"But—"
"You didn't mark me." I considered giving him permission to do it now, but that was a huge life decision to make with blood still throbbing in my cock. "Soon," I whispered. "We'll have that conversation soon. After we build some bookshelves so my apartment isn't as much of a death trap."
"Right. Bookshelves." He grinned. "I think I shoved you into them."
8
MIKA
Kissing Gabe wasmy new favorite thing, but first, I needed to prove my worth by building him some bookcases. Then, we could sit down and talk about the future.
Mom's old bookcases were the kind with a pressed panel backing folded between two eight-foot boards. When unfolded, they would become the sides and back of the bookcase. They weren't super fancy, and the dark cherry finish would make Gabe's apartment look even smaller, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to him slipping on a pile of books, hitting his head, and possibly dying on his hardwood floor.
My mate couldn't die the moment I'd finally found him. My alpha instincts had kicked into overdrive when my mom said I could have him.
Gabe helped me with the bookshelf hauling and building, but I could tell something had changed. He wasn't acting like the same carefree omega as when we watched the Meerkat show.
At first, I was worried, but then I caught a few glances when he didn't know I was looking. He liked what he saw. I only hoped it was enough to get past the force of nature that was my mom. She was the perfect storm of bossiness, mom instincts, and determination. Where she was an unstoppable force, I worriedmy mate was an immovable object, or at least uncertain. After all, we had just met.
He surprised me by asking me to hang out while he sorted the books scattered throughout his apartment into new piles in front of their respective bookcases. "You could stream more meerkats, if you want." He toed at a pile of paint canvases on the floor. "I binged the rest of the series, so if you want to find something else, I understand."
"What if I told you there's another meerkat show?"
His gaze snapped to mine. "Really?"
"This one's about rescued meerkats reintroduced to the wild."
"Yes, please!"
I grinned at the return of his sassy tone as I searched for the series on my phone. "Do you mind if I stream it?" His television looked smart enough to handle casting.
"Only if you use my Wi-Fi." He dug through a pile on the floor until he found a sheet of paper torn from a notebook and spread it out on the couch beside me. In neat handwriting, it read, "Single4Life," and "N0t4U."
"The top one is my router name, the other is the password." He blushed. "When I first moved in, Becca had gotten in a huge fight with Bruce. He thought he would fly home for her birthday, but then flights were too expensive and he stayed at school for spring break. That's when we made our pact to be single for life."
"A pact she's breaking next week," I reminded him. "Does that bother you?"
"Not at all! I knew she wasn't serious. She's been in love with Bruce since before he could drive. He sent her so many sappy love letters."
I remembered him writing a few of those letters while we talked around him at the high school lunch table. I'd always been envious. From the moment he met Becca at band contest, he'dknown she was the one, and then he'd spent years convincing her that fated mates existed.
"I'm not the best pen pal." I grinned, and he laughed.
"Neither am I. I was fucking lucky when she decided to stay here instead of going off to North Carolina with him. Can't string two sentences together to save my life. She would have gotten tons of cat pictures and drawings whenever I remembered to send them."
Gabe and I lived in the same city, only a half-hour drive apart, but part of me selfishly wanted to receive an envelope filled with pictures, drawings, and the like. I returned my focus to my phone, typing in the Wi-Fi information before handing it back to him.
"Thanks for trusting me with this," I said.
He blushed. "It's no big deal."
My gaze caught on the router name before he folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket. "You said Becca wasn't serious. Were you?"
"About staying single?" He laughed. "You haven't met my dad."
From what he'd told me on the drive back to his apartment, it would take a lot to keep my face neutral for that first meeting, probably at Bruce and Becca's wedding. His dad had boxed up all Gabe's books, knowing he was moving to an efficiency apartment. Then, he'd said he needed the boxes back a week later to help someone else move, leaving Gabe with no storage for his books.
"How long have you lived here?" I asked.
