Chapter 19
Simone is going to be bad – L.
You don’t know what, Lia. Besides, the five of you must bond eventually. – S
Yes, but what if it makes things worse? – L
Or it could make things even better. You won’t know unless you give it a shot. – S
I guess. – L
Exactly. And worst case, you have an awkward dinner and laugh about it with me after. – S
Fine. I’ll try not to overthink it. – L
That’s the spirit. You’re gonna look amazing anyway. – S
Thanks, I’ll keep you posted. – L
Can’t wait. Good luck! – S
I sighed softly, trying to figure out what I was going to wear. In the end, I decided to wear a pair of skinny jeans and a sleeveless blue blouse paired with a white sweater in case it got too chilly. My choice of shoes was even more casual. Tennis shoes were something you could never go wrong with.
After glancing at myself in the mirror, I realized this was the best effort I could make in this situation.
I headed outside where Matt was waiting. He had his braids tied back, exposing his muscular jaw and neck. My cheeks started to flush but thankfully Matt wasn’t looking in my direction.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He snorted. “Yeah, my sentiments exactly.”
The car was quiet, too quiet for my liking. I felt the need to ask something that had been bothering me. Better to get it out before we go to dinner.
“Why are you acting so weird with me lately?”
He nearly slammed on the breaks. “What?” Matt croaked out.
“You’ve been avoiding me and acting like I have the plague. It’s strange… almost as if you’re struggling with being my future mate. Shouldn’t I be the one struggling after all the bullying I’ve endured?
Everything came out all at once, Word vomit wasn’t something I could hold back but even if I wanted to… it was too late.
“Because I was an asshole to treat you like that. Yeah, I did find some humor in it but that’s what makes me an asshole! Now you’re stuck being mated to us and… it’s just hard for me to wrap my mind around it.”
I blinked. “It sounds like you’re doing some self-reflecting.”
*I am… and the other guys want to make things right with you. They don’t want things to be difficult going forward because there is no changing the fact
that we are mates or will be in the future.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” I whispered.
1/2
Chapter 19
Matt stiffened. “Yeah, it’s no problem.”
The awkwardness was back but throughout the night it started to fade. He started to become more at ease with me and by the time we went to the movie, I was starting to feel comfortable with Matt.
This threw me for a loop. It wasn’t something I expected to happen and I think neither did Matt. He didn’t make any moves, obviously still having some level of denial with this whole mating thing. But so was 1.
“Night,” he said after we headed back home.
I smiled nervously. “Night.”
It was good to be back in my room, but during the entire time I was with Matt this evening, I was fine. At no point did I feel uneasy or unsafe. He was good to me, something I hadn’t expected. Matt had always been one who would be a bit more aggressive with his teasing. Nothing physical, but out of all of them he would get up in my face.
It was difficult to see Matt in this light because it was not Matt I knew. But, he had talked to me, opened, and shared something I never thought he would share with me.
Simone and I texted a bit. She was thrilled that the date went well, but I don’t know if I would call it a date, no matter what Simone said.
It was… okay, no it was a date. With one of my future mates.
I needed to get used to that and wondered what the rest of the weekend held for me. A part of me was dreading it but there was also a part of me that was almost looking forward to it. It was something I wasn’t expected to feel.
Sighing, I changed into my pajamas and crawled into my bed. Right now, I just needed to sleep.
