“I’ll walk you home,” Boon said, getting up to walk back to her house.
“It’s just right there,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
Boon nodded as he shoved his hands in his pockets and watched her go.
“Just kills you to let her walk herself back home, doesn’t it?” Maverik asked, his eyes focused intently on Boon.
“It does,” Boon admitted.
“Little advice… she’s not from the place you’re from. And contrary to what a lot of people might think, she’s not helpless. Don’t mistake her nature for weakness. The best thing you cando is give her the freedom to be herself, without trying to control her space. She’ll let you know if she needs you to step up,” Maverik said.
“Or just wants you to,” Valerie added.
“Thank you,” Boon said.
“I know you got all the instincts like we do, but don’t smother the girl. She is Avaleigh’s daughter, and won’t take kindly to that,” Maverik said.
~~~
The front door opened and Angelle stepped calmly inside, then rushed through the house to her room.
“Hey, is everything alright?” Avaleigh asked. She sat forward in her chair, but forced herself to stay where she was, despite wanting to follow Angelle to her bedroom
“Yep! Everything's good. Just need to change shoes.”
Angelle came back into the living room barefoot and carrying a pair of socks and her tennis shoes. She sat down on the sofa and started putting them on.
“Where you going?” Avaleigh asked.
“To the creek.”
“Had enough already, huh?” Daniel asked, joining them in the living room.
“I invited him to take a walk with me.”
“Oh, okay,” Daniel said, trying not to allow his concern to show.
“We might try fishing for a little while, too,” Angelle said, standing up and stomping her feet to make the legs of her jeans fall down over the tops of her shoes.
“That sounds like fun,” Daniel said.
“I thought so.”
“No better way to get to know somebody than inviting them to share in the things you enjoy,” Avaleigh said.
“Yeah, that’s true. Boon said something like that, too.”
“You like him,” Avaleigh said, smiling softly.
Angelle paused, then looked at Avaleigh. “I really do. But that means I might really get hurt if he doesn’t end up liking me like he says he does. It’d be a lot simpler if he never told me how much he likes me. He says I’m his mate, but I should take all the time I need to be comfortable and make sure he’s what I want.”
“Then why is he here all the time?” Daniel asked.
Angelle shrugged. “Because how will I know if he’s what I want if I don’t spend time with him. Besides, he needs to see what I’m really like. But if I let him see what I’m really like, and he doesn’t like me, that’ll be the part that hurts.”
“There’s no guarantee in anything in life,” Avaleigh said. “Not even between mates. You just have to decide that what things might be, or could be, are worth the risk of it not turning out the way you want it to. Besides, this is just the beginning for y’all. Let it happen. See how it progresses. Enjoy being with him, spend time with him, and see how it goes from there.”
Angelle nodded, but seemed unconvinced.
