“Nothing,” he said, eyeing the pink hickey on my neck. “Did I say anything?”
I sucked in a breath when he grabbed the spoon from my hand, our fingers brushing against each other. It was such a soft, light touch. Nothing like earlier. Nothing like every other night we had been together. I looked down at my plate and gulped.
He didn’t need to say anything for me to wish that things were different, for me to remember that drawing. The way he was looking at me. The same way he was looking at me the other night in his truck.
If he didn’t assign me as a nurse, I wouldn’t have thought about going to the Lycans. I just wanted to stay here with my friends and my family and him.
His fingers lingered against mine, my knuckles against his. We didn’t speak a single word, just stood there, quietly taking in each other’s presence. Then—when I couldn’t handle it any longer—I pulled away and walked toward the grill. Away from him. Away from the man that made my wolf feel things that she should never feel.
Derek wasn’t standing by the grill anymore. I stopped in my tracks, looking around. Rachel walked up to me in a maroon one-piece swimsuit, her dark hair wet from the lake. “Hey,” she said, wrapping a towel around her body. “What happened when I left the room this morning…” She glanced over at Roman who had his back turned. “... with Alpha Roman?”
I arched a brow, a slight smile stretching across my face. So, she wanted tea.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Isabella!” Vanessa walked over to us in a small white string bikini, her breasts barely covered by the small piece of fabric. Beads of water dripped down her tan skin. “Are you coming in?”
After ignoring Vanessa, I turned back to Rachel. She lightly pushed me. “Oh, don’t give me that. What’s going on between you two? I could just feel all that tension between you both.”
I pulled some hair over my hickey. “There is nothing going on between us.”
“Going on between who?” Vanessa asked, shaking out her wet hair, her breasts bouncing with it. She puckered her red lips and arched a brow. “Does Isabella have a secret boyfriend?”
Oh, my fucking god. What was wrong with her?
“Do you? Is it your mate?” she asked, her expression suddenly blank. “What does he look lik—”
“Vanessa, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Her gaze shifted from me to someone behind me. “Alpha Roman! Derek!” She motioned for them. Derek smiled at me, waving. He curled his arm around my shoulder when they had walked over to us.
Both Roman and Vanessa gazed at his arm around me. Then Vanessa turned to Roman, placing her fingers on his wrist. “Isabella met her mate.”
Roman gazed down at his arm and pulled himself out of her grip. He gazed at me, eyes a mess of green and gold. “She did?”
“No,” I said between clenched teeth.
Vanessa looked at Rachel. “Is he in our pack?”
Rachel froze beside me. Don’t you dare say anything. Don’t you dare say it. I pressed my lips together. Derek and Rachel both knew that I had been kind of seeing Roman, but if Vanessa found out…
“Yes,” I said before Rachel could ruin it. My hand curled around Derek’s wrist, hoping that she would put two-and-two together.
Her eyes widened, and she glanced between us. “You guys are mates? I thought you were just friends,” she said, frowning. She parted her lips to speak again, then wrapped her arms around her body as if she was shielding herself from us. Not a typical Vanessa reaction, but…
Derek shook his head. “We’re not mates.”
“Just seeing each other.”
“But you can’t tell anyone.” Derek continued my lie, and I thanked him twenty times over through the mindlink.
“We’re just trying to keep it down low,” I said.
Vanessa pushed out her hip and rested one hand on it. “I don’t believe it,” she said, eyeing me. “Kiss him if you’re together.” She stared at me, eyes flickering to my lips, and jaw clenched ever so softly.
I felt like I was in middle school with her sometimes. Hell, whether we kissed or not she would probably go blab to everyone that Derekwasmy mate and not just someone that I wasseeing.
Roman tensed, his golden eyes staring right at me. I gazed at Derek. We had kissed when we were twelve, but there was no way I would kiss Derek now, especially with Roman standing there. I didn’t need to prove anything to Vanessa.
