I was going to die. Right here in the hardware store. Death by embarrassment.
Mrs. Santos looked ready to cry. “Oh, you two! How romantic! You simply must come to dinner sometime. I want to hear everything about how you met.”
“That would be lovely,” Malachar said, while I tried to figure out how to sink through the floor.
“I’ll call you, dear!” Mrs. Santos patted my arm. “Don’t be a stranger!”
She swept away, already pulling out her phone. Probably to call every single person in her contact list.
I grabbed Malachar’s arm and dragged him toward the checkout. “What the hell was that?”
“What was what?” He looked genuinely confused.
“‘It’s an honor to stand beside her’? ‘Everything I could have wished for in a mate’? You just told my neighbor we’re together!”
“We are together. You are my mate.”
“Platonically!”
“I never agreed to lie about the bond.”
“You didn’t have to announce it to the entire town!” I was hissing now, aware of more people staring. “By tomorrow morning, everyone will think we’re dating. Mrs. Santos gossips more than TMZ.”
“What is a TMZ?”
“Never mind.” I shoved the paint cans onto the checkout belt. “Just... just stop telling people I’m your mate.”
“I will not lie about what you are to me.”
“It’s not lying, it’s called having boundaries.”
“Boundaries are for people who are ashamed of their bonds.”
I whipped around to face him. “I’m not ashamed.”
“Then why do you wish me to hide it?”
Because it wasn’t real. Because we weren’t actually together. Because this was all temporary until I figured out how to send him home.
Because admitting it felt real and permanent in a way that terrified me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Once. Twice. Three times in rapid succession.
I pulled it out. My group chat was exploding.
Krystin:bitch, what?[image attached]
I opened the image. It was me and Malachar in the paint aisle. He had his hand on my back. I was looking up at him. We looked... we looked like a couple.
Krystin:my cousin sent me this. apparently you’ve been holding out on us
Daphne:you, missy, have got a LOT to explain. book club Sunday. be there or be square
Bella:[shocked reaction gif]
I closed my eyes. “I’m going to kill her cousin.”
“Whose cousin?” Malachar asked.
