Page 34 of How to Lose a Pack in 10 Dates

I look at him for a long moment, and Cam smiles faintly, lids half-shut.

“He’s scared.”

I let out a long breath through my nose and nod.Scared.I guess I understand it. Even if I do wish he wouldn’t keep dragging that emotion into the room with us.

I sit there a little longer, letting the weight of the night settle over both of us. Cam’s breathing evens out again, his face soft in the glow of the hallway light. I stand, stretch, then lean over to ruffle his hair—just enough to make him grunt and swat lazily at my hand without opening his eyes.

“Night, buddy,” I murmur.

He hums something that might be'Night, Jace'or'Nineteenth century'. Hard to tell.

I grin to myself and ease the door shut behind me. And despite the drama with Wes, my mind keeps circling back—

To the way she laughed when I tried to flirt with a peach.

The way her fingers brushed mine like it wasn’t an accident.

The way she didn’t look scared when things got intense—she lookedcurious.

And the way it felt—for the first time in years—like I wasn’t chasing something. It was just…there. Waiting.

I collapse into bed and check my phone, my brows raising slightly when I realize that I have a message waiting for me.

From Aimee.

Got home in one piece.

Still thinking about the moist muffin line. Don’t let it go to your head.

I grin. Despite my insistence to drop her home, she’d declined, and it got to the point where even if I didn’t like it, I couldn’t do anything but respect her choice. She clearly didn’t want me going to her place yet, and even if I can’t make sense of why she’d spend hours with me on a date and fuck me on the back seat of my SUV but not want me to drop her home, all I could do was accept it.

My stipulation had been that she’d let me know she got home safe. It’s good to know she followed through.

Too late. My ego has reached critical mass. May never recover.

It doesn’t take long for her response to fire back.

Good. You’ll be easier to defeat that way.

I stare at the screen for a second, still grinning. She’s a little weird, I’ll admit it; but weird in a way that makes me want to hear everything that goes on in her head.

I tap out a reply, still half-laughing to myself.

Thanks for tonight. Really.

There’s a pause. Then:

Me too.

I put my phone down and let my head hit the pillow.

For the first time in a long time, things feel...good.

And I fall asleep before I can overthink it.

Chapter Ten

Cam

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