Page 14 of The Bleeding Hearts Club

Marry me.

“Theo, I will say this one time, and one time only. Not all of us have wild ass fucking super speed.” She deadpans.

My stomach drops to my ass.

What?

“What?” I laugh nervously. “Who said anything about super speed?”

Don’t be suspicious. Act natural, Theodore.

I lean on my hand against the wall by the elevator doors, but from the heat and the way she’s staring at me right now, they’re too slick and I nearly face plant into the wall.

Mina doesn’t even crack a smile.

“I did. Men, the whole lot of you, and your speedy asses getting ready. It’s hard you know, long hair to shampoo and condition and blow dry, makeup to put on, shaving, exfoliating, then it’s the spandex and bras and weird strappy underwear. It’s a fucking hassle, but oh no. Y’all just throw on a button down and some dark jeans, and bam, cover model worthy. It’s bullshit.” She huffs after her little rant.

I can’t really respond to most of what she said aside from the relief I have that she wasn’t talking about anything else. Which only makes me feel bad.

I’m lying to her. I’m always lying to a lot of people, but it hurts to know that it’s her, when she is an open book for me. Mina doesn’t deserve that.

She can’t keep secrets, unless she tries really hard, but how would she know to do that if I can’t tell her she needs to. I’ll tell her after. After I have no doubts that she will push me away just as a man. Maybe she can handle the news that I’m not, then.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, rubbing at the back of my neck. “I didn’t realize, Mina. I hope you can forgive me.”

She looks at me skeptically as the elevator dings, the doors sliding open. Without a word, she walks forward pressing the button to the tenth floor and stepping back for me to do the same. When I don’t move, she looks at me in confusion.

“You just gonna ride the elevator all day?” She laughs a little. It’s so cute. Even when she isn’t trying to laugh for real, it’s light and airy and full of this deep rooted sense of wonder and joy.

“No. I’m on the tenth floor, too.”

“Huh, what’re the odds,” She murmurs to herself, brows furrowed.

I smirk. “Like I said, probably about the same as everything else between us up to this point.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Mina waves me off, a slight smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

* * *

I don’t know what I did in this life, or a past life for Fate to be in my favor, but I got to say, I need to buy the dude a drink, or hit him with a car.

Should I be thankful to find my soulmate, or resentful that once she learns the truth she might not want anything to do with me? Can’t say I would blame her. Her little monster love stories are just that, stories. Could she handle the real thing? Wings, claws, teeth, and blood?

God, her blood. I can hear it rushing through her veins. Each increase in her heartbeat when she’s near me or I say something that makes her nervous. It smells like cherries and something slightly tangy. I wonder if it tastes like them too.

I shake my head and take a long drink from my piña colada. The room was currently mixing among themselves as we took a much needed break from the constant rushing and bazillion ice breaker questions. Now, I can understand why Mina was getting annoyed with all of mine earlier. It does get frustrating to constantly repeat the same old things a million times.

Like, “Hi, I’m Theo. Twenty-nine. A Cancer. Dreamworks movies are superior to Pixar and I hate garlic. What about you?”

I even sound stupid.

As I turn from the bar to go back to my table, someone bumps into my shoulder. Thankfully, this time I reach out to grasp their arm before they fall.

And what do you know? I’m looking directly into the same toffee colored eyes that spell out my demise and every desire.

“Well, hello to you too, Mina.”

“You know, if you would be more aware of the things around you, maybe I wouldn’t bump into you all the time,” she bosses.