Theo paid—he insisted—and we strolled back to where I’d parked my car near the tattoo shop. “Can I talk you into a sleepover?” he asked. “I would love more of your company.”
“I’m just…I am not looking for a relationship right now, nothing serious.”
“Understood.” He kissed my cheek and closed the car door behind me, saying. “Drive safe now.”
I’d expected him to still ask me to stay over. To agree to casual…but nothing of the kind. Deflated, I drove home. If he was truly looking for serious, it was just as well that we went our own ways. Our next tatt session might be awkward.
Chapter Five
Theo
This limbo position with my mate sucked. It crawled up suck mountain and made camp. I hated every ounce of it. My dragon hated it. I hated that he hated it.
More than that, I didn’t know what to do about it.
Brent apologized for leaving me high and dry that morning but then, when I tried to move forward, he said he wasn’t ready for anything serious.
I wanted everything serious with him. Mating. Marking. Living together. Kids. Family. All the seriousness.
It was better when I thought he broke my heart. Which he did. But now? Being stuck, not knowing? The worst.
“What’s got you so distracted?” Darris, one of the other firefighters, asked me. We were cleaning up the truck in the driveway, and I’d been holding the brush and not scrubbing for who knew how long. The others had already rinsed the truck off and almost finished drying it. And here I was, standing like a useless lump.
Darris was human, so I couldn’t really explain to him that I was having a mating dilemma.
“Just thinking about someone.”
He chuckled. “I’d know that look anywhere.”
Shaking my head, I put up the brush and began to help. “That obvious?”
He nodded. “Anything you want to talk about?”
My inner dragon feels like he’s been twice rejected by his fated mate?
“No. Just trying to come up with a plan. I have no clue how to romance someone who seems like they want nothing serious.”
“And you want it to be serious?”
I paused, thinking about the answer. No. There was no thinking about it. I wanted Brent. Not just to date or to court. I wanted him forever. That was the thing about shifters but especially dragons. We knew what we wanted and we wanted it now.
Three times as much when it was our mate.
Possessive creature I had inside me.
“Yes. I do. Very much.”
Darris pushed my shoulder with his. “Then you have to be patient. I’ve dated this kind of omega. If you push them, they back away even further. Be yourself. Be patient. The thing is, once that type falls, they fall hard and fast.”
His last word was buried under a blaring alarm. A fire. After gearing up, we got on the truck and headed out in a matter of seconds.
The fire was at a residence, we learned on the way. It wasn’t until we got there that we realized how dangerous this fire was. An older home. Within minutes, flames licked at the sky and had nearly consumed the entire building. Older homes were made of more wood, dry wood, and it acted like fuel, taking over quickly.
Thank goodness the elderly owner was safe in the care of her neighbor across the street. No matter how many years I’d been a firefighter, I was happily surprised at the kindness of strangers and neighbors in times like these.
Taking the captain’s orders, I assisted while some of the other seasoned firefighters did what they could from a distance. The house was engulfed in flames and, other than stop the fire from spreading, nothing that could be done. We watched as the roof collapsed and the poor older woman sobbed.
Parts of this job were heartbreaking at times. While I was assisting with the hoses, I noticed a huge tank on the ground.
