“So?” Matt’s voice broke me out of my daydream. “What’s yourtheory?”
I dragged my hand through my hair. “The mating link makes our bodies unreceptive to people who aren’t ourmates.”
Hefrowned.
“We can’t be . . . um”—heat eddied through me—“intimate.”
“Huh?”
“Oh come on, Matt.” I yanked my hand through my hair again so hard this time I plucked out a few strands. “Don’t make me draw you a diagram. This is embarrassing enough.” So embarrassing that I kept my gaze locked on the blank TV screen in thecorner.
“Whoa.You mean you can’t have sex with a random person?Whoa. . . ” He repeatedwhoaa couple more times. “Now I get why Liam tried to get August to leave town.Whoa.”
“Yeah. Sucks.” For August more than me. I didn’t know what I wasmissing.
“I don’t get why August isn’t hauling ass out of Boulder. I mean, I do get it. His mom being sick and all, but after that . . . ” He rubbed his hands together. “After that, Ness, if he sticks around Boulder, he’s sticking around foryou.”
I folded my fingers together. Not in prayer. Just to do something with them. This conversation had me feeling restless. Not to mention uncomfortable. Tremendously uncomfortable. I was antsy for Matt toleave.
As though he sensed it, he stoodup.
“He’ll leave,” I said slowly. “There’s no reason for him to stay. I won’t act on the link. I don’t want to be with someone because of some chemical or magicalconnection.”
“Just because it’s magical doesn’t mean it’s notreal.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “That’s exactly what it means. Magic isn’t real,Matt.”
“We’re magical, and we’re real.” He gestured between us. “How do you explain that,huh?”
“What would you do if you suddenly had a mate, and that girl wasn’tAmanda?”
His features tensed. “You can’t compare us. Amanda and I, we’ve been together for a long time. As far as I can see, neither you nor August are attached, so there’s no real reason for staying away. Unless you’re holding out for Liam. In whichcase—”
“I’mnot.”
He observed me a long minute before strolling to the front door. “Life’s short, Ness.” He drummed his thick fingers against the wall. “Shorter for some than for others. Just make sure you get to the end of it with more satisfaction than regrets. And yeah, I know not everyone needs a relationship or love or sex to feel happy, but avoiding it on principle is a sucky reason to stay single.” He turned the knob and drew open the door. “And I know I’ve probably overstayed my welcome and doled out too much unwanted advice, but I know August. He’s like a brother to me too, and even though he’s quiet ’bout his feelings, he broke up with Sienna the minute you walked back into his life. And if I’m not mistaken, you guys weren’t linkedyet.”
“Their breakup had nothing to do withme.”
“If it makes you sleep better atnight.”
I wanted to tell him to butt out of my personallife.
“Remember when I caught you guys sexting after the firsttrial?”
I rolled my eyes. “We weren’tsexting.”
He side-eyed me. “If you say so, LittleWolf.”
“I do say so. I can show you our messages. There wasn’t anything remotely sexual about any ofthem.”
“You guys have aconnection.”
“Friends.We’re justfriends.”
“Uh-huh. Anyway, gotta hit the road. Wouldn’t wantmy bossto fireme.”
“Yeah. We wouldn’t want that,” I grumbled. I was feeling moody now because Matt had gotten under myskin.
