Page 208 of Nobody's Girl

“I’ll be right back, princess.”

I change into some pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, then trod back down the hall to my mate’s bedroom door and do a quick tap before I enter.

“Come in,” her sweet and very tired voice calls out to me.

I open the door to find her cuddled up on the bed, lying next to the wall. She’s left room for me and pats the bed, reminding me of what she did a few hours ago and how that turned out. I’ll have to exercise great restraint with her.

“How do you feel?” I ask as I slide in next to her.

She takes my hand and holds it to her cheek. “Terrible and wonderful at the same time.”

I stroke her hair back from her freshly washed face. “I’m sorry it’s this way. I truly am, Alyssa.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” Her hand touches my chest, sending electric currents through it.

I close my eyes with the intense sense of the current as it flows out of my heart and through my veins, carrying guilt over the knowledge this is my fault.

If I would’ve done as my mother suggested and taken her when she was thirteen, this would never have happened. I open my eyes to find her looking at me.

“I love you, Alyssa.”

A frown draws her brows together. “Why do I feel you have something to tell me?”

My eyes widen in surprise. Can it be true? Is the time to change close enough for her to start reading my thoughts?

“I don’t know why you think that, princess. It’s late and we’re beyond exhausted. Why don’t you put your back to me and let me hold you?” Her frown isn’t going away, so I kiss her cheek. “We can talk when we wake up.”

“I suppose,” she says as she turns over and scoots back to me.

I wrap my arm around her and pull her into me. Thank The Creator I’m so tired, or I would never be able to hold her like this without great difficulty.

The touch of her silky hair on my cheek is enough to drive me crazy. This night I will have the sweetest of dreams as I can finally hold my mate as I’ve only dreamt of.

CHAPTER 22

ALYSSA

Something heavy lies on my leg as I open my eyes. A hard lump in my back is unfamiliar.

All I see is the wall, and sunshine fills my bedroom. As I move my hand in front of my eyes to shield them, a flash of light nearly blinds me. After blinking a couple of times, I can see the giant ring on my finger.

It’s as if I had a wild night of drinking because I’ve done the craziest things I’ve ever done. I had a very naughty make-out session with Eden and then said yes when he asked me to marry him.

We came home and Kyle was in handcuffs and I made the police let him go, then I broke up with him. It nearly killed me to do it, but he took it a lot better than I thought he would.

Maybe he wasn’t so in love with me after all.

And I just remembered that I asked Eden to sleep with me.

God! Who am I?

Did I get taken over by the pod people like my mother and father have?

My life has turned upside down. Am I really going to go through with marrying Eden?

The total number of days I’ve known him is seven. In a mere five days I’ll be eighteen, and that’s when he wants to get married.

What a birthday present that will be!