Chapter 19: Chapter 19

I wake up to a familiar and wonderful scent. My body is cocooned in a comfortable, familiar warmth. Darius. My face is nestled in the curve of his shoulder. Our legs tangled together.

His big warm hand spread just underneath my tank top,

spanning my side just under my breast.

My heart stops for a beat when I look up at his face. Even when he’s sleeping he’s stunning to look at. His pale blond hair is messy and in such a contrast to his dark gray pillowcase. His thick dark blond eyebrows soften with no frown marring them.

His lips look soft, pink and inviting. I remember how they feel against mine. His whole face looks peaceful, yet still holds the air of intensity for some reason.

He’s so beautiful I’ll never tire of looking at him. I could lose myself in his delicious scent and just feel high on just being close to him….only I’m not gonna.

My fingers itch to touch him. Touch his warm skin, his lips, his hair, even to trace that black steel chain and medallion around his neck with my fingers and feel his body heat on it…but I know I’m not gonna.

I try to pry his hand off me when I feel it tightens. I glance up to see his blue eyes staring at me. I think I forget to breathe.

His eyes look so vivid in the onset of the morning light that steals its way into the room through the gaps between the heavy gray curtains.

We lay there staring at each other for a long moment until he places his hand on my cheek, leans in, and kisses me on the lips. Brief, sweet, tender, and urgent like he’s trying to tell me something. It’s filled with desperation and yearning. So much yearning. I don’t know what it is. I don’t understand it, but it makes me terribly sad.

He releases me and I quickly get up and sneak back into my own room through the balcony before I start crying in front of him.

I jump into the shower before the water warms up and let the water wash away my tears and swallow the sound of my sobs.

I’m so pathetic. So pathetic.

I’m surprised to see a text from Mason. I thought after Friday, he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore. He would like to meet and talk. We agreed to meet for breakfast at a cafe in town.

I quickly dressed in a white short sleeveless romper and a pair of white ankle lace espadrilles. I put my hair up in a messy bun, a dab of lipgloss, grab my sunglasses and I’m done.

I stop by the breakfast table where everyone is and let them know that I’m meeting a friend and won’t be having breakfast with them. I can feel his stare burning through me. I try not to look at him, but like a magnet, my eyes are drawn to him. He looks so good in the morning light. He looks good in any kind of light. He looks good even in the dark. Silly Penny.

He doesn’t even know who it is that I’m meeting with, but I can see jealousy in his eyes. I notice the rigidness in his jaw, but he raises the cup to his lips and sips his coffee casually. I drag my eyes away from him and ask Caspian if I could borrow one of his cars.

I leave before anybody can make any remarks about last night.

I know Genesis wants to talk about it and Caspian is dying to say something “funny”. My bet is, it’s not funny.

I drive Caspian’s red Porsche to the cafe. After that first time I drove his Porsche to the party, I’ve been taking it out quite a

few times. I think driving his Porsche has ruined me for other cars. I love driving it and the Prince never seems to mind it.

Besides, he has other cars. Some of those cars are custom built just for him.

The cafe is adjoining a small, charming bookstore. Book Attic, that’s the name of the bookstore. The cafe is called Coffee Addict. Both stores are quaint and cozy with rustic green and brick red color theme. The identical decor suggests that the stores are under the same management.

I arrive five minutes early to find Mason already sitting at one of the tables near the window.

I ordered a cup of latte macchiato with an extra shot of espresso, a banana nut and poppy seed muffin and a peach danish.

He watches me carry the food to the table and flashes me a smile. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that everything is fine between us. His eyes betray him, though.

They look anxious.

“Hey,” I say, placing my food on the table, sitting right across from him.

“Hi, Penny. How are you?” he asks, his fingers fiddling with the mug in front of him. The atmosphere between us is just awkward.

“Good.” I hate making small talks when things are awkward, so I get straight to the point. “Look, Mase, about the other night…I thought we’re just friends…”

“Penny, I’m sorry,” he says, not letting me finish. “You’re right, we’re just friends. I have no right to be mad.”

“You were acting like a jerk,” I tell him.

“I know I did,” his shoulders slump in a defeated gesture. “I hope you can forgive me.”

I tap my chin and pretend to ponder. Mason is looking at me expectantly. Of course, I forgive him, but I have to make it clear that we’re just friends. He’s fun to be around with and I think we could really be good friends.

“Tell me that you acted like a jerk. Say it,” I demand.

His eyes widen in surprise.

“Uh…I acted like a jerk?”

“Not like that,” I huff, rolling my eyes and folding my arms across my chest for a good measure. “Say, Penny, I acted like a jerk. I’m begging for your forgiveness.”

“Wait, begging? Uh…if I didn’t say that would you still forgive me?” his eyes stray to my chest.

I scowl at him and he looks up, looking sheepish and guilty and quickly raises both hands in a surrender sign.

“Okay, okay…Penny, I acted like a jerk. I’m begging for your forgiveness.”

