“That I can do.”
I unlocked my phone and handed it to him, and he did the same for me. We both put our numbers in. I stared at his entry the entire way home. In my contacts, he put himself in asSothea Tattoo Guywith a little bear icon next to it, as if I could forget about my stunning new art piece, for that was what it was. Art.
Maybe it wouldn’t have felt so awful turning him down if I didn’t hate my job, or even liked it for that matter, but I did hate it. Only, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wouldn’t matter what the reason was. Not seeing him would be painful, and that didn’t make a lot of sense. Not that most of today had.
I wasn’t a guy who had one-night stands or ever dated somebody before I really knew them, but not leaning into his touch had been difficult. A one-night stand? No, that still wasn’t me, but maybe jumping in with both feet might be. Thanks to asshole Bob, I wouldn’t be able to find out.
I went home to find Brent there with Bunny Foo-Foo on his shoulder, wanting all the details. I gave them to him, staying up way too late sharing every detail and answering all of his questions, which were plentiful, until it was time to go to bed or skip sleeping, thanks to my dark-and-early flight the next morning.
I got on my flight, put the phone in airplane mode, and leaned back, watching the random sitcoms they had available the entire flight. My mind kept wandering back to the daybefore, to the man that was somehow now invading every one of my thoughts.
I wasn’t one to play games, not when it came to dating, and I planned to message him when I landed, forming message after message in my head. It didn’t matter if I was the omega or that we’d just met. We exchanged numbers, which meant using them was on the table. At least I kept telling myself that. I wanted to message before I took off, but if he was one of those people who kept his phone on at night, four in the morning wasn’t the best choice for a first reach out.
We landed at 11 a.m. local time. Turning off airplane mode, I saw he’d already left me a message and couldn’t get off the plane fast enough. For some reason, it felt too private for a cramped plane.
It wasn’t a simpleHi, how are ya. It was sweeter than that.
There were photos of three restaurants I had never heard of. The message,When I went on my walk this morning, I was scoping out places for our date, and these are three of my favorites. But if they’re too far from your house, then I’m open to suggestions.
I sent a message back telling him that I thought the Korean place looked really great and maybe we could try that.
And that’s how it began, our back-and-forth texting. I’d tell him about my day; he’d tell me about his. At first, that’s all it was, but by Wednesday, not seeing him was getting to me. It made no sense. I didn’t really know the guy, but I had to talk to him. Just as I was about to cave and make the first call, my phone rang.
Sothea.I looked down at his name and the little bear before answering. We spent hours on the phone that night, and not once was there a lull in the conversation.
The only other person I could talk like this to, without watching my words or being worried I was coming across poorly,was Brent, and he didn’t count because he was basically my brother. There was something about Sothea.
Please don’t let me mess it up. I think he’s a keeper.
Chapter Seven
Sothea
He was gone forever. Or it felt like it. Before video calls and the internet, how did mates ever spend time apart? It was a business trip, and he might have others in future; in fact, it seemed likely. So it was something I should be prepared for. But as we texted and chatted, we got to know one another in a way that might have been harder while being together. But I missed seeing him, scenting him.
Seemed as if my dads and my brother were right. Once a person met their mate, everything changed. I left the shop as early as I could, went upstairs to shower and change into clean clothes. No matter how careful I was, being in the ink business could be messy, and somehow I managed to get splashes around my apron and under my gloves. And my shoes. They were the worst.
Altan was a human, a fact I reminded myself of often, since it seemed as if he was no different than me. But he had not met my bear yet and in all our conversations, that topic had not come up. Why would it? Most humans were unlikely to wonder if I shared my life with a bear or some other animal.
That time would come. For now, I was very excited to see him in person again and thrilled that he’d agreed to get together on the very night of his return. I drove to his apartment, looking forward to taking him to a nice restaurant for a good meal. I’d always imagined spoiling my mate, and that dream was about to come true.
But when he came to the door, and I saw the bags under his eyes, all plans changed. My bear chuffed in concern, and I caught the omega giving me an odd look. I probably had the sameexpression because nobody had ever noticed his fussing inside me. Or if they had, they never commented.
But my bear and I both were not worried about their meeting at this point. “You look exhausted. I kept you up talking late every night of your trip.”
“That’s not it. That was the best part of the whole thing. It was the meetings all day that wiped me out. The only thing that kept me going was our chats. I think I told you this wasn’t supposed to be my trip and while I tried to prepare, I didn’t have some of the information I should have.”
“You’re tired.”
“I am.” He sagged, resting against the doorframe. “But I’m very glad to see you.”
“I think we should put this off until you’ve had a couple of good nights’ sleep. And I promise not to keep you talking into the wee small hours.”
“No. Please don’t cancel. I’ve been looking forward to our evening out. I just need a cup of coffee to wake me up.”
It wasn’t flattering that he needed caffeine to stay awake while with me, was what a less compassionate alpha might have said. Heaven knew I didn’t want to leave either, but he was in no shape to be out on the town. So an alternative was called for. “How about if I cancel the reservations, but we spend an evening in? I’ll run and get some takeout, and we can just veg on your sofa and stuff ourselves. If that sounds like something you might like to do.”
“You’d do that?” He yawned. “That sounds so great. You sure you don’t mind?”
