Page 24 of Mated to Fenrir
"Fair enough."
"And because it's one of the perks of being with a guy," I said.
"I'll take your word for it."
"You must know. You said that one of your mates was a man."
"I did," he agreed. "But he would have been horrified if I'd even suggested wearing one of his shirts. He was smaller than me."
"Ah, yes. It was like that with my ex too. She was smaller than me. She did let me use her moisturiser though. It was good stuff, I still buy the same brand." I froze in place. "Is that weird?"
He shrugged. "Not really. Your past doesn't just disappear from your life because you've met someone new. I'm sure there are other things you do because your exes did them too."
"An ex bought me my coffee machine," I admitted. "And nothing anyone can say will make me give that up."
"Then I'd better taste the coffee." He got out of bed and searched for his boxers on the floor, pulling them on, but not seeming to be bothered by any other clothing.
I didn't mind. In fact, I liked it a lot, it meant that I was going to be able to enjoy the sight in front of me as much as I wanted to.
I gestured for him to follow me through to the kitchen, though he knew where it was. We hadn't spent much time here last night, but we had eaten our churros, the detritus of which was still strewn over the table. I scooped it up and threw it into the bin.
"What kind of coffee do you like?" I asked.
"If we're talking fancy coffee, I like vanilla lattes," Fenrir responded as he took a seat at the kitchen table. He looked at home there, and I could certainly get used to seeing him there. Though no doubt his home was going to be better than mine, and if we were going to move in together, then that was where we'd choose.
I froze.
"Delia?" he asked, leaning forward with genuine concern written on his face.
"I'm sorry, I was just surprised by the direction of my thoughts."
He raised an eyebrow. "Caused by coffee?"
"I was thinking about us moving in together," I half-whispered. "And it shocked me that I was thinking about that so soon."
"Ah. I think that's normal."
"I very much doubt it. Most of my friends waited months to even start talking about moving in with their boyfriends. It was certainly longer than three dates."
"Were any of them fated mates?" he asked.
"No." I selected a vanilla latte pod and slid it into the coffee machine. I was sure it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the coffee he could get from a coffee shop, but it was what I had, so it would have to do.
"Then that's the difference. I'm not saying that fated mates should be a shortcut, but I think it does play with our idea of commitment. The wolf thinks that it's found someone who is a perfect match, so that means things are more serious from the first date."
"I suppose." The coffee machine beeped, and I pulled the mug out from underneath, setting it down in front of him before returning to make my own coffee. "I just never wanted to be that person who disregarded logic just because my wolf told me to."
"You're hardly that," Fenrir assured me. "We've taken things slow."
"Have we?" I gestured to his shirt.
"We had sex on our third-ish date, and we didn't bite one another. I think that's a fairly normal speed."
"Third-ish?"
"I'm not sure the milkshakes count. We ran into one another at an event and then ditched it to go for food. Hardly an official date."
"Oh, true." I hadn't thought about it like that, but now he said it, I realised that he was right.
