Chapter 0195

“Well, kind of!” he replies, laughing louder now, freer. “I mean, I just didn’t let my mind go there

before. You were just…another guy. A little shrimpy one who I liked hanging out with, and who I

worried about sometimes. But…I didn’t think of you that way.”

I narrow my eyes at him, leaning a little closer, inspecting his face for lies. “That’s not how attraction

works, Jackson. You can’t just decide to turn it on and off.”

He stares at me stoically for a long moment before his mouth twitches in the start of a smile.

I gasp, pointing at his face. “You totally were!” I whisper, thrilled. “You were into the Shrimp! You had

a crush on me!”

He laughs, snatching my finger out of the air and wrapping his hand around mine even as he leans

closer. “Fine, I thought…I thought you had a nice smile, okay?”

I grin, leaning into him, making him say more.

He groans, sighing and rolling his eyes. “And nice skin and…and pretty eyes. But! I thought you

were my mate’s twin, okay? That was my best guess. So, I was just imagining what she looked like,

which was probably a lot like…you?” His face twists up now, getting all muddled in the truth.

I laugh with him, leaning back against him, pleased. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t find me totally

repulsive.”

“Not totally,” he murmurs, lightly tracing his fingers down my arm and then around my back, settling

me cozily against him again. “What about you?” he asks, his voice a little wicked.

“Oh,” I sigh, leaning my head against him. “It was terrible.”

“What?!” He’s laughing now.

“Rafe had to drag me back to the room all the time,” I say, looking up at him, a little embarrassed.

“Told me I wasn’t allowed to moon after you in the hallways –“

“What!?” Jackson repeats himself, I think shocked, but laughs harder.

“It was very embarrassing, Jacks! My stupid wolf always telling me to do ridiculous things, like just

leap on you in the hallway when we’d see you between classes, or steal your shirt and hide it under

my pillow, god –“

He’s shaking with his laughter now and I can’t help it, I join in with him, delighted as I look up into

his face to see him looking so…

Well, so happy. My serious mate, who sometimes looks like he’s never had a happy day in his life,

laughing like that. God, but it does wonders for my heart.

When his laughter fades his turns his head back down to me, his eyes shining. “Well, I’m glad I

didn’t disappoint. That your wolf,” he presses a finger against my chest, where I suppose he

imagines she lives, “likes me, at least.”

She preens inside of me, happy to be addressed and acknowledged directly. “Oh, she’s a big fan,” I

sigh, looking down at his finger and smiling. But then I turn my face back up to his, returning to the

question at hand. “Jacks,” I say quietly, and he turns his face to mine, more serious now but

nodding to invite the question he can hear in my voice. “Why…why were you so shocked to find out

I was a girl? Why don’t you know any of the cues?”

Jackson releases a long sigh and drops his eyes from mine.

My heart drops along with his gaze, and I worry that I’ve said too much, or the wrong thing –

“No,” he murmurs, reaching out and taking my hand, wrapping it in his. “It’s fine – I want to tell you.

It’s just…I have been taught, all my life, to keep it a secret. So, it takes a little bit of…unlearning, you

know? To muster up the courage and tell you everything.”

I bite my lip, worried for different reasons now, and press myself against him, hoping to

communicate my support, my genuine interest, my faith. He raises his face to mine with a small

smile, and I give him mine in return.

“Honestly, Ari, it’s probably better that I didn’t know you were a girl when we first met, really,” he

murmurs, smirking a little, “or else I’d never have been able to talk to you. Not at all.”