“I don’t want to get drinks together once or twice a week.” He still sounded like he was in pain. It was far from convincing, but I also didn’t think he was lying. “We should… hang out. More.”
“Try not to sound like you’re dying of excitement, Finn.”
He flipped a pancake and turned to face me, folding his arms over his chest. His expression was as guarded as his position was.
“I didn’t want a mate,” he said.
“I got that when your wolf growled at me just for existing in your house.”
“He growled at you for getting hurt and trying to walk when you were in pain.”
“Then I got it when you were having a panic attack because of the bond and were relieved when I said we could go our separate ways after the climax.”
He grimaced. “Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize. I’m not mad, Finn. You’re just confusing me. You don’t want to be with me, and you don’t want to spend time together, but you want to be friends? How is that supposed to work?”
“I’ve got no idea. I’m confusing me too,” he admitted.
“Things were comfortable when you first came in, but everything got awkward when I brought up the play tonight. Why?”
His grimace deepened.
“I’m not going to play games, and I’m not going to chase you,” I said firmly. “If you want to be friends, be my friend. Stop puttingwalls between us. I can handle it—I understand why you’re uncertain, and I don’t have a problem with it. I can take you not wanting to be my mate.”
He let out a harsh breath.
My nose twitched.
Was that…
Yeah, something was definitely burning.
“I think that pancake is destined for the trash can,” I told him gently, hoping it would be a small nudge.
He spun around, muttering a curse as he threw away the burnt disc, then moved the pan off the heat.
I leaned against the cabinets, waiting.
Finn stayed facing the stove. I thought maybe he needed the distance to get more comfortable. The situation clearly had him feeling off-balance, and I didn’t blame him for that.
If I’d been through what he had, I’d probably feel the same way.
“You didn’t ask me when you were buying tickets,” Finn said. “I would’ve gone with you. I would’ve wanted to. I don’t want to be mates, but I want to do shit like that. Like… friends.”
“If you want to do things like that, we wouldn’t just be friends. We would be dating. We’re connected permanently, and we spent multiple days naked together. You and I can’t go out with a bunch of real couples as friends. It would mess with my head.”
Finn didn’t reply right away.
I’d seen the romance books on his shelf, so I knew he had an idea of what dating was like for humans.
“Dating would be similar to being mates without commitment,” he finally said.
“Yeah. You could still back out and change your mind if we were dating, but it would change my expectations a little.”
“How?”
“Well, if you were my boyfriend, I would expect you to be there for me sometimes. If my car breaks down, I might ask for a ride. If I have to stay up late working and you’re heading into town, I might want you to pick up coffee or breakfast. If I’m painting one of my walls blue, I might want you to grab some extra brushes on your way over to help.”
