I sighed. If I were being honest with myself, I hit that point two days ago when he’d told me he was all in and put the ball in my court.
My skin was itching to go for a run. I knew it was the first thing I’d do when I got home.
We’d gotten word yesterday that the last of the fans and paparazzi had checked out and moved on yesterday, but we gave it another twenty-four hours just to be safe. That’s what I’d told Monte at least. Really, I just wanted a little more time like this before facing the real world.
“Have everything?” he asked.
I nodded.
We took a back elevator down to the first floor where Karla had our cars waiting. I hated that we had two vehicles because it meant being separated from him for the drive back. And I wasn’t ready to be alone with my thoughts or face the feelings I had for him.
“Can you believe that just one week ago I was arguing with Denny about going to a stupid party at Theta?”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “And I was running around like a madwoman trying to make sure it was all going to be perfect. I had no idea you would be sabotaging my whole life just a few hours later.”
“Me? You can’t blame that on me. If it hadn’t been for Denny, I would never have showed up at that party. And if the rest of our time at the ARC is any indication, then we probably never would have crossed paths. So I vote to blame him.”
I beamed up at him. “Okay. I’ll be sure to tell him thanks the next time I see him.”
Monte grinned. It was so warm and real, unlike so much of my life.
He leaned in and kissed me.
“You take the lead. I’ll be right behind you. Just drive carefully.”
“I always do.”
It was weird how much I disliked being alone in the car on the drive back to school. I’d never minded being by myself. In fact, I usually preferred my own company to that of others. But not this time. And knowing Monte was just behind me wasn’t helping.
We had only left the lodge twenty or so minutes before my phone rang.
I glanced at my dash to see who it was . . . Monte.
My heart swelled and I quickly answered it.
“Miss me already?”
“God, yes. Even seeing you right in front of me isn’t helping. It’s too far away.”
I giggled. “I know what you mean.” And I did, too.
“Next time we ride together,” he said, definitively.
“Next time I run away from you and you run away from me to try and figure things out we’ll ride together?”
“Exactly.”
I laughed and settled into the drive ahead. He told me crazy stories about his childhood and his friends. They were still thick as thieves from the sounds of it. And I was surprised to find I knew almost all his Pack friends that were at the ARC with him.
“It’s crazy to think of our next stage in life. I already know Sadie won’t be coming home. She’ll be moving to Westin Pack.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Well, Pete’s already working for Westin Foundation so it makes sense. Plus, sophomore year they moved there and loved it. Pete had his job, and Sadie attended a human college not far from there. Her mother was human and she’d gone there, but the nostalgia had worn off and when Pete had the option to pursue his master’s at the ARC, they’d both come back. They’ll be graduating together in the spring. Boy had Remy been relieved to have her close again. While I know it is definitely not the same because Sadie is not his true mate, I do kind of understand how he felt with her away.”
“Because me being twenty yards away is a close comparison to her being hours away in a different town?”
“Exactly. I mean toss in the whole true mate hormones and shit and it’s practically the same.”