Wow, this is fun! “Say Mason is such an asshat, inconsiderate assh0le. Penny is awesome, smart…”

“Nope, I’m not saying that,” he says before I could finish.

I glare at him and he quickly says, “Okay!!! Mason is such an asshat, inconsiderate, stupid jerk and an assh0le. Penny is awesome, beautiful, smart, clever, hot, brilliant…did I mention awesome? Yeah, all around the most awesome girl ever. Now, will you forgive me?”

My smile gets wider with each of his words. “Okay, now say….”

“Penny..” he groans, putting his head in his hands.

“Okay, okay…I forgive you.”

His eyes brighten and a big grin spread across his face.

“Look, Mase, I really like you…as a friend. I’m not looking for a boyfriend. Can we be friends again?” I just want to put everything behind us and go back to the way things were before.

“Yeah, okay. Friends,” he sighs looking slightly glum again.

“Try not to be a jerk again,” I tell him.

“I’ll try not to be a jerk again…though I might at some point.”

“Great!” I nod, giving him a bright smile. Oh, I know he’ll be a jerk again at some point. He’s a guy after all. Men just can’t help themselves. I’m glad we’re good again, though.

“So…anyway, uh..you and Darius..”

Nosy. I sigh and say, “it’s complicated.”

“Okay,” he says as if he’s expecting me to elaborate, but my relationship with Darius is not something I want to discuss with anybody, especially not with a human.

“What are your plans for today?” I ask him instead.

“My cousin just moved into a new apartment. I’m supposed to be there soon and help him carry the sofa and all the heavy stuff. We’re going to have some drinks and chill afterward,” he says. “Hey, why don’t you join us?” he asks suddenly brightens up. “Unless you have some other things planned,” he adds, suddenly looking hesitant and uncertain.

No, I don’t have anything planned for today. Sunday is usually the day for the lycans and me to train or laze around by the pool.

“That’s cool. Who’s going to be there?” I don’t want to join in if his whole family is going to be there. I slide the peach danish that he has been eyeing towards him.

“Just a couple of other guys, and probably their girlfriends too.” He smiles gratefully before he bites into the yummy looking pastry.

“I can come and help carry stuff, but I can’t stay too long.” I don’t think I want to spend my whole Sunday with a bunch of strangers.

He looks skeptical when I mention that I’d help carry stuff. I almost laugh. I could probably carry the whole sofa by myself, but I’m not going to tell him that.

We decided to take separate cars since I don’t want to leave Caspian’s car on campus. I also want to be able to leave whenever I want to.

Mason gets so excited when he sees the shiny red Porsche. He’s practically drooling all over it until he found out that it belongs to one of my guy “friends”. He acts less enthusiastic after that. I think Darius and I ruined the meaning of the word “friends” for him…or he doesn’t believe when I said Caspian is just another friend of mine.

We arrive in front of an apartment block in a trendy part of the town not ten minutes away from the cafe. It’s an older building.

Thankfully it has a plenty of visitor’s parking space.

Mason’s cousin lives on the second floor. Apartment 203.

Mason knocks briefly and the door swings open.

“You’re late!” says a girl about my age who opened the door for us.

“Good morning to you too, cousin! I’m not that late, Matthew said to be here around ten, it’s only…uh..thirty minutes after ten,” argues Mason checking the time on his phone.

“Yeah, half an hour late,” the girl huffs.

Mason ushers me forward and the girl stops glaring up at him.

Her gaze shifts to me and her eyes grow bigger.

“Uh..hi,” she gives a tentative almost shy smile. Her dark blue eyes shine with curiosity.

“Penny, this pesky pest here is my cousin, Elle. We’re helping her brother, Matthew moving in today. Elle, this is Penny,”

says Mason.

Elle rolls her eyes at Mason and offers me her hand. “Hi Penny, nice to meet you,” she says. Elle is a plump girl with a cute round face. She must be around 5’2″. Her petite figure makes me feel like an awkward giant stick figure standing next to her.

“Nice to meet you too, Elle,” I smile back, taking her hand.

She’s dressed like she’s ready to work in worn blue jeans and a baggy t-shirt. Her long dark hair is tied up in a ponytail with a bandana.

“Where is everybody?” asks Mason as he wanders further into the apartment. It’s pretty bare right now, save for a few boxes.

“Like I said, you’re late. Matthew, Jaxson, and Ethan went to get more furniture without you,” answers Elle.

The apartment isn’t big. The living room is half the size of my bedroom. It’s nice and open though. The living room goes straight into a small galley kitchen. There’s a hallway just before the kitchen that I guess leads to a bedroom and a bathroom.

“Hey, Mason. You’re late!” says another woman, walking out of a room with towels in her arms. She dumps the towels on the kitchen counter and stands to look at Mason then at me.

“Penny, this is Toccara, Jaxson’s girlfriend. Toccara, this is Penny,” Mason introduces me to the woman who seems to be in her mid-twenties. Her curly black hair is tied back in a neat braid. Her dark brown eyes are looking between Mason and me curiously.

