Leticia presses send on her phone, and mine vibrates less than half a second later. I pull it out of the mount on the dash and take a look.
Leticia:
There’s not much to say. We went to Valor and Toni’s house, they’re out of town for a few days on a honeymoon trip. We fed their pet tortoise, who is cute and named Captain. He didn’t talk about any work. He just wanted to know about my finals and how school was going.
“Good touchwith what I asked about.” I approve the message. “See, you’re way better at this than you thought you were. I didn’t think to address the conversation that way.”
Comfort her.My wolf urges.
I’m trying.I argue back.
But I know what he really wants me to do. He wants me to physically reassure her that she’s not alone because she isn’t, but she probably feels it. There’s a whole species difference from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, and that’s probably really alienating for her.
I move slowly, like I’ll spook her, and reach over the center console, resting my hand on her mid-thigh.
Big mistake on my part. My cock twitches when I feel the softness of her skin under the control of my touch.
Leticia moves her hand to cover mine, and for a brief moment, I wonder if she’ll push me away. Instead, she rests her hand on top of mine.
Her phone buzzes, and Leticia jumps.
“It’s okay. I’m here.” I offer my hand out to her. “Do you want me to read it?”
“N —” She pauses. “Yeah, could you?”
I open her phone, which doesn’t have a security lock on it, and read the message aloud. “Your dad says: What days are you spending Christmas out there? The invitation said for the twenty-third, but it seems you and Royal are close. Maybe you can find a way to spend more time with him. We need to know as much as you can gather. Who their business partners are, things like that.”
Not respecting the truce?My wolf and I are both suspicious aboutthis demand for information gathering.What could they need information for?
“How does this sound: I’m spending the twenty-third, but have been invited to spend all of winter break now that they know I’m staying home alone while you’re all in Italy. I didn’t think you’d approve of it,” I say.
She’s silent, and I look over at her.
Eyes wide, she’s looking at me. “Did you just invite me to spend time at your house? Like, spend the night?”
“Well, you can stay at Valor’s if you’d rather, but his house is kinda creepy at night if you’re all alone.” I encourage her to choose to stay with us. It’s not necessarily stayingwithme, but it’s closer.
“Send the message.” Leticia squeezes my hand.
Our mate wants us.My wolf pushes forward, and I forget to hold him back.
Leticia gasps. “Your eyes, they just changed from one color to another.”
I blink and push the wolf back. “Sorry, my wolf really likes you.”
Understatement of the century.My wolf huffs and settles back in.
“I mean, what’s not to like?” Leticia giggles, and it’s good to see her less panicked than before.
Tearing my eyes away from her, I look back at the phone, double-checking the message before hitting send.
“How are you doing, really?” I look at her, trying to get a read on what’s going through her head.
Her eyes are a little sunken, and she doesn’t seem as energetic as usual.
“I’m exhausted,” she admits, shoulders dropping. “I need to go home and pack in case he says yes, and my uterus hurts.”
I force myself not to deflate because, more than anything, I want to spend time with her. But I nod. “Let’s get you a tampon, and I’ll take you back to the city.”
