“Okay, how about I do this?” I spin around and jog backward. “This way, I can see you as we run.”
“That’s not fair!”
“I trust you to be my guide.”
“I won’t help. If you run into a tree, that’s on you.”
“You’re so cruel. What if your poor alpha gets hurt? You’ll have to stay by my bedside and heal me with your kisses.”
She laughs before I flip around and run beside her again. “Besides, if I overtake you, you can drool over my ass like it’s a carrot in front of a horse.”
Just making her smile feels like a milestone. I really am aiming for the friend route, despite my agenda.
Luke says she normally runs for half an hour, so I fill the space between us with chatter.
She responds with chuckles and short answers, but her expression is as guarded as Timber’s.
I want her to be relaxed before I apologize, but after ten minutes, we fall into a silence that has the same weight that we were left with after our argument at the rink.
Nerves choke me, but I have to remember that she wouldn’t let me run with her if she didn’t want to talk. So there’s hope for me yet!
Kane
The birds are waking up in the trees, and there’s a light mist hiding among the trunks. I like to imagine there are magical forest creatures watching us as we run to keep us safe as the foliage grows thicker and it becomes more shadowed overhead.
“So, Timber found out,” Ollie says quietly before the silence swallows me up.
“Yeah, I guessed,” I reply, keeping my gaze fixed ahead. I wanted to go first, but now it’ll feel like I’m hijacking the conversation. “He hasn’t said anything, but the whole team can tell something’s going on.”
She goes quiet again, and it’s hard not to be impatient. I already know what happens when I push her, but it’s a chore not to bombard her with questions.
“What are you doing back at your apartment then? Did he kick you out?” I finally ask.
She chuckles as we run around a wide bend. “No, I left.”
“What the hell? You left!?” I say before thinking.
“Well, there wasn’t really anything to do about it. I was going to leave anyway, and it would have been awkward for both of us if I’d stayed. I’m going back to pack up my things, and then that’s it.”
I have to force myself to keep running and not grab and shake her.
My mates are both so stubborn. They can be so expressive—when they want—but they lock up like prison doors as soon as it gets difficult.
“You can still fix it, though. You don’t have to vanish after one argument. I mean, we had an argument, and we’re fine!”
“Oh, are we?” she hums as she looks up at me.
I grimace, realizing I spoke too soon.
“Er, well, we’re talking, aren’t we?”
“So? You haven’t exactly done anything to say you’re sorry. For all I know, you’re only here because it’s another one of your plans to mash me and Timber back together.”
Oops.
“I came here because I wanted to apologize,” I say, completely serious. I wanted to change my sneaky ways, which was why I was brilliantly speaking to them separately instead of gettingthem to meet like a true genius. Though I still felt guilty now she’s pointed it out.
“Yeah? Go on then. Give me some grand apology that can make up for how furious Timber was when he saw the purple pendant.”
