Page 32 of Tempting Fate

Chapter Fifteen

Patch

I last a couple of days without seeing Em before I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. Is this how Dax felt? I don’t know how he coped with it at all.

We’ve been texting back and forth. Em seems to keep odd hours, replying to me at three and four in the morning, but I don’t mind. I’ve been out running every night since our date on Monday, and I’m glad I only have to send Alpha Axel a text to give him a heads-up because I think if I had to ring him every time, he’d express his concern.

Still, I can’t stop thinking about Jamie. More than a sliver of guilt has been gnawing at me since Saturday, and it’s growing and growing, chewing away at my insides. I want to see Em again. I want to see Jamie, too. It’s not like I saw him every day before everything got awkward between us, but what if I never see him again? What if it’s only at Alpha Kieran’s pack dinners or if I’m going over to visit Em?

All of that is why I find myself knocking on Dax’s door at three in the afternoon. Sam must have modified the wards to let me into their building, which is nice, but just triggers another flare of guilt because I know they kind of want me to join their pack, too, and if Jamie was my mate, yeah, I probably would have, but Em’s not tied to them, not tied to anyone, from the sounds of it.

Dax frowns when he opens the door and sees me standing there, which tells me I look more like shit than I thought. I’ve seen his bemused smile when I’ve done surprising things before. This isn’t that.

“Come in,” he says and takes a few steps back so I can shut the door behind me. “Everything okay?”

“Uh. Yes. No. I don’t know.”

I hear a clatter from the kitchen. “Fuck. Is Vince home? I kind of thought he’d be out.”

“Yeah, he’s over at the gym finishing up.” A faint smile crosses Dax’s face. “Drew’s just…”

Drew appears in the kitchen doorway, holding a bowl in one hand and a whisk in the other. “Do you need me to go?” he asks.

I know he’ll leave if I say yes. But obviously, he and Dax are working on something here. I’m the one interrupting. “No, sorry, I should—”

Dax grabs my arm before I can go anywhere. “Stay,” he says. “We can go talk in the bedroom or something.”

Because, of course their flat setup is just like Alpha Kieran and his mate, Lucien’s, down the hall; the kitchen and living room are one big space, though at least this one has a bit of an entryway that the other is lacking.

“No, it’s fine. It’s—Just tell your mates to keep it to themselves.”

Drew shrugs. “I won’t tell them,” he says, like it’s that easy, and wanders back into the kitchen, whisking away.

I follow Dax to the living room and as he grabs us both water, I watch Drew’s careful, confident movements. The oven is on, and I catch the smell of sugar and butter.

“What are you making?”

“A cake.” Drew gives Dax a sly look. “Someone wants to surprise his mate.”

Dax pulls a face when he hands me a glass of water. “I wanted to make Vince a cake. He’s been working so hard at the gym, and he’s really excited for it to open, but I don’t know how to bake that well.”

“So Drew’s making it for you?”

“I’m helping!”

I exchange a look with Drew, who turns fully around to hide his smile. Not sure Dax was helping much before I got here, then. Not his fault. He’s good enough at cooking, but baking is an entirely different skill.

“What’s going on with you?” Dax asks. “I thought you and Em were going on a date?”

“We are. I mean, we did. Monday.”

“How was it?”

I can’t help the smile that unfurls over my face. “Amazing. Incredible, I mean, we get on great, and I think he can feel it too, even if he doesn’t know anything about it, about us—”

“But?”

I sigh. “How’d you know there was a but?”