“No.” The answer was immediate. I let out a breath and corrected myself. “Honestly, I don’t know. She’s definitely not Jo.”
“Isn’t her whole houseyellow?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah. And pink. And purple. And green. And?—”
“Let me guess, blue?”
“It’s a rainbow,” I confirmed.
Connor lifted an eyebrow. “That’s weird.”
“It’s adorable,” I growled.
Ethan grinned. “You like her.”
“I barely know her.”
“You know how you feel around her. She’sa ray of fucking sunshine,” Connor pointed out.
“I’m quoting Jade. And even if I liked her, I wouldn’t jump into a new mate bond head first.”
“No one mentioned jumping,” Ethan said. “Making a plan to see her every day while you live separately wouldn’t be considered jumping in. Getting to know her wouldn’t either. Neither would meeting her friends, inviting her to spend time with the pack, or having a few sleepovers every week.”
I grimaced.
He wasn’t completely wrong.
I hadn’t planned on ever taking another mate, but fate intervened, and now there was no separating me and Emmy.
I was hers.
She was mine.
Even if we were never together in any official capacity, that was never going to change.
seven
EMMY
I wasn’t asleepwhen Finn knocked on my door.
I’d been too excited.
Which, yes, was ridiculous. But true.
So true, there was a new cake sitting on my countertop. I wasn’t sure who it was for yet. Abby, maybe? I hadn’t given her a cake to celebrate her first completed semester as a fully online professor yet.
I opened the door after his first knock this time, and found him standing on my porch in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. His hands were tucked in his pockets, and those abs...
I nearly drooled.
How had I already forgotten how attractive he was?
It was really too bad I was wearing a pajama set this time. Things got a lot more fun between us when I answered the door mostly naked. My matching teal sleep shorts and tank top weren’t going to push us back into spicy territory, even though I’d already gotten horny again in the time we were apart.
“Hey,” he said.
How long had I been staring?
