Chapter 27

27

T he truck swerved on the road for the fifth time in as many miles. Remy’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and he tried to keep his attention on the road.

“Should I be worried you’re gonna get us killed?” I teased, looking over at him.

He smiled ruefully, shaking his head. “Sorry.”

I tried not to smirk as his gaze drifted to me again, his gaze lingering on the exposed skin of my thighs for a second.

The truck jerked again, and I laughed, tipping my head back.

With a low growl, his fingers flexed around the wheel, his knuckles turning white against the black leather. “You’re not making this easy.”

“Sorry?” I parroted back his apology.

I wasn’t sorry at all.

It had been thrilling to have his eyes on me since I met him in front of the girls’ dorm, knowing full well that all four of my friends were crowded around a window watching us.

He held my hand as we walked to the SUV in the parking lot, and I barely even noticed the stares we got as we walked across campus. I was too busy focusing on the way his rough hand felt curved around mine, the strength of his fingers as they flexed gently, reassuringly, around my hand.

I walked closely beside him, my shoulder pressed against his arm, stealing some of the heat his body radiated in the late fall night. Inhaling deeply, I was completely surrounded by his scent. I ridiculously missed him for the three seconds it took for him to close my car door and walk around to the driver’s side.

Less than twenty-four hours into this bond, and I was falling hard and fast.

I smiled ruefully to myself, thinking of all the books I read where I complained about the couple falling into an all-consuming love super fast. Insta-love , I found the internet mockingly called it. Because how was it logical or rational to fall completely in love with someone in the span of a day or a week?

But there were no bonded mates in those stories. No magical shifter fate intervening to determine the course of the couple’s lives.

And definitely no Remy Holt in those books.

“What’s so funny?” Remy asked curiously, turning onto the road that took us into town.

I looked over at him, letting my head relax against the leather headrest. “I was thinking about how if this was a book, we would get horrible reviews.”

His gaze swung to me for a second, surprise in his eyes, before going back to the road. “Oh, really?”

Giggling, I crossed my legs. “We barely know each other. The bond happened less than a day ago. And yet...”

“And yet?” he prompted, a smile playing on his full lips.

I blushed. “It just seems like this is happening really fast.”

“This?” he teased, pushing for me to admit to more. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. Care to explain?”

I swung out to slap his shoulder, but he caught my hand in one of his. He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of my hand.

Yeah, I was definitely swooning a little bit at that point.

“We can slow down, you know,” he said after a second, our hands still connected but resting on the console between us. “There’s no pressure at all. This is whatever we want it to be.”

“It’s not that,” I admitted honestly. “It’s more like... I guess I feel like I should want things to go slower. For us to take it easy. But the truth is, it all feels right. I feel like I’ve known you forever. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah,” he replied softly, turning down the main street of town. “I know exactly what you mean. I know, rationally, that a good part of it is because of the bond, but honestly I liked you before that happened.”

“You did?” The note of hope in my voice caught me by surprise.

“Why do you think I asked you to dance?”

“Because you’re a nice guy?” I said weakly, my brain short-circuiting.

He gave me a weird look. “I asked you because I liked you.”

“Seriously?”

He smiled as he pulled into a parking spot in front of the diner, putting the car in park and turning to look at me fully. “Yes, Skye. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Because you’re you,” I spluttered stupidly. “And I’m me.”

His eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

I exhaled a long breath, fighting the urge to lower my eyes from his pressing gaze. “Remy, my whole life I was raised to believe that I was worthless. That there was only... one thing I was good for.” I swallowed hard, noting the way his hand tightened around mine and his jaw clenched. “It’s going to take more than two weeks being here to make me feel like I can breathe. My heart is telling me all of this is real. You and I are real. My head is having a hard time catching up.”

His eyes lowered for a second, dark lashes fanning across his tan cheeks before lifting and piercing me with a serious gaze. “This is real, Skye. I’m not going anywhere. I know this is fast, and I know on paper it looks completely crazy.”

I chuckled softly, nodding.

“But it doesn’t change the way I feel when I’m with you,” he went on. “I’ve been raised to be a leader. To be strong and think of the pack first and above all else. When I’m with you... It’s like everything is clearer. You ground me, and not just because of the bond. I liked being with you before last night happened. You make me laugh. Watching you experience things for the first time is absolutely amazing.”

“Amazingly pathetic,” I deadpanned, wincing as I remembered walking into the grocery store and all of my other firsts I’d had since leaving my old pack.

“Not at all,” he corrected, shaking his head. “You see things that I take for granted. I could watch you looking at the mountains every day and never get tired of it. You get this intense look, like you’re memorizing the image in front of you.”

“They’re incredible,” I admitted. “The power of the mountains, the freshness of the air here.” I took a deep breath, letting my lungs fill and stretch.

“This is exactly what I mean,” he said after a second of silence. “The best part is you don’t even know you’re doing it. It’s completely innocent and pure, Skye.”

Innocent and pure.

Two words I never thought would describe me.

We stayed silent for a few minutes as the sun finished setting, darkness settling around us. It was nice not to feel the need to fill the silence. With Remy, I could just be.

I cleared my throat after a minute. “So, I don’t think I’m all that impressed.”

Blinking, Remy started to laugh. “I’m sorry?”

“I mean, I always thought there was more to dating than sitting in a car quietly,” I said seriously, biting my lower lip to keep from smiling.

“Oh, you want more, huh?”

My grin turned wolfish. “I do believe you promised there would be a lot of more in the future.”

