Chapter 13

Denny

Something had changed between me and Lauren that day. It felt a hell of a lot deeper than the bond. In a way it scared me because if she really decided to return to New York in a few days, then I knew I was going to pack up everything I own and follow her home.

We ended up going back to the house and ordering Chinese delivery instead. It seemed safer than pizza, though I learned New York also has amazing Chinese food and ours didn't quite live up to her expectations. I discovered that my mate basically lived on Chinese takeout, pizza, hotdogs from a street vendor, and frozen chicken nuggets with boxed mac and cheese, unless her restaurant or bar was giving her leftovers to take home, then she never turned down whatever was offered.

The atmosphere was light as Remy walked in and immediately tried to help himself to our dinner. Sure, I'd gone overboard and ordered far too much when Lauren wouldn't tell me exactly what she wanted, but that didn't mean it was a free-for-all.

“Step away from our food,” I told him.

“No way you ordered all of this for just the two of you.”

“Actually, I did.”

“Come on, Denny. I'm starving.”

“Then go find your own food.”

“Can I call leftovers when you're done?”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

“That was a yes, right Lauren?”

She shrugged. “I'm already full.”

He eyed me hopefully.

“Are you sure? You only had one plate.”

She snorted. “I'm not shy about food, especially when so plentiful, but there's no way I'm eating that much either.”

“But you're actually full?”

“Yes,” she said, laughing at me. “I'm not just saying that to be nice because he's begging like a damn dog.”

Remy grinned. “I ain't too proud to beg. I'm hungry.”

I polished off the last of my plate and quickly washed up our dishes while making him stand there and watch. When Lauren got up to help, I shooed her away.

“I can do those for you. I'm sure you two would much rather have some alone time,” he offered just as Caleb walked in with Braxton right behind him.

“Who wants alone time?”

“Denny and Lauren.”

“Yeah, fine. Just clean up after yourselves.”

“We always do, El Presidente,” Remy said sarcastically.

I took Lauren's hand and led her out of the room.

“You heard the man, get to cleaning their dishes. He left enough for all of us if you guys are hungry.”

“Starving,” Braxton confessed.

“I'm on it.”

Caleb seemed to actually enjoy cleaning and made sure the others towed the line and kept our frat house uncharacteristically clean. I remembered the early days of my time here and the filth the house had been in. I much preferred this and hoped that we were instilling better habits for future generations. It was all part of my legacy, or at least what I envisioned it would be.

Several of the guys had taken up residency in the living room. Kevin and Joseph were on the Xbox playing the newest game created by our former brother Jackson Holt. I wasn't really into gaming, but I kept up with the latest and greatest to support him. Lately all the hottest games were coming out from Holt Gaming.

“Do you game?” I asked Lauren.

“No, never.”

I had suspected as much, but sometimes people surprised you. Closet gamers were a very real thing. And around here they seemed to come out of woodwork because we always got the newest games before they even released, thanks to Jackson.

“I'm not really either.”

Wanting more time alone with her, I took her back to my room. As President of Delta Omega Gamma, Archibald Reynolds Chapter, I was gifted a dampener in my room. It was a device that guaranteed absolute privacy when in there. I didn't tell Lauren that though because I didn't want to freak her out.

I let her sit on my bed while I kept my distance from my desk chair. While I expected it to be a little weird after our sexual incident in her hotel room, our time in the woods really did change things between us. Lauren looked perfectly content surrounded by my scent, which made my wolf and I ridiculously happy.

Silence dragged on between us, but there was nothing uncomfortable about it.

She yawned. “I should probably check on Kylie and head back to the hotel.”

“Or, you could just stay here,” I blurted out.

I gulped hard as she laid down like she was testing the bed before sitting up with a frown.

“I should probably talk to Kylie and explain things before word gets back to her. She's already hung out here and knows people that could talk. I don't want to blindside her like that.”

