together, and it will be fine. Things can be the same. However you want them to be. I just need you.”
There’s more whispering, then seconds later, the door opens, and I catch a glimpse of Emma giving me a thumbs-up before Olivia comes through the door and shuts it behind her. Her slender fingers wrap around my shirt, and she buries herself into my chest. My body is on fire from her touch. It has to be different for humans. I wish she could understand how strong this thread is between us.
My hands are in her hair in seconds, and I rest my chin on top of her head. Finally, the burn is gone, like she’s a healing balm to the terrified, anxious parts of me.
