Page 26 of Ridge

“I had a lot of fun getting to know you, too. You two make a very sweet couple. I can only hope to find what you have together,” she said.

Kael grimaced. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, and Poppy didn’t notice, but Ridge did.

What was going through Kael’s mind? What did he want?

At the meeting a few days ago, he’d said that he knew Ridge would give him anything he wanted, and he hadn’t been wrong. Ridge would try to fix this if he knew what to fix, but until his mate talked to him, it would be nearly impossible. He couldn’t read Kael’s mind, no matter how much he wanted to. Kael was going to have to use his words, but it didn’t look like he would.

They had time. Once they left town, they’d have to drive for a while. They would be stuck in the car together, with nowhere to go. Ridge didn’t like the thought of taking advantage of that, but he didn’t want this awkwardness to continue. That wasn’t how things should be between mates. Relationships could be complicated, of course, but he’d thought they were making progress. He’d hoped that him telling Kael he was his mate would help them finally take some steps forward, and it had.

It just hadn’t been enough. Kael was back to avoiding Ridge, and Ridge couldn’t have that.

Ridge was thankful that he didn’t have to keep obsessing over it forever. Once they were done with breakfast, they went back to the bedroom to grab their bags. They didn’t have a lot, but Ridge still double-checked every corner of the bedroom and the bathroom. He even checked the living room since they’d spent a few evenings there, talking to Poppy and relaxing.

There was nothing left behind. There were no signs of their presence here, which was as it should be.

Poppy walked them to the car. She didn’t have to take them all the way to the shield, but she seemed reluctant to let them go. Ridge understood why. They’d offered her a glimpse of the freedom she’d never had and that she desperately wanted, and he hoped she could find it. She deserved to live her life the way she wished, not the way centuries of demon traditions and rules dictated.

“Are you going straight home?” she asked.

“We’re stopping at another demon town on our way there,” Ridge explained.

“That’s good. More people need to hear about what’s out there. Watching it on TV isn’t enough. It doesn’t tell us everything we’re missing out on.”

“It’s a little bit cruel, isn’t it?” Kael said. “Because we don’t know if you’re ever going to be allowed to leave. We’re showing you what you could have, but what if you never get it?”

Poppy shook her head. “We already know what we’re missing. We can see it in the movies and TV shows we watch. We have dreams. Having you here showed the people who were hesitant that it’s a good thing to open up to others. Like you said several times, they don’t have to allow humans or shifters to move into the villages and towns. They don’t even have to make them visible to anyone. They just have to stop keeping us prisoners in them. The world in our villages and out there has changed, and it’s only right that we do, too.”

“I hope you get what you want,” Ridge told her.

“I’m sure I will, eventually. In the meantime, I’ll think about how happy the two of you are together and how jealous I am.” She laughed. “I hope you have a good life.”

“We will.”

Ridge actually believed that. Things were a little shaky right now, and it was entirely his fault. He was going to have to find a way to fix it, and he was planning on doing just that.

He wasn’t letting go of Kael—unless that was what Kael wanted. If Kael wanted to separate, Ridge wouldn’t stop him. Instead, he’d try to woo his mate, something he probably should’ve done from the beginning.

He’d heard Kael talk about the bond and what he’d hoped for when he left Starhaven. He might not have known they were mates back then, but he’d known there was something there, and he’d wanted there to be. He might not have said the words, but Ridge was sure that Kael wanted them to be together. If he had to guess, Kael had pulled back again because he was afraid of how Ridge was feeling.

He probably wasn’t afraid that Ridge was angry or that he would take it out on him, but he knew Ridge had been hurt. That was true. Ridge had been hurt by the rejection, but he should’ve known better. In fact, he had known better.

He knew that Kael was hesitant and didn’t know what he was doing when it came to relationships. Even more than that, Kael didn’t feel like he belonged in the town where they lived. He’d mentioned several times that he hated people watching him all the time, making him feel like he didn’t belong.

That was a lot to deal with. It might be too much to deal with, and Ridge didn’t want to add to Kael’s burden. That hadn’t been his intention when he’d asked Kael if he wanted to bond last night.

They climbed into the car. Ridge wanted to start talking right away, but he wanted to give Kael a little time to relax first, so he waited. They left the town, waving back at Poppy, without any trouble. They found the road, and Ridge started driving.

He opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn’t quite sure where to start, but Kael beat him to it. “Can we stop there? I want something to drink.”

Ridge glanced at where his mate was pointing. There was a diner up ahead, with two people exiting as they approached. “Are you hungry?”

“And thirsty. That’s okay, right?”

“Of course it’s okay.” Maybe they could talk over coffee and pie. That would surely help Kael relax.

Ridge waited for Kael in front of the car once he got out. Kael quickly joined him, and together, they walked toward the diner. The door opened as they reached it, and they stepped aside to let a father and child pass on their way out. The father looked up at Ridge with a smile on his face, but that smile froze as soon as he saw Kael. He ushered the child away, glancing back as if he was afraid.

Ridge opened his mouth to say something, though he didn’t know what. Before he could, Kael was already inside the diner, clearly having dismissed what had just happened. Ridge wasn’t sure how he could do that. It had to have hurt him, but he didn’t say anything. He just made his way toward the closest waitress, smiling at her even as she visibly stiffened at the sight of him.