“Too long.” I sigh and nestle into his chest, loving the way his arms feel around my back and the way he feels wrapped up in mine.
“We can call regularly. I’ll be better at texting, I promise.”
I glance up at him, deathly serious. “You better be.”
“I was also thinking…” Jasper leans away a little so we can see each other’s faces again. “Have you heard of mind-linking?”
“Yeah, sort of. It’s like when wolves can talk with their minds.”
“It’s extremely rare. It requires an intense connection. Some alphas have been able to do it in the past to communicate with their soldiers. But mostly it’s only mates who can manage to mind-link with one another.”
“You think we could…?”
“If we could then we wouldn’t need to worry about phones, or school, or distance. We could talk anytime we wanted.”
“I guess you are the alpha’s son and you do your meditation thing all the time.”
“Right, and you’re the blood wolf. You already have a mental link to other wolves.”
“So if anyone can figure out how to freaking mind-link it should be us.”
He grins. “You read my mind.”
I can’t even with how stupidly handsome he looks right now.
“What do you think? Does that sound okay?” he asks. “Shall we try it?”
“Sounds perfect.”
We kiss under the moon once more, until it’s finally time to say goodbye.
I wake on Sunday morning wiped after what turned out to be a pretty major first date and also a little depressed. Jasper is heading back to Cambridge in a few days and I have the latter half of junior year to worry about.
I check my phone to find a good-morning text from Jasper—he meant it when he said he’d be better at texting—and a string of texts from Katie.
Max! I’m sorry I’ve been awol.
I really want to talk
How have you been since New Year’s?
I’m sorry
Maybe I should be more angry about how she acted at the party, but part of me is still scared that she meant what she said—Maybe we’re drifting apart.Now that things with Jasper are in a good place, and especially with him heading back to college, I want to make sure that Katie and I don’t drift too far. I dial her number.
“Thanks for coming to meet me,” Katie says.
Above us the Brooklyn Bridge is a solid mass, blocking out the sun. We wander a little farther in the direction of Jane’s Carousel, tubs of ice cream in hand, looking for a spot in the park to sit. The weather is still decidedly wintry, but warm enough where the light hits.
“Of course, I wanted to see you.”
Katie glances sideways in my direction, a look of worry etched on her brow, but also a questioning tilt to her head. Does she think I’m lying?
“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t,” she says with a sigh, her breath puffing in front of her face in a little cloud.
I stop walking. “Katie, I always want to see you.”
She sniffs. “I know, I suppose lately it’s just started to feel like maybe that’s not the case.”
