“Where did your sunglasses go?”
“I broke them.” He gestured to the kitchen, and I saw them on the countertop. “Haven’t had time to go out and buy new ones. How was the trip?”
“Really great,” I admitted, releasing his hand and walking to the couch. “I’ve never spent that much time with anyone but you and Aidan. It was nice.”
I’d expected to need a break after the trip ended. I’d even taken an extra day off work because of it, so loving it was a surprise in a good way.
Any relaxation I’d felt before was gone, though. Things between me and Ethan felt… different. I guess the discomfort from our last conversation before I left was lingering.
“I’m glad you had fun.”
“Yeah.” I sat down and tucked my legs up close to my abdomen.
Ethan took the spot across from me on the couch.
Fuck.
Something was definitely wrong.
He wasn’t even touching me.
“Are you breaking up with me?” I asked, fighting like hell not to acknowledge the physical ache in the center of my chest.
Ethan blinked once.
And again.
“What?” he finally asked.
I gestured to his face. “You’re not touching me, and you have this really grave expression. I know we said we were just friends, but we sleep together every night and have sex almost as often, so I think we’re pretty much out of the friend zone. Plus, I?—”
“We’re mates, Maya. Or almost mates. I couldn’t break up with you if I wanted to.”
My heart dropped into my stomach.
He wanted to break up with me, but couldn’t.
Fantastic.
“I haven’t been completely honest with you, and you deserve the truth.” He dragged his hand through his hair. It was already a wreck, with who-knew-how-many days’ worth of dirt smeared in it and on his skin. “You’re right. Something’s been going on. My wolf has been getting progressively harder to deal with over the last two months, and I don’t know what the next two are going to look like.”
Oh.
My fear deflated, just a little.
“Then why are you sitting way over there?” I asked.
His forehead creased. “I kept things from you.”
“I knew you were keeping things from me. I’d be a lot more offended if you were, like, cheating on me. Are you cheating on me?”
He looked so disgusted by the idea that I almost snorted. “No. I’m only interested in buying rainbow cookware for one woman.”
“And fucking one woman.”
“Obviously. You’re more than enough for me.” He stretched his leg out, flexing his foot so he could press his toes against my calf. “But I don’t think I’m going to live more than another month or two at this rate. Getting out of bed is more difficult every day. My packmates could barely convince my wolf to shift back.”
He was worried about dying, and he hadn’t told me?
