Page 35 of Tolerated By the Sigma (Mate Hunt 7)

His eyes darkened a bit. “Probably.”

Our gazes held, and shit, it was hot. Our bodies were pressed together, one of my hands above my head, the other wrapping around the back of his neck and digging into the skin there. He still had an iron grip on my hip, and his lips were only a breath from mine.

“You were going to tell me what was wrong.” He managed to de-steam the situation with just a handful of words, somehow.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I countered.

Nothing was reallywrong… it just wasn’tright.

Okay fine, maybe it was wrong.

“You’ve been weird since we got back. Tell me what’s going through that pretty little head of yours.”

“It’s stupid, okay?”

“It’s not stupid,” he growled back.

I huffed. “You say that now, but I know you’ll change your mind when you hear it.”

“You told me you weren’t a mouse, Charly. Spit it out or forever keep the nickname.”

I scowled at him. “Fine. I realized after we kissed that you have clearly been to that base before—and the only person your wolf would’ve let you kiss was Lisa. So, you’ve kissed Lisa. And you didn’t tell me, or suggest that there had ever been any kind of a relationship between you two. So my concern about being a participation ribbon has been confirmed, and now I don’t really think I can trust you. So yeah, it sucks. But I don’t know—”

He shushed me with a rough kiss to my lips, and both of his hands released me so he could grab my whole damn face.

The look in his eyes wasn’t anger, which I was fairly confident meant that I was right about what I thought had happened.

He explained roughly, “Lisa showed up at my parents’ door a few nights after everyone found out I was still alive. I lived with them for a few months, back then. She was crying, saying she regretted what had happened, and I was wrestling my wolf. She didn’t seem genuine, but I was weak, and I was on death’s doorstep more often than not. So when she grabbed me and kissed me, I didn’t pull away. My wolf broke through, though, and my teeth shifted enough that they cut her tongue and lip. She tore away, insulted me a handful of times, and then left. So yes, I kissed her. And I did want to tell you about it, but I didn’t know how to explain it without sounding like a total pussy.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “A pussy? Really? I have it under good authority that you like pussies.”

He snorted. “You’re a damned adorable little nerd, Mouse.”

“Uh, rude.” I feigned a glare, and he leaned forward and licked the wrinkle between my eyes, making me snort and push him away. “On a serious note, you know I’m going to need time to process this, right?” I gestured between us. “I understand that it never seemed like the right time for you to tell me about that, and that’s fine. But I still kind of feel like you lied to me. I’m not mad about the kiss, or even mad in general, but I just… I don’t know. I need time. I don’t process things quickly, or adapt all that well.”

Ryder dipped his head in a nod. “That’s fair.”

“There are a few students I want to talk to Del about, too, since I’m going to be missing work for a bit—are you okay with me meeting up with her and going out to grab some dinner?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Are you asking me for permission?”

I grinned. “You wish. I’m asking if your wolf will take over and try to kill anyone if I ditch you for a few hours, Ry.”

His hand found my hip again. “Thank you for thinking about me, but I’ll be fine.”

I nodded. “Good. Let’s do the dishes together, and you can tell me if there are any other things I should’ve already been told about?”

He grimaced as I stepped away, leading him into the kitchen. “Guess that was a fair blow.”

“Oh, it definitely was,” I agreed.

But I flashed him a small grin, and his expression softened enough that I knew I hadn’t really offended him.

I textedDel while we did the dishes, and she replied that she was definitely up for a bit of work-talk and a short girls’ night, so I tugged a brush through my hair before taking off. Ryder stood in the doorway and watched me until my car was completely out of sight, and I felt something between excited and nervous about that.

He was… not who I would’ve expected to be with.

But at the same time, as far as I’d seen, he might just be perfect for me.

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