“We’ll go,” Taylor said.“I’m just teasing Jacob.”
“Oh.”
Taylor frowned.Ben wanted to bring the smile back on his lips, but he didn’t know how or if he could.He didn’t know Taylor well enough.He hoped he would eventually.
“If that’s okay with you, of course,” Taylor said.“We can stay here and find something else to do.”He hesitated.“I’m going back to work tomorrow, so you probably need to be introduced to some of my friends and to know where everything is in the house.”
And there went all the calm Ben had managed to gather.“You’re leaving me?”
Taylor shook his head.“Not forever.It’s just a day at work.I could even ask Tony to come home early if you’re more comfortable with that.I do want to go, though.I understand that you’re scared and that you don’t know the people who live here, but you don’t really know me, either.”
“You’re my mate.”
Taylor grabbed both of Ben’s shoulders.“I’m not leaving you, Ben.You’re safe here, I promise.But we can’t spend all our time together.I have my friends and work, and you need someone outside of me, too.I’m sure you’ll like my friends, especially Drake.He’s moving in soon, so you’ll both be new to the pride.That should give you something to talk about.”
Ben wanted to argue, but he couldn’t.Everything Ben had said made sense.He wasn’t Ben’s babysitter.He couldn’t stay with him the whole day, every day.Ben was going to have to let go eventually, and he understood why Taylor wanted him to do it so soon.He wanted to go back to his normal life.
Ben wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to do that.How could he go back to a normal life when his ex-boyfriend had locked him in his basement when Ben had broken up with him?How could he stop looking over his shoulder and fearing that Jimmy had found him?How could he live without fear when Jimmy was still out there?
Chapter Four
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BEN LOOKED UNCOMFORTABLE, sitting on the couch and talking to Drake.To be fair, he often did when he and Taylor spent time with other people, but he’d never said anything about it.He’d never refused to meet Taylor’s friends.He’d also never mentioned the fact that Taylor had introduced him to them without mentioning that he was Taylor’s mate.
Taylor should tell his friends about Ben being his mate.The only reason he hadn’t was that he knew they’d have questions, and he didn’t have answers.He wished he did.He wished he understood himself and what being Ben’s mate meant better, but no matter how much time he spent thinking about it, he still had no idea.
Did it mean that he’d never been straight?How could he not have known that?Now that he knew, he’d been rethinking his relationships with guys, but doing that made him anxious.He felt like he’d lied to people when he hadn’t.He justhadn’t known.Hell, he didn’t even know if he would have found out about his queerness if Ben wasn’t his mate.
Taylor knew that Ben hadn’t turned him gay, but it kind of felt like it because this wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t for him.All in all, it was very confusing, and Taylor wasn’t ready to tell his friends, even though they’d be happy for him.The only one who knew was Jacob, but between his new job and his mate, he hadn’t been spending a lot of time with them lately, so he probably hadn’t noticed that Taylor was keeping this close to his chest.Even if he had, he would never tell their friends because it wasn’t his place.
Taylor glanced in Ben’s direction again.They were supposed to watch a movie, but Drake had been chatting since Taylor had turned the TV on.He was acting like he and Ben had been friends for years rather than having just recently met, and while it was sweet, Taylor could see that it was overwhelming for his mate.Ben had gone from being completely alone in the forest to being surrounded by an entire pride of people who wanted to know him.Most pride members stayed away because they weren’t that close to Taylor, so even though they were curious, they kept their distance, but others, like Drake, were friends with Taylor and were spending more time with Ben.
It would be good for Ben.He needed more people than just Taylor in his life.Taylor didn’t know if Ben was planning on sticking around, but they were mates.If he was, he would become a pride member, which meant he should let other pride members in.Even if he didn’t become best friends with any of them, Taylor expected him to be close to his friends and their mates.
He frowned.He was thinking as if he and Ben were together, which wasn’t the case.More than that, he was thinking as if he and Ben had a future together.They hadn’t talked about that, though, and he didn’t want to assume, but at the same time, they were mates.Ben had made it clear that was important to him, which was why Taylor assumed that he’d stick around, but what if he wanted to go back to his family?What if he didn’t want to stick around Green Hill?
Taylor wasn’t planning on leaving.He’d always lived here, and now, he had a job that he enjoyed.He didn’t want to leave all of that behind.At the same time, though, was it fair to ask Ben to do just that?
“Do you want me to tell him to leave Ben alone?”Dennis asked, startling Taylor out of his thoughts.
He blinked at his friend.“Do you really think you can tell Drake to do anything and have him obey if he doesn’t want to?”They both knew their friend, so they were aware that it wasn’t going to work.
Dennis chuckled.“Not really, but I can try.”
“It’s fine.I’m sure Ben can tell him himself if it’s too much.”
Dennis glanced at the two.“I wouldn’t be so sure.Drake can be a lot, even when he doesn’t mean to be.”
“I’ll talk to Ben and see what he thinks, but I really think it’s fine.He needs to get used to living here, you know?”
Taylor turned his attention back to the TV screen, but he could feel his friend watching him.He tried focusing on the movie, but he had no idea what it was about.He’d picked the first thing on hisNetflixhome page.He didn’t think any of them were watching it, anyway.They’d just put it on for some noise.
“I think it’s sweet that you took it upon yourself to take care of Ben,” Dennis eventually said.“Even though I know that Gal didn’t ask that of you.”
Gal hadn’t because he hadn’t needed to.Of course Taylor was going to take care of Ben.Ben was his mate.Taylor wanted to be there for him and to protect him.He wanted to make sure that whatever had happened to Ben to make him end up alone in the forest didn’t happen again.He never wanted Ben to be on his own, having to survive in the forest.If there was someone coming after Ben, Taylor needed to know so he could protect him.
Dennis didn’t know about their bond, though.He thought that Taylor was doing this out of the goodness of his heart.Taylor wasn’t sure he would’ve done it if Ben hadn’t been his mate.
