I nearly tell him that one day might not come like this epic road trip Simon and I spent years talking about doing, but never did. That he might miss his chance to do something he’s dreamed of since he was a kid but is so terrified he’ll fail that he doesn’t want to risk doing it at all.
Time or death or some other cruel fate might come along and snatch away the opportunity to do the thing you love.
Don’t wait. That’s what I want to tell him, but I don’t because I’d be a hypocrite. I’m in my son's room, hiding from my scent match and the feelings I’m too afraid I’ll act on.
Chapter 8
Win
The house is quiet as I step through the front door and shut it behind me, yawning loudly from being on my feet in a hot kitchen for the last seven hours.
I shrug out of my coat, hang it in the coat closet, and turn around.
Murph is two inches in front of my face.
“Fuck!” I stumble back, wincing and rubbing my sore head when I collide with the rail.
“I need your help, Win,” he says in a low voice, not looking away as he grips my wrist, pulls me out of the closet, and shuts the door behind me.
His expression is intense. He hasn’t so much as blinked, and even though he’s my friend and I know he won’t hurt me, this strange behavior is, quite frankly, fucking terrifying.
“You scared the shit out of me.” I give my racing heart a second to recover. “What’s wrong?”
“How do you make people like you?”
I blink. “What?”
He casts an anxious glance up the stairs. “Peoplelikeyou. Even with your bad singing and your excessive talking, they still likeyou. How do you get people to like you?”
I’m used to Murph’s bluntness, so his unvarnished honesty is easy to shrug off. I cock my head, guessing this must involve Rose. That frantic glance up the stairs, as if terrified she’ll overhear this conversation, all but confirmed it. “Did something happen while I was at work?”
With a frustrated growl, Murph rakes a hand through his hair and stalks toward the kitchen.
I step out of my shoes and leave them by the front door, then follow.
“I told her I wanted to snuggle or fuck her raw. Then I asked about her dead alpha.” He swings around the second I walk into the kitchen and pins me with a fierce stare that stops me in my tracks. “She hasn’t spoken to me since. Lunch was… Let’s just say that if Ben hadn’t kept talking, it would have been so awkward that she’d have left me on the spot. I need a crash course, very concise and to the point, on how to make my mate love me.” He takes a seat at the dining table and looks expectantly up at me. “You can start now.”
I stare at my roommate with no idea what to say. It’s a new experience. I’m still formulating a response when the front door slams and Joel calls out. “Hey!”
There’s a thump, probably him setting his bag in the coat closet, and he walks into the kitchen in his navy combats, fire t-shirt, and combat boots.
“You’re back,” he says, with a surprised grin at Murph, sitting at the kitchen table. “I thought you weren’t coming back from Wyoming until tomorrow night?”
I point at Murph. “He wants me to teach him how to be likable.”
Joel wrinkles his nose on his way to the refrigerator. “He doesn’t like people other than work people and us.”
“Rose moved in,” I explain.
“She did?” Joel pulls his head from the refrigerator to reveal a grin. “That’s great.” He shuts the door, abandoning his usual after-work snack before hitting our home gym in the basement, and walks toward the doorway. “Is she upstairs with Ben? Which room?”
“She’s his scent match,” I say.
He slams to a stop halfway across the room and eyes me, then Murph warily. “What did you say?” he asks hesitantly.
“She took one look at me and ran away.” Murph scowls. “Then she threw up. Repeatedly. Some of it could be because of the morning sickness, but it could also be because having a scent match disgusts her. I know she isn’t ready for a relationship, but I don’t know how to talk to people outside of work and to you.”
“To be fair, you talk a lot about work at home as well,” I remind him.