“It’s nice to meet you, Penny. You’re very beautiful. It’s about time Mason introduces us to his girl,” she says slyly.

Mason’s cheeks turn pink and I quickly correct her. “Uh, thank you….but Mason and I are just friends.”

“Oh, okay,” she says. “Sorry for jumping into conclusions then,” she adds, but she’s still looking at Mason with that sly smile.

Mason rubs the back of his neck looking sheepish.

“Would you like some coffee, Penny?” offers Elle, gesturing at a coffee maker sitting on the kitchen counter.

“You have to drink out of the glass though. We found the coffee maker and a few glasses, but we can’t find the box where my

idiot brother packed the mugs in,” she points at her own glass of coffee.

“No, thanks. I just had coffee,” I decline.

“So, how long have you known Mason?” asks Toccara.

The door swings open before I could answer and a tall skinny guy walks in carrying sofa cushions. He is followed by an another man walking backward carrying one end of a bookcase.

Another end of the bookcase appears with another man who is sweating bullets by the look of it.

The two men set the bookcase down and turn to look at us. A sweet scent mixed with the smell of sweat assault my senses.

Dark blue eyes are staring at me and I stop breathing. Oh, Goddess, I think I’ve found my mate.

“You’re late man!” says the tall man, dropping the cushions right in the middle of the living room.

“Yeah, why don’t you just show up an hour from now just for the free pizza and beer?” asks the sweaty guy, fanning himself.

The dark blue eyed guy is just standing there still staring at me.

My mate. Our eyes locked. I find it hard to believe. My heart is racing. Mate.

“Oh, can I?” Mason asks, only to be met with angry glares from the sweaty guy and the girls. “Okay, sorry, guys,” says Mason, looking apologetic.

“Oh, hey…who’s your friend?” says the tall skinny guy suddenly looking at me. A slow flirty smile form on his lips.

I have to drag my eyes away from those dark blue gaze to look at the other guy.

“Jaxson Alexander Johnson, your girlfriend is standing right here!” yells Toccara, slapping the back of his head with a loud smack.

“Owww…what’s wrong with you woman? You’re so violent. I was just being friendly,” the man yells back, rubbing his head furiously. “That hurts!”

“Friendly my ass,” mutters Toccara.

“Oh, yeah..guys, meet Penny. Penny, this is Jaxson,” says Mason, tilting his head towards the tall lanky guy aka Toccara’s boyfriend.

“That over there is Elle’s boyfriend, Ethan,” he points to the sweaty red haired guy whose face is still flushed from carrying the bookcase.

Finally, he turns to look at the dark blue eyed guy who is still staring at me and says, “…and this one here is my cousin Matthew.”

So his name is Matthew. I notice Mason frowning at his cousin as I say hi to everyone.

“Nice. She’s seriously hot, man..I didn’t think you had it in you,” mutters Jaxson, slapping Mason’s back. I think Matthew heard it too as he straightens up and clears his throat.

“Nice of you to come by Penny. I didn’t know Mason was seeing somebody,” says Matthew.

“Uh, we’re not seeing each other. Mason and I are just friends,”

I quickly clarify. Again.

“Oh, really?” he raises his eyes back to look at me. Is it just me, or is he suddenly looking a lot more cheerful?

The guys stop to have a drink before they resume carrying heavy stuff up from the back of the u-haul truck that they rented.

I finally manage to have a good look at him. My mate. He’s in his mid-twenties. He looks nothing like Darius. His dark brown hair is straight and seems to flop to one side. His eyes are the color of a dark blue sky on the verge of a thunderstorm, while Darius’s are of a light blue sky on a clear sunny day. His face is softly rounded, not sharply chiseled like Darius. His body isn’t muscled like Darius, but not as chubby as his sister. He’s about 5’11”, an inch or two inches taller than I am.

Everything about him is attractive to me. His eyes, his smile, his smell, even his floppy hair…everything.

A human mate. Maybe that’s just what I need. A sweet normal next door type of guy. Not a dangerous and attract attention everywhere he goes type like Darius. Nice, open and friendly,

not brooding and mysterious like Darius. A human, not a lycan warrior. Not larger than life like Darius.

After resting, the guys start carrying the furniture in. Mason helps them this time. The four of them are sweating and breathing fast after a bedframe, a queen size mattress, several chairs, a study table, a tv, and a really big heavy sofa with floral pink cushions that he inherited from his grandmother,

according to Elle. Everything seems to be brand new except for the sofa.

I try not to laugh. I can hear their racing heartbeats. I think Mason is the only athletic guy in the bunch. I could’ve easily carried everything by myself without breaking a sweat, but I think I enjoyed watching them struggle. I’m evil, I know.

Besides, what explanation could I offer them? I don’t think a normal human girl could carry all those by herself in half the time the guys did it without even breaking a sweat.

We open up the boxes and help Matthew put things away. We joke about how he wouldn’t be able to find things later when he needs them.

Our eyes constantly stray towards each other and I think others start to notice. I don’t know what everyone else thinks, but Mason doesn’t look very pleased. Not that I care.