I wanted to ask what she was going to tell her. We hadn't talked about our future. Did we even have one? I suddenly needed to know, but I also couldn’t seem to form the words to ask. A part of me feared the answer.

“I understand,” I said instead.

“She said she was staying with Autumn again, but maybe she'll decide to come and stay with me tonight instead.”

I looked at the time and shook my head. “If she was going to do that, you would have heard from her by now.”

Frowning, Lauren reached for her phone.

“Oh no. It's dead. What if Kylie did call? What if she's out there looking for me? Or stranded all alone somewhere?”

I was across the room in the blink of an eye pulling her into my arms and allowing my touch to calm her. It made me feel a little high and happier than I knew possible to do such a simple thing for her.

Taking the phone from her hands, I checked to see what type it was and then reached over on my nightstand to get the right charger.

“Just relax. It'll be back up soon.”

“I can't believe I let that happen. She knows I'm always accessible, no matter what. What if she tried to call?”

“Babe, I'm sure she's fine. It's time to let go a bit.”

I knew I'd said the wrong thing the second the words were out of my mouth.

“You have no idea what you're talking about or what we've been through.”

We both knew that wasn't true. I was pretty certain she'd shared more with me about their past than she ever had anyone else.

When she scrambled to get off my bed, I gave her the space I thought she needed. Or at least I tried to. My feet were moving of their own accord as I followed her out of the room and down the hall towards the raucous sounds of fraternity life.

She was trying to get away from me in her moment of freaking out. I knew it, but that still didn't stop me from following.

At the door to the living room, she came to an abrupt halt.

“Kylie?”

My mate's face flushed and then went pale.

“ What's going on? ” I saw her sister sign when I rounded the corner.

I wanted to reach out to my mate. I sensed she was freaking out, but she looked so fragile in that moment that I feared she might break if I tried.

“ Lauren, what's going on? Why are you here? ” she asked again, but this time her arms flailed in bigger gestures.

“ K-Y-L-I-E, maybe you should go back to the hotel tonight. I think you guys have some stuff to discuss. ”

I didn't think Lauren would handle me interfering well, but I couldn't help myself. No one had ever really stood up for her or taken care of her needs. As her mate, that was my duty and honor now, whether she liked it or not.

“ What happened? What did you do to my sister? ” Kylie demanded.

“ Just go. Please. ” I was ready to beg her, even though the last thing I wanted was for Lauren to leave. “ You can use my room if you'd like. ”

“ Where? ” she asked.

I knew what she was asking and quickly explained which room was mine. She grabbed my still frozen mate by the arm and practically dragged her down the hall. It felt a lot like she'd just ripped a piece of my heart right out of my chest and taken it with her.

It wasn't until the girls were gone that I realized the room was quiet and everyone was staring at me.

“Uh, what just happened?” Troy asked.

All the freshman from my group were there hanging out with the brothers.

I hadn't spoken a word aloud, only using sign language to communicate. That had been on purpose for privacy.

Letting out a jagged breath, I walked over and flopped down on the couch.

“I take it things aren't going so well after all?” Remy asked.

I shrugged. “I have no idea,” I confessed.

“Are you seriously trying to hook up with Kylie's sister?” Oscar demanded. “Because that’s what it seemed like.”

“They're true mates, dude. Relax,” Braxton said as if that was suddenly public knowledge now.

I glared at him.

“What? It's not like you've tried to hide the fact.”

“Does Kylie know?” Oscar asked.

“Judging by the look of things, I'd say no, but she's about to find out,” Remy said.

A growl escaped me.

“Don't growl at me. It's not my fault.”

I knew he was right, yet I still couldn’t quite figure out just where I'd gone wrong. I had never in my life wished to be anything other than a wolf shifter, but just then, I would have killed to be a fly on that wall.

I wanted, no, desperately needed, to know what they were talking about.

Forget the fact they were communicating via sign language and not actually speaking, I'd just sent them to my room where the dampener was in full effect. I really was an idiot sometimes.