“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” the woman on his arm said. I knew she was his mate, Lauren.
“That’s kind of you but disappearing in the middle of my party was not okay and not something I make a habit of.”
Denny shrugged. “I’m sure you didn’t plan to choke in front of everyone. I would have needed a break after that, too.”
“Who wouldn’t? Besides, you gave Monte an excuse to bail without getting his ass chewed. So it was sort of a win-win,” Lauren added.
“What do you mean?”
“Monte’s the one that saved you. Everyone else was trying to figure out what to do or just freaking out, but he stayed calm and did what was necessary. He was ordered here tonight andnothappy about it. When he ran out, presumably to check onyou, he more likely was using it as an excuse to ditch out, I can’t even fuss at him for it.”
Calm?I wasn’t so sure about that.
“Please give him my thanks,” I said, unable to confess or deny that he was with me much of the evening.
I couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t wanted to come here tonight though. He was a frat boy, and Delta Omega Gamma guys didn’t exactly have the greatest reputation. It had improved some during my time here, but not that much.
It was well known that the D.O.G.s cherished the idea of a true mate, and some had even stopped sleeping around to wait for “the one”. Was Monte one of them? But if that were the case, why had he snubbed me at dinner? And even while I was alone with him, I didn’t get the vibe that he was very happy about finding me. Now I was curious and wanted to understand. Why wouldn’t he want to come to a Theta party?
I looked around the room seeing our houses mingling nicely. There really hadn’t been any concern that things would go poorly. I knew we’d had a few issues here and there, but even though my house had a sometimes-bad reputation around campus, I really didn’t think the D.O.G.s were that concerned about it. Hell, a lot of them contributed to that reputation.
“I think this party was a big success,” Lauren said. “I’m sorry that it wasn’t as great for you, but we were able to rein everyone back in and calm things down. Denny’s great with stuff like that.”
She was his mate, so it made sense that she would gush over him. It was really cute though.
Would I ever feel that way about Monte?
I pushed that thought from my mind as fast as it surfaced.
Do not go there, Zoey.
“I’m sorry I worried everyone. I was just a little stressed and needed some air after everything.”
Everything, as in meeting your one true mate and then choking in front of everyone.
My head was still spinning from it all. But all they knew was that I’d had a near-death experience and was overwhelmed by it.
I fought back the urge to snort. If only it were that simple.
“People tried to follow you, but I was able to wrangle them back inside with a reminder that you’d just gone through something traumatic and probably needed space.”
“Thanks, Denny. I did.”
But almost dying was not the traumatic experience of my evening that had me so flustered.
Some time away would do me well.
With my mind set, I discreetly booked a room at a lodge in the mountains that I’d already looked up before the party. They offered rock climbing classes for beginners, and I figured I’d need something like that to survive testing the harness that was sent to me. Plus, that sort of extra content was gold for videos. Maybe if I focused hard enough on work, I could temporarily stop obsessing overhim.
“Hi Zoey. I’m Braxton. Would you like to dance?”
No, I did not want to dance. Just the thought of being touched by a male that is not my mate was making me sick to my stomach. But before I could reply, he swooped me up into his arms and led me to the dance floor.
My wolf growled angrily in my head.
“Where’s my boy? He followed you out, yet you returned and he did not. Don’t tell me you broke his heart already.”
I gasped and pulled away to stare at him.
