He tosses the pillow down and sits on the hardwood floor, blanket bunched under his arm. “I manage just fine.”
The harsh bite in his words hits me like a physical shove. Now that we’re away from my family, the man who charmed my coven is gone. Gunnar’s back to being his distant, grumpy self. We’re back to being… nothing to each other.
Which is… fine. Just fine. Expected, even. Gunnar’s sticking to our arrangement. Good for him! The only question is, what the hell am I doing?
Gunnar turns away, shoulders stiff. “I… I only meant—”
“No, I get it.” Turning away, I peel off everything but my underwear. “It’s not my business anyway. My bad!” I force alaugh, hoping I sound less hurt than I feel. Damn it. I’m such a moron. What am I doing worrying about him?
Freya, help me.I kick back the covers and pull them up to my ears.
“Arlo—”
“Good night, sleep tight!” I flick off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
The blankets on the floor rustle, the boards creaking softly when Gunnar lies down with a low sigh.
I screw my eyes shut. Truth is, I’ve had it bad for this man from the moment we first met. I can’t say what drew me to him. Maybe it was the way his grumpy expression softened into a smile when I teased him. How he caught me in his arms when I fell, holding me to his hard, warm chest. When he’d growled a single word that turned my world on its head.
“Mate.”
Only to break my heart seconds later when he rejected me.
I won’t be foolish enough to give him the chance to do it again.
Chapter 7
Gunnar
A knock on thedoor jolts me from sleep.
“Arlo, Gunnar? Are you awake? I made you breakfast!” Arlo’s mother calls.
“Shit,” Arlo hisses. “Don’t make a sound.”
Something snuffles to my left. The closet door opens, and out walks a female boar, stretching her forelegs. “What in the—” I snarl, leaping to my feet. I spring into Arlo’s bed and cover him with my body.
“Gunnar, what the bloody fuck!”
“Don’t move! There’s a boar!”
The females may not have tusks, but I’ve seen grown men get bowled off their feet during hunts when the beasts charge.
A feminine voice says, “What boar? Where?”
Did the boar just… speak?
“Boys, is everything all right in there?” Arlo’s mother rattles the doorknob.
“Arlo, what is—” Arlo slaps a hand over my mouth.
“One, ignore her, she’s an attention seeker. Two, you need to spoon me. Now.”
I am so confused right now.
“A… a spoon?”
“Fine, I’ll be the big spoon!” With a groan, Arlo suddenly rolls us onto our sides so he’s curled up behind me, arms around my waist. The warmth of his body seeps into my back like a ray of sunlight. “Come in!” he calls, breath tickling the shell of my ear.
