Chapter 635 Chapter 635
He held the door open and then shut it before she could go through it. “Wait.” He looked down to see the surprised look on her face. “We, uh—” He looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. There wasn’t anyone. “We need to talk.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
They needed to talk. He knew it. He knew what he had to say to explain things to her. Now, if he could just get the words out of his mouth instead of bouncing around in his head, that would be a good start.
She stood there looking at him with those eyes; even his cat had no clear thought. “We’re going to be confined in that SUV for the next few weeks or longer.” He hoped they found the island faster.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“It might be hard to be that close for that long.” She had to get that, right?
“Why? Because of the long drive?”
He put his hands on his hips and tried to find the words he’d thought a hundred times now. “No.” He shrugged, “It’s going to be hard being trapped in the vehicle that long -- for you -- I’m used to it.”
“I think I’ll be okay.”
He nodded. He was failing at this. “Remember when we were on the roof, and I explained about mates?” That talk hadn’t gone very well either.
“You said our cats were, but I know we are.”
She said it so matter of fact that he wasn’t sure if this talk mattered as much as he thought it did. His cat got his attention with the equivalent of ‘their’ mate. “Well, yeah, we are,” he nodded. “But-but—” But what? he shook his head. “That doesn’t mean we have to act on it. I want you to know that.”
She just looked at him for a moment. “Oh. Okay.”
Okay? How did she think it was okay? suddenly none of it was just okay.
“The women helped me understand.”
He nodded like an idiot again. “They did?” Maybe they could help him understand.
“Yes.” She gave him a brief smile. “I thought our cats were mates. They explained we are one with our animals, so that means we are mates.” Her cheeks flushed. “And mates have sex.”
Asher put both hands on top of his head. Maybe it would help his mind from exploding. “Ah, I wasn’t—I mean, I don’t—I was just—” He blew out a breath and dropped his hands back to his hips. “I just want you to know that-that I’m not going to claim you because—” Was that a hurt look or a confused one? Probably the latter because he was making zero sense right now. “Look,” he put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re absolutely beautiful.” That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. It was true. “You have to know that, and-and I think you’re amazing and incredibly brave—” Talking to your mate apparently turned you into an idiot. “It’s like this—you haven’t even had a life—lived at all, and I don’t want to stop you from living the life you should have had.” He leaned down so their faces were level. “Do you understand?”
She opened her mouth and then closed it and nodded.
“Okay. That’s good. I just didn’t want you to worry about that.”
“I wasn’t.”
He straightened up. “Okay.” He nodded. “Okay. Good.” He heard a door close, looked around, and wondered if someone had just witnessed that epic fail. “We should go get some of that food.”
Journee nodded. “I am hungry.” She smiled at him, and the urge to hug her came over him.
Turning, he yanked the door open.
They didn’t get two steps when they saw Blaise run down the hall.
“I guess she’s hungry too.”
Asher nodded but knew that it was for another reason that would have someone like Blaise in a full-out run.