“Well, what if one of you is perfect, and the other is a nightmare? Or mean? Or ugly?” Why was I saying it like I was looking for reassurance?Ididn’t have a fated mate who would love me for all my faults.
“I would want her anyway.”
I dropped my head onto the pillow, angling it away from his as the backs of my eyes burned.
“She’s lucky to have you, whoever she is.”
Rhett murmured something unintelligible. I muttered an equally useless response before we both fell asleep.
Rhett’sarmwassotight around my waist I could use it as a seatbelt. Light cut through the gray curtains on the far side of the room, hitting me at just the right angle to keep me from falling back asleep. I had no idea what time it was—the sunlight in Alaska was weird—but as long as the sun was up, I didn’t care.
I could feel the ring sitting heavy in the pocket of my bag. It was time to return it and close this chapter of my life.
Then I was going to go home and adopt a cat or something. Learn to knit. Anything but downloading another dating app. Or leaving the house where I might run into another man.
If shifters got to have fated mates, then surely humans had soul mates too. It was time to stop settling. I wouldn’t accept anyone buthim.
My perfect match.
Unbidden, my eyes wandered to Rhett’s sleeping face. Too bad it wasn’t him.
How could it be? Where I was disorganized, he did everything with military precision. He was quiet, and I couldn’t shut up. He was clean-cut, polite, and just about everything I wasn’t.
I stretched my arms over my head, hoping the movement would wake Rhett and shake him free. At midnight, in the comfort of darkness, it felt fine to let him hold me. Now, I felt immoral. Like I was taking something that belonged to someone else.
How did you ever date as a shifter, knowing you were being unfaithful to a fated mate you hadn’t met yet?
Rhett rolled onto his back, mumbling to himself. His eyes stayed shut, even as I awkwardly spider-crawled over him to make my escape.
I found the bathroom dark and empty. The pipes groaned as I cranked the hot water all the way up, and I winced. Hopefully, Rhett’s brothers were morning people.
By the time I got out, I was shivering again. Alaska was so freaking cold.
A part of me was tempted to spend half an hour styling my hair and putting on my best makeup. Remind Evan of what he walked away from.
Except he’d seen me at my best, and he still left. Besides, petty wasn’t my style.
I didn’t come here to start a fight or to get revenge. I just wanted closure.
With a sigh, I cracked open the bathroom door, escaping with the steam into the hallway. There were no lights on in the house. I paused on the cool wood floor, hearing nothing but the sound of the heater blowing.
Tiptoeing into the kitchen, I almost screamed when I saw a massive figure sitting in one of the dining room chairs, eyes momentarily flashing neon before they faded to an ordinary blue.
“Tyler,” I gasped. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry.” He kept staring at me, his hands curled around a mug of black coffee.
“There more of that anywhere?”
Tyler jerked his chin toward the coffeemaker by the sink. I shuffled over, dumping a generous scoop of sugar in a mug and stirring the black liquid.
“Cream is in the fridge.”
“How’d you know I take cream?”
“You’ve got a cream and sugar look to you.”
I pulled out the chair farthest from him. “Most people get that wrong about me. Maybe it’s the tattoos.”
