“You have to hug after talking about your dark, shitty past,” he said gruffly into my hair.
“Do you?”
“Yes. It’s a rule.”
“You do realize you can just tell me you want to hug me, right?”
“You’re stubborn sometimes.” He paused. “All the time, actually.”
“It’s one of my best features.”
He chuckled, his chest rumbling lightly against mine as he let a slow breath into my hair. “Thanks for telling me. And coming here with me. We can keep wearing the glasses for the rest of our lives, if you want.”
“I know we can. My stubbornness knows no limits.”
“Does it—actually, never mind.”
“If you want to ask something, just ask it, Cupcake.” My voice was muffled by his skin.
“I’d better not.”
“Seriously, Ethan. Stop pretending around me.”
He sighed. “I was just going to ask if it bothers you that there’s no intensity between us. It’s a distasteful question, given what you went through, so I stopped myself. Don’t hold it against me.”
I blinked. “I don’t think that’s a distasteful question. I think I’d probably be wondering the same thing if I were you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I’d cope well with being someone’s second-chance mate. I wouldn’t want to feel like their alternate.”
“Well, I wasn’t feeling like that until now.”
I snorted.
Ethan chuckled. “I’m joking, of course. I’d much rather be your last mate than your first.”
“That’s reasonable. And as far as the intensity goes, no. I don’t want that. I don’t think I would be anywhere near this comfortable if things were intense.”
“Are you comfortable?”
“Of course, Ethan. I fell asleep next to you last night and didn’t wake up until this morning. I’ve been so nervous that I’ve hardly slept more than a few hours a night since I learned from Stella that I’d probably end up with a second mate.”
“I know we’re just friends,” he said, “But if we ever wanted to be more, would this be enough for you?”
“This, meaningyou?”
“Yeah.”
I lifted my face so we were glasses-to-glasses. Not for the first time, I wished I could actually look him in the eyes. “If we ever wanted to be more than friends, this would be infinitely better than I ever could’ve imagined for myself, and so much more than enough.”
He swallowed roughly.
Raked a hand through his hair.
“Is that not what you hoped I’d say?” I asked him.
“No. Fuck, no. That’s everything, Maya. I just really want to kiss you, and I’m reminding myself why I have to resist.”
