“Well, it’s true.”
“But,” I pause, unsure what to say.
“Come on.”
“What are we doing?” I ask warily.
“I’m going to show you that you have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not sure if this is a good idea,” I mutter, but I follow her anyway. When we get to the living room, the guys are still going strong. When I get past the brutality of it, I notice there’s a sort of rhythm to it, almost like a choreographed dance. I watch Slater. Every hit he makes is intentional, smooth, and fast. He’s faster than Quint; I can tell that much. But Quint still manages to hold his own. Zane and Slater seem pretty evenly matched, but Slater seems to have just the slightest advantage over Zane. Of course, that could be my bias talking. I continue to watch, mesmerized by Slater’s strength and agility. And then, he takes Quint down hard. And then, he moves on to Zane. It’s much harder, but he gets Zane down. Only once both guys are down and groaning on the floor—or mostly it’s just Quint that groans—does Slater turn to me. I raise my eyebrows. “Feel better?”
He shrugs, and I stare up at him. There’s so much I want to say, but I don’t know where to start. His phone buzzes, stealing his attention. The moment his eyes are off me, I feel the loss of it immensely. One glance at his screen has him cursing low under his breath, and I feel my face fall. I put on a brave face. “You need to go, don’t you?”
He stares down at me. “If you want me to stay, I would.”
My heart hiccups in my chest. “Slater—”
“I’m serious.”
I take a breath. “I know you are, but you can’t. You made a commitment to these guys, to your coach, to your fans.”
“I don’t care about any of—”
I continue on, cutting him off. “I won’t let you do that, Slater Thorne.” I smile up at him. “We’re going to figure this thing out, but for right now, you have to focus. After Monday, all thiswill be behind us.” He steps closer, and I can almost feel the darkness coming off him. I wish so desperately I could just hug him, but I can’t. “Go,” I tell him before I give in to the intense desire to ask him to stay. I can’t. No, I won’t do that to him. I glance around the room and realize it’s just the two of us.
He must notice as well. “You accepted the bond?”
I nod. “I did.”
He stares down at me, his eyes flashing back and forth between his regular eyes and his glowing ones. “And you know what that means?”
“I do, Slater. I accept you; I accept what’s going on between us. I know it’s fast, but I know what I want.” I shrug. “And I want you, Slater Thorne; and that’s never going to change. My mom told me once that she knew with my stepdad after only a few weeks.” I grin up at him. “Apparently, it runs in the family.” I pause and then say what I want to say. “Slater, do you want to complete the bond with me?” He goes unnaturally still, and I rush on. “Zane agreed that maybe if we were able to complete the bond, you know—bite me—maybe the bracelet’s power would be gone.”
“You talked to Zane about our bonding?”
I blink. “Should I not have?”
“It just surprised me.” His voice is low.
I study his face. I haven’t spent the last few weeks with Slater not to know his tells by now. The locked jaw is a definite sign. “He was here, and I wanted to know.”
His face loses some of that darkness. “You really want to bond with me?”
I don’t look away from that assessing gaze that feels like it penetrates my soul. “Yes. Very much. I’ve already told you that,” I remind him.
“Why?”
I’m glad Evie already unknowingly prepared me for this. I stare up at the guy who’s captured my heart and decide to keep it simple. “I trust you, Slater.” He continues to stare at me and then he lifts an eyebrow. “What?” I ask.
“I guess I thought there was going to be more to it than that.”
I cross my arms across my chest. “Well, do you want to bond with me?”
I don’t even get the words all the way out before he answers. “Yes.”
“For any other reason than that I’m just your mate?”
He steps as close as he can without touching me. “Tess.” There’s so much in just the way he says my name, that butterflies erupt in my stomach. “I want to bond with you because I love you. But I’ve already told you that. I want to bond with you because I want you close to me all the time. You make my life better just by being in it. I—” His phone buzzes, and he growls low in his chest.
