Page 120 of Full Body Hit, Part 1

For some reason, Aunix’s refusal to even acknowledge incompatibility as a possibility was making Chase’s heart race even quicker, his lungs even tighter. “It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. It can happen. Our scents might not be compatible, and we might not know it until we mate.”

Silence fell, a sheet of water that drenched everything. Chase wiped his face, clearing it.

The worst thing Aunix could do was not admit the truth.

“Okay,” Aunix murmured eventually. “But if that happens, I’ll be grateful to have known you. Baby…I’m not spending time with you just because you might be my mate one day. I spend time with you because you make me happy right now, in this moment. And if it turns out we’re not a fit as mates? It’ll be fucking devastating, but there is no fucking way I’m regretting a single second with you.”

Chase tried to draw in some air, but it splintered in his lungs, a sob spilling out.

“That’s just the truth, honey. You have no idea how much better you make my life. How much happier I’ve been since I met you. How could I ever regret that?”

“Daddy…” Chase whispered.

“So I get it. This thing might not work out—for many different reasons, really. One of them is scent incompatibility. But I still want to try. I fucking…I fucking adore you, baby. Unless you tell me to, there’s nothing that can make me let you go.”

Chase bent in two, burying his face in his knees.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Love was conditional. You had to meet the standards other people set to be worthy of affection. Love wasn’t just a free-flowing thing he could cup his hands into and drink from whenever he felt sad or lonely or scared.

Love wasn’t this safe.

Chase pressed the phone against his cheek. “What if…what if you—”

“No more what-ifs, baby. I’m telling you what I know is true right now. Maybe when you get your scent back, you won’t like how I smell. Maybe we meet up and don’t get along. Maybe one day we have a big misunderstanding and never talk again.”

Chase sniffled. “I’m for sure gonna like your scent.”

Aunix laughed. “Well, that’s a little hypocritical.”

“There’s no way you smell bad,” Chase insisted.

“Well, there’s no way you smell bad, baby. I wanna fucking bite into you already. Unless you turn out to have some weird alien scent, I think we’re good.”

Chase relaxed, shoulders drooping, forehead still tucked into his knees. “What if I smell like black liquorice?”

“That’s funny because I love black liquorice.”

“Ew, no, you don’t. Nobody likes that.”

“It’s good!”

Chase sat up, smile wobbling on his face. “Oh my God, maybe you really won’t care what I smell like if your taste is that bad.”

Aunix chuckled. “I can guarantee that you’ll be sweeter than liquorice.”

The smile on Chase’s face settled. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. Trust me. I can tell.”

And that was the thing, wasn’t it? Chase did trust Aunix. He trusted that this was the truth—that Aunix wasn’t promising everything would turn out perfect, but that everything they did to get there, no matter how it ended, would be worth it.

Chase had never felt that security. And maybe he did have it—with Sammy, with Noah, with some of his other teammates. They had his back.

But he’d never felt it so starkly as he did with Aunix.

“Okay,” Chase murmured. Okay, I believe you. Okay, I accept this flowing thing you’re giving me as something I may deserve.

“I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”