Chapter 10: Silent Treatment

“He’s been ignoring the hell out of me,” Essence grumbled under her breath to Anastasia. Looking at two different flowers that the wedding planner held, both scrunched their noses and shook their heads.

Anastasia laughed. “And he has every right to,” she said.

“What?”

Turning to the wedding planner, she motioned for her to give them a moment. She patted Essence’s hands. “I will not sugarcoat this because you’ve been grumbling for three weeks, and he has been working out so much from frustration, I’m sure his muscles have muscles.”

Scoffing, Essence muttered, “I haven’t been grumbling.” She had. Kano had been extremely standoffish, retreating to his room whenever she came over. In the past three weeks, she’d texted him a few times, with him only responding once. It was a meme of Bugs Bunny rolling his eyes with a caption that said Girl, please get off my line. It made her so mad, she went to fuss at him, but he refused to come out of his room.

Anastasia looked her over. “You are the first person he’s trusted enough to speak to. The person he trusted enough to go outside with, get a makeover with, visit the fair with… and kiss. You want him the way you want him, and you’re upset because he said no, even though he asked the same of you, and you did the same.” Fidgeting with her fingers, Essence already knew where the conversation was going. “E, I know you had it rough with your dad, and everything that happened to you was truly horrible, but it’s okay to trust other people. I know you; you wouldn’t be so upset if you didn’t feel something for him. You’re sending mixed signals, girl. Pick a lane and stay in it.”

Essence sighed. “Fucking hell, Ani, I don’t wanna get married! Ugh, and I just know I’m going to wake up married, happy and shit. Whistling! I don’t want to whistle but watch, I’m going to end up whistling! I don’t wanna look at him with that stupid face you give Cayden—no offense, it’s adorable on you, but dammit, Kano snores like a baby bear in his sleep, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard! Why does he have to be so cute, hm?!”

Anastasia laughed uncontrollably at Essence’s outburst. “How about an actual date first? One where you’re not trying to pawn him off onto other people because you like him. Just a simple date and see what happens. You’re here for four more months, focus on seeing what those months have in store, and how you feel at the end of them.”

“Fine, I’m going!” she said, pouting. Stomping towards the door, she stopped and rushed back to Anastasia, hugging her tightly. “Thanks for knocking some sense into me.”

She chuckled. “Anytime.”

“Oh! Stop looking at all these ugly flowers. You love lilies, you know you love lilies, make her bring you some lilies.”

Anastasia looked around in disbelief. “How the hell did I forget my favorite flower?!”

Essence laughed. “Because you were too busy giving Cayden that stupid face.”

Bending down to tie his shoe, Kano stilled. Smelling vanilla, he quickly reached behind him, catching Essence in mid-leap. He released her and let out a small growl before walking away.

“Don’t growl at me!” she shouted, and he stopped, turned to her, and growled again. She scoffed. “Real mature.” He scoffed back. “Are you mocking me?!” He silently mimicked her words, enjoying the way it got under her skin. She inhaled sharply. “Don’t piss me off, Kano.”

Kano laughed harshly and then cut his eyes at her, causing her to rub the back of her neck. “Okay, okay, that’s fair. You’re the one who deserves to be mad. I don’t think I fully realized that until today,” she said. He stared at her intensely, making her face flush. “Can we talk? In your room?” He huffed, but agreed.

Walking inside his room, she saw that he’d hung up their pictures from the fair. She murmured, “I thought you would have torn these up by now.”

Kano shook his head. Watching her swing her arms back and forth, he eyed her curiously. He was beyond pissed with her, but more than that, he was hurt. After their last conversation, he couldn’t face her anymore. The more time he spent with her and talked with her, the more his wolf raged against his chest for her. Becoming too much, he stayed away. Yet here she was in his room, her beautiful eyes staring back at him.

“I like you!” she blurted, catching him by surprise. “I… um... I think I have since I saw you put the stuff in your room and brought Martin for us to watch. And you know Anastasia, she made a good point! I’m here for four more months, so the way I figure it, in four months you’ll probably realize what I said the other day was true… about me not being the type of person—”

Kano felt himself grow extremely frustrated at her words. Grabbing her, he pecked her against the lips trying to silence her. Her eyes grew large. “I sleep in late…” Kano kissed her again, then shrugged his shoulders. “I’m moody...” He nodded, chuckling when she glared. Kissing her again, he shrugged his shoulders once more.

Feeling her heart beat heavily inside her chest, Essence panicked and started to ramble. “I don’t have a nurturing bone in my body. I killed my goldfish! They tried to make me feel better by saying he was probably sick when I got him, but Rufus wasn’t sick. He was happy until he died. Then Earl—that was my plant, rest his soul—died after Rufus, and I cried like a damn baby!”

Watching her spiral, Kano grabbed her hand. He placed it over his chest, and he saw her eyes grow even larger. He waved around at the new editions in his room, and the pictures from the fair. He pointed to Rafael’s business card that had his personal cell number added, so he and Caysen could text because they’d become wonderful friends. Then he pointed to the ‘be my best man, or I’ll kick your ass’ wedding box Cayden had given him, and that he’d written on it he would stand beside his brother on his special day. He needed her to understand that it was all because of her, and so, taking her hand again, he placed it in the same spot.

Essence watched the different emotions fall over his face.

“I like you too,” he said, and his eyes tinged gold. “We both do, very much.”

The hungry look on his face made something stir inside of her. Kano clashed his lips against hers, and the two fell to the bed. He clasped her face, deepening the kiss, and she groaned inside his mouth. Feeling her small hands run through his hair, he shuddered under her touch. She tugged at his jacket, and he quickly pulled it off. Running his hand up her shirt, he pulled it over her head. Kano ran his tongue down the side of her neck, gently nibbling on it. She moaned and arched into him further, grinding against him. His wolf responding to her pheromones, whispered inside.

“I want her.”

As if she could hear it, Essence locked their lips again. Her hand slid down his shorts, and he groaned as it wrapped around his shaft. Quickly pulling away, Kano sat up and shook his head.

She sat up. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you wanted to. I mean, I want to, but if you don’t want to, I completely respect that and—” His face went red in embarrassment, and it finally clicked for her. “Ohhhh…” He stood, but she jerked him back down, and leaned against his arm. “That is nothing to be embarrassed about. Plus, you were doing great just now, trust me.”

Kano couldn’t look at her because if he did, he was sure he would attack her again. Her smell, the way she was looking at him, and the sounds she’d made were driving his wolf and him up the wall. He covered the front of his shorts and let out a huff of sexual frustration.

“Use both hands,” she said, folding her lips. He cut his eyes, but did as she said. She laughed. “I’m not being smart. It’s a compliment.” She kissed him and then patted his shoulder. “How about we start with a date? A real one.” He nodded, and she clapped her hands. “Good, but let’s have one outside of the castle, because now I want some.”

Kano arched his brow in confusion before figuring it out. Gasping, he covered his chest and turned up his nose. She laughed. “I am not treating you like a dollar hoe, knock it off,” she said. He laughed in response before pulling her to him, kissing her deeply.