Chapter Fourteen

I didn't see the boys for the rest of the day. Not even at dinner.

I had never been to their dorm room, but I was sure someone knew which one it was. Stevie probably did as well.

The thing was, I didn't want to be that clingy girl who ran to find them at the moment they kept to themselves.

My chest tightened. I knew they were hiding from me but didn't know why. Unless they blamed me for the thing with Drew.

Stevie had dinner with me, but I was distracted to the point of missing half of what she said.

What a shit friend I was.

We got back to the dorm room and I half expected to see my guys outside the door, waiting for me.

They weren't.

I shook my head and let out a laugh. I'd kissed them but didn't know where their room was. They'd said it was nearby, but I hadn't asked for more information than that. I'd felt Bodhi's need for me, pressed against my core, but didn't have their phone numbers.

"All right, Minx," Stevie said as she closed and locked the door to our room. "Spill it."

"Huh?" I asked, pretending she hadn't noticed my mind absence. I knew she had; she was too nice to say anything until now.

"Don't huh me, miss." I almost laughed if it wasn't for her stern brow and steely gaze. "You are off in another world, clearly upset about something. Spill it."

Truth was, I needed someone to talk to. Someone to look at all sides of the situation and make some sense out of everything. "I'm confused about the guys," I admitted, letting down my walls. Stevie was a friend, my first shifter friend, and it was high time I started acting like it.

"Tell me everything."

"Before, in the human school, no one talked to me. A few girls would say hello or something once in a while, but the boys…I wasn't exactly turning down date offers, and now there's Theron and Bodhi and Grim. It seems like they're into me, and I've kissed two of them but…"

Stevie sat down. "First of all, human boys are intimidated by us. I think on some level they know we are predators and will eat them alive. Not that mating with humans is anything bad, but in general, they are a bit scared."

I hadn't considered that. Strangely enough, I'd always blamed myself for the lack of attention. I wasn't pretty enough. Or nice enough. I didn't flirt and make a fool out of myself in front of a boy who I had a crush on like the other girls.

"Second, you're not the only one who has seen the way those three guys react to you. I told you they stare all the time, but I was there today during that training session. They shifted and challenged Drew. You know that, right?"

I shook my head. How in the hell would I know about males and challenges? My parents didn't challenge each other, and they were my only glimpse into the shifter world.

"They saw Drew as a threat to your mating with them." She put the fact out there—common knowledge among shifters, probably.

"With them? As in, all three of them could be my mates? I thought we were all destined for one mate. One fated mate."

"In movies, sure. Reverse harems are not common, but they're not shunned or outlawed either."

"All three of them? How would that even work?" I blushed.

She laughed. "That's between you and those three men. I'm sure all of you have ideas already. Hell, I would. Three strong, capable men taking care of me for the rest of my life? Sign me up."

"How do you know if someone is your mate? I mean, is it a wolf thing?"

"No." She shook her head. "I met a shiftless female once when I was going through a dark time. My mom brought me to see her, hoping it would help. She had five mates. Five! Don't even think about the logistics of that because…I can't. She knew they were hers because she said immediately after their first date, she cried that night, being away from them. She said her heart broke as though they were dead and not miles down the road." Stevie shrugged. "Cleo was her name. She gave me hope when I had none for myself."

I walked over and hugged Stevie. Being a shifter female without a wolf could be a lonely way to live. I hoped Stevie found a mate or mates that completed her, even without her wolf.

"If they were mad at Drew, then why have they been absent today and missed dinner?" I whispered, trying to work it out myself.

"Shouldn't you go find out?" Stevie asked.

I laughed. "I don't know which dorm is theirs. Or their phone number." She cracked up with me.

"Wait, their tongues have been in your mouth but you don't know how to text them? You are a mess!"

Stevie only knew the half of it.

For the rest of the night, we sat across from each other on the floor, halfway studying, halfway volleying thoughts about mating and shifters and growly boys who made our toes curl.

Stevie's parents kept her stocked with care packages full of snacks and once they heard she had a new roommate that she actually liked, they doubled the shipments.

"Which one is the better kisser?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows.

I sighed. "I haven't kissed all of them," I reminded her.

"Which ones have you kissed?"

"Grim and Bodhi," I replied but didn't offer her any details.

"I bet Theron kisses like a starving man," she said.

For a split second, it made me angry, hearing her talk about Theron like that. My throat swelled with a need to express something. Gods, I wanted to growl at my best friend for talking about my…no. I wouldn't say the word. Not until they did.

"I bet so too," I agreed.