AllFreeNovel
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“It only ran a little. But I also heard most of the conversation.”
My heart skips a tiny beat as I reach for a napkin and get an ugly black smudge off my cheek. “No. You were listening to your podcast.”
“I attempted to pay attention to my podcast, but it’s difficult when my senses are hyperfocused on your existence…” He has the courtesy to look sheepish. “My apologies. I could only find it in myself to raise the volume and mind my business after you went quiet when she asked…you know…about whether or not you loved me. I couldn’t stomach the answer.”
He is so adorable and pretty.
And I’m pretty sure he just troped himself out of learning that I love him.
I grin. “You know something?”
“You don’t like chicken feet?”
“What? Oh. Well. I don’t know. A faerie stole them before I could try them, which I absolutely would have done, and I wasn’t planning to just stare at them until tomorrow morning at all.” I flutter my lashes and add, “Probably.”
That tugs a reluctant smile out of my future husband. “Effective use of that eraser word. What do I need to know?”
“Nothing you could overhear is remotely as embarrassing as the fact you’re binge-reading the fanfiction I wrote about you.”
“Why would that be embarrassing? It’s extremely comforting to compare myself to the picture of me that you crafted and take notes on the acceptable parts. It’s like an outline for my life.”
“Do not start following it.”
He lifts a hand in pledge. “I am under oath and thereby physically incapable of ravishing you every other chapter.”
Cheeks heating, I stir my soup. “It is not that often.”
“Isn’t it?”
It might be. “Topic change. Since you’ve brought up that oath, may I ask how one might go about breaking it? Asking for a friend. Which is a human joke that I don’t think translates. I’m asking for me. I’m the friend.” I sip my soup. “How do I relieve you of your oath?”
“In case you weren’t aware, I am familiar with a number of human phrases and colloquialisms.” Ollie’s brows furrow. “Also, I heard most of your conversation. You provided plenty of big reasons why going through with becoming werecanine is a bad idea and it ended with you in tears…”
“Yes, and?”
“Why are you interested in freeing me from the oath that protects you from my lapses in judgment?”
“Because. We’re getting married in two weeks.”
Ollie’s head tilts so far to the left, he’s looking at me horizontally. “You’re supposed to use the next two weeks to make your decision concerning that.”
“I’m allowed not to procrastinate a deadline for once in my life.”
“But…you were just crying.”
“There are some things I will need to figure out, some changes I will have to learn how to navigate, a few less-than-optimal situations I might cry about some more before the seasons change, but I’ve made my decision, and the sooner we prepare for it, the easier this transition will be.” I set my spoon down, square my shoulders, and look at Ollie’s baffled expression. “I love you.”
Crimson floods up his neck and bathes his ears as he straightens his tilted head.
“You are the song that has been playing on repeat in my head for my entire life. I’m not willing to let the notes slip through my fingers now that they’re finally within reach.”
Ollie’s mouth opens and shuts a few times before he whispers, “Did you just quote your fanfiction?”
I clear my throat, cross my ankles, and glance elsewhere. “Maybe.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I trust you.”