His eyes went molten as his gaze heated. “More is absolutely on the agenda. But that happens after we eat.”

“ N o more,” I begged, pushing my plate away with a groan.

Remy reached for my plate, grabbing my fries. He had been picking at them for the last few minutes since finishing his own burger and fries.

I eyed the vanilla milkshake with sad eyes. “I can’t finish it.”

Remy laughed, popping another fry into his mouth. “Are you going to make it?”

I considered laying on the vinyl bench seat, letting my forehead rest against the sticky material until all the food in my stomach dispersed to wherever the hell my metabolism moved it to.

“I need a nap,” I griped. “I’m so full. I should know better.”

He snorted and took a drink of his cookies and cream milkshake. “I didn’t peg you for a ‘watch what you eat’ kind of girl.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I said up straighter in mock outrage.

He grinned at me. “You’re gorgeous.”

Heat flooded my cheeks.

“But I’ve never seen you shy away from food at school,” he went on.

I toyed with the straw in my milkshake. Over the course of the meal, Remy had shared memories of his childhood. Stories of his parents and growing up with Katy, and his younger siblings. I had never met his younger brothers, but they sounded hysterical the way he described the shenanigans the twins got into.

He told me about Blackwater, and how he and Rhodes had become friends when they were little kids. He told me about meeting Dante at his first Summit pack meeting.

The conversation had been almost completely one-sided, but he didn’t seem to mind or notice. He answered all of my questions honestly and openly, which made me wish I could be the same with him.

I had added in stories about my mom and I when I could, but I kept it vague. I wanted to share more, but there was still this feeling that as soon as he knew the real me, the damaged me, Remy would run for the mountains.

And I couldn’t blame him.

I took a deep breath. “In my old pack, omegas were kept in a separate house inside the compound. You know we didn’t get out much, and definitely not to the grocery store.”

My stomach churned as I pictured the broken down white house at the end of the dirt lane.

Remy cocked his head, listening calmly.

“We... We didn’t get much food,” I admitted, looking at the tabletop and tracing a crack in the quartz. “Mostly it was whatever the pack didn’t want or wouldn’t use. Usually old food, pre-packaged stuff. Anyway, when my mom and I left, she took me to eat at this truck stop and I ate so much. I had never had food that was hot and made to eat right away. I ate so much that I threw it all up that night.” I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “So now I try not to get completely full.”

“How many omegas were there in the house with you?” he asked, leaning back and resting his arm along the edge of the bench seat.

“Other than my mom and me? Two. Another female and a male.” Maisie and Shane. God, I still had no idea what happened to them. If what I had done caused any blowback that they paid the price for.

Mom hadn’t involved them in our escape to protect them, but I knew my uncle was vindictive enough to punish them anyway.

Remy’s chest moved up and down as he breathed, but that was the only movement he made as he watched me closely. “Did they leave with you?”

I swallowed hard around the lump in the throat. “No,” I whispered. “They’re still there, as far as I know.”

He frowned, choosing his words carefully. “Are they okay there?”

“I have no idea,” I replied, sadness and regret lacing my tone. “We left and... it’s safer if we don’t make contact with them.”

“Safer?” His brows slammed together, his expression fierce.

“We didn’t leave under the best of circumstances,” I said, my voice pitched low. I sighed deeply. “We—”

“Can I get you anything else?”

The sudden appearance of our waitress made me jump.

Remy gave her a curt nod. “We’re good. Just the check, thanks.”

She smiled at us both and headed back for the bar, her dark ponytail swishing across her back as she walked away.

I looked around, remembering we were currently in a diner packed with normals. It seemed like this was the place to be on a Saturday night in the town of Granite Peak. Almost every table was full.

Probably not the best venue to pour my heart out.

The waitress came back. She handed the check to Remy with a big smile, barely noticing me. She looked a few years older than us, and she had been blatantly staring at Remy almost every time she came over.

Jealousy had flared in me at first, my wolf ready to rip her throat out when her hand touched Remy’s when she passed him a menu. But the more she came over, the more Remy seemed annoyed by her.

When she leaned over to show him the specials, he made a face and slid away from her. The move wasn’t subtle at all, and I actually started laughing as the waitress straightened up and hurried away.

She had hid in the kitchen for a solid ten minutes before coming back to take our order, and Remy hadn’t ordered the special.

“Thanks,” he said, barely glancing at her as he pulled out his wallet.

Uncertainty tugged at me as I tried to see the check. I reached for my purse, not entirely sure of dating etiquette. I still had most of the cash that Zoe had somehow slipped into my purse before I left. I still planned on returning it when I went back to Blackwater for Thanksgiving, but I could use some of it and figure out a way to repay her later.

Maybe pick up some shifts at the café.

Remy dropped several bills on top of the check and looked at me. “Ready to go?”

I frowned. “How much—”

Rolling his eyes, he slid off the bench and got to his feet. He reached over and pulled me up. “I got it.”

“Um, thanks?” I offered hesitantly.

A laugh rumbled in his chest. He rested his forehead on mine for a second. “You really are something else.”

I let him lead me out of the diner and back to the SUV. Once again, he opened my door and settled me in the seat before going around the front and getting behind the wheel. He slid the key into the ignition and the vehicle roared to life, the heater blowing lukewarm air across us.

He paused, his hand on the gear stick. “Can we go somewhere and talk?” He rubbed his thumb absently against the steering wheel, his eyes dark as he looked at me. “I’m not ready for this date to be over yet.”

I nodded slowly, smiling to myself as he put the SUV in gear and pulled out of the parking spot.