"Surely you're not always in the mood for a banana split?"
I shrug. "I've not had enough of them to know. Maybe I would get sick of them eventually. But I doubt it."
"Well, if you feel that strongly about banana splits, then we can go on a date to get one at some point," she suggests. "Though I was hoping that our next date could be somewhere private." The way she looks at me leaves nothing to the imagination.
"Is that so?" I lean in, while I stretch out my tail under the table and brush it against her leg.
She lets out a small gasp, even though I'm only touching her knee. "You can't do that here."
I raise an eyebrow. "If you want me to stop..."
"There are people around."
"None of them are paying us any attention," I respond.
"Your bodyguard is," she murmurs, glancing over to the next table where my bodyguard is waiting for us to finish eating. "I didn't even realise you had one until tonight. I've never seen him before."
I let out a sigh despite myself. "My parents agreed that Sophia and I didn't have to have a bodyguard inside the academy because Rosewood has a good security plan, but if we leave the grounds, we have to be accompanied."
"Oh." She glances over at my bodyguard again. "I don't remember seeing him at the magi-tag."
"He was there. But he did most of his work before we arrived."
"Do you get tired of it?"
I think about her question for a moment. "I've never really known any different," I admit. "There have been bodyguards around for my entire life, though I didn't always have my own. But I have enjoyed being able to live a more normal life at Rosewood."
She nods, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.
"We can plan our dates so he doesn't have to come in the future if it makes you uncomfortable," I say quickly.
"Won't that restrict us on what we can do?"
"Well, yes. We'll have to stay within the academy, but I'm sure we can figure something out."
"No, it's fine," she assures me. "Maybe for our next date, we can stay in the academy, but it's also okay for us to venture out. If I'm your mate, then I'm going to have to get used to it." There's a little bit of hesitance in her voice, but the fact that she's clearly thinking about it is enough.
Lottie and our mate bond are my future, every moment I spend with her makes me more certain of that.
Chapter 12
LOTTIE
My handheld mirror lights up and I reach over to grab it, already reasonably sure about what I'm going to find waiting for me. A smile spreads across my face as I find a message from Archie letting me know that he's waiting outside the flat. I set my mirror on the desk and do a once-over of the room before I invite him in.
Thankfully, Sophia's door is firmly closed. She's aware I'm dating her brother, but I still don't want to draw too much attention to it when I'm inviting him right into my room.
I pull open the front door and find him on the other side, both of his arms full of bags. He doesn't hesitate and reaches out with his tail, hooking it around my back and pulling me to him so that he can kiss me hello.
"What's with the bags?" I murmur against his lips.
"It's the stuff I got for tonight."
"I thought you'd bring a couple of things, not an entire cupboard's worth."
"That was too many decisions to make," he responds with a mischievous grin. "And no one to tell me no."
"What if we don't eat it all?" I ask.
