He frowns, glancing up the street. It’s late enough that there’s nobody around. “Are you walking back? Where’s your bike?”
A hint of warmth brushes my heart. “Kind of you to give a fuck.”
He moves alongside me as I begin to walk away. “I’ll take you back. I have the truck.”
“Where are the others?” I don’t hide the bite in my words. “My othermates?”
He folds his arms. “I took them back. Theo was… I took them home.”
Just like that, any anger deflates, replaced by guilt. “Look, I’m tired, Max. I’m not in the mood for a battle. Not after—,”
After that.
After finding them, and losing them, all within a minute.
His inhale is soft. “Me neither. Just a ride. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”
I blink. “The bond is pushing you, isn’t it?”
It’s notmehe cares about. He’d probably rather see me struggle up the mountain. But the mating bond is a weird thing. He rubs at his neck, the flush on his cheeks dark in the dim light. “Yeah. But you get a ride home out of it, so stop complaining and get in the damn truck.”
When I don’t say anything, he smiles crookedly. “Please.”
It feels like a slope I don’t want to be on. But I silently follow him, my limbs throbbing too much to turn down the offer as I crawl into the seat. I press my lips together as Max climbs in on the other side. “This is Theo’s truck.”
His scent saturates the space. Max glances at me, his mouth thinning. “Yeah.”
I try not to breathe too deeply as I wind the window down, angling my face into the breeze. In the corner of my eye, I watch as Max throws his arm around the back of my chair and reverses out of the space. His blond hair is longer than it was, and he pushes it out of his face before his hands return to the wheel, fingers flexing. “Max?”
“Mhm?” He glances at me. “You cold?”
I frown as he reaches forward. “No. Why are you doing this?”
His fingers fall away. “You’re my mate, Kennedy. Our mate.”
“You staking a claim, then?” I keep my eyes trained on the world outside the window, blinking rapidly. “Did something change in the last two hours?”
He hesitates, and his silence tells me everything. “Didn’t think so.”
“Jeez,” he mutters. “Spiky much?”
I stiffen at the judgment in his words. “I’m not fucking wrong, though. Am I?”
“You know why we said no.” His hands tighten on the wheel. “What the hell were we supposed tosay, Kenny? What did you expect? Did you expect Theo to throw his arms around you in joy?”
My vision blurs.You were supposed to choose me. “I think I can walk from here, actually.”
I need to keep away from them. It was stupid to say yes.
“It’s another half hour at least by foot.” He doesn’t slow down.
“Stop the car, Max.”
When he doesn’t, I slam my hands down hard against the dashboard. “I said,stop the damn car.”
He swerves to the side of the road, swearing, but I’ve already thrown the door open and slid out, slamming it closed behind me as I start to walk.
A moment later, the truck pulls up beside me, keeping pace. It’s not hard. I think I’m limping. “Get back in the truck. I swear to God; you’re the most hard-headed omega I’ve ever met.”
