Page 41 of Ronen
“It was nothing,” I waved my hand, as if that was going to make it all disappear. “It had to have been something else. How could we not have touched before now and known? You’ve been bothering me at the library for over a year.”
“Because you slide my books over to me, just like you slid my card across your counter the first day. Glaring green icicle daggers at me the entire time, but never touching me. You made a concentrated effort not to touch me.”
I gave a one shouldered shrug, my mind racing, scenes of our previous interactions playing like a movie in my mind. Mason was correct; we had never touched. “Maybe I didn’t want your cooties.”
Another derisive snort from him. “I think you were scared. I think you were scared of your feelings for me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not scared of anything,” I declared haughtily, sticking my chest out just a smidge.
My honey badger bristled just beneath my skin, wanting to come out and show exactly what a little, ferocious badass he was.
“Everyone is scared of something.”
“Not me. Nothing. What are you scared of?”
“Spiders,” Mason said, his body giving a little shiver, making a disgusted face.
“Spiders?” I repeated, incredulously. “But they’re so cute.”
“They have sooo many legs. Like who needs that many legs? No one. The laundry used to be in the basement, until a big black, hairy, beady eyed spider came charging out from under the washer one day. Now the basement is his, and I have a brand new washer and dryer in my mud room. It was worth the cost to never have to go down there again. He’s probably moved all his friends in by now.”
Blinking at him, I firmly stated, “You are ridiculous.”
Silence fell over us again, neither of us making eye contact. Mason stared at his shorts, picking at the slightly frayed leg hem, and I stared at his fingers tugging at the material.
I one hundred percent wasn’t staring at his thighs. Or dripping slick like a faucet with a slow leak. Or feeling like I was on fire.
Matty’s words haunted me from earlier.Mini-heat. You can fight it but it won’t do any good.
Was that what was happening? Was being this close to Mason pushing me into a heat? Or mini-heat? Would we not be able to fight being fated? Should we just give in to whatever we were feeling?
Hesitantly, I finally quietly asked, “Sooo…how do you want to handle this…thing?”
His head shot up, and he glared at me, his amber eyes full of fire. Was he as affected by me as I was of him? He had admitted he was attracted to me. Attraction was one thing. Fated mates something much bigger. “Thing? I don’t think we should call the fact that we are fated athing. It’s kinda a big, important thing, don’t you think?”
Throwing my hands up in annoyance, I sniped, “This is why we’ve never had a conversation. You’re fucking annoying.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“See, right there. That is exactly why this will never work between us. We need to take the out clause, walk away, and forget this ever happened. I don’t care what my brother, and all his dumb fucking research, says. He’s wrong, Fate is wrong. All of this is just wrong.”
Mason narrowed his eyes at me. “Is that what you really want? You aren’t even going to give this thing between us a try?”
“What thing?” I insisted. “There is nothing between us.”
“Liar.” His eyes were gleaming now, nearly feral, with a touch of amusement and something more.
Letting out a little shriek of anger and frustration, I hissed, “I detest every single thing about you. From your stupid red hair-“
“It’s auburn,” he corrected.
“It’s red.”
He smirked at me. Smirked! I did the smirking around here, not him! “And your stupid smile. No one needs to smile that much. It’s off putting.”
“A smile never hurt anyone,” he remarked, his voice sickly sweet. “You should try it, or are you afraid your face will crack?”
Pointing at his legs, I tried to trap down my rage. “Those too tight jeans that you only wear to show off your stupid thick, muscular thighs–”
