The Mate (A Fire's Edge Short Story - Prequel)

Chapter 5

Maddie

What am I doing, agreeing to this? Logic dictated she shut this down, but the competitive part of her wanted to win. Plus, the female part of her wanted to see where Fallon was taking this. The man might joke and tease, but he rarely did anything without a plan, as far as she could tell.

Maddie sighed. "Truth."He rattled of his question immediately. "Were you as into me as I was into you in California?"

Holy crap. Maddie's eyebrows snapped down in a ferocious scowl. "Talking about the past is against the rules."

She needed those rules to make a well-informed, not hormone or emotion-ruled, decision.

"You'd be the one talking about it, not me. If you can't hack Truth or Dare..." He let the thought trail off with a shrug and let her natural competitiveness override her walls. Dammit.

She glared, but she didn't back down. "Yes."

The second he realized she was answering his question, Fallon's eyes lit up. She was tempted to wipe that smug smile off his face.

"I thought about you so much I dreamed of you," he admitted—shamelessly breaking the rules this time.

"Your turn," she said through clenched teeth rather than remind him. Again.

Fallon grinned and picked up the dice. He got the first question wrong, and she suspected on purpose. Though who would ever know that "scut" was the scientific name for a rabbit's tail? 

"Truth," he chose.

Dang. She was hoping for dare so she could dare him to end the date or let her win the game or walk away from her, just to see what he'd do. "You claim you want me..." she started.

"I claim to love you," he corrected.

Her stomach clenched at those words in an instinctual response, one that made her want to reach out for what he was offering, which scared the hell out of her. She held up a hand, doing her best to appear unmoved. "When did you first realize you wanted me?"

Those blue eyes darkened with what Maddie had to believe was pain. Why? Because she was having trouble believing him? An answering pain banded around her heart. She didn't like hurting him, but she had to figure this out on her own terms.

"Wanted you?" he asked slowly. "I knew that the first time we met. You shook my hand and were all serious, and all I wanted to do was find out if your lips were as soft as they looked." His gaze drifted to her lips, and the memory of his kisses had her heart tumbling over itself.

She drew in a deep breath. "I see—"

"But I knew I loved you that day you got right in the face of a guy we were interviewing. That big trucker guy? Remember?" Maddie opened her mouth, but he didn't let her respond. "He was easily a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier, but you showed zero fear. I wanted to both let you do the job you were clearly meant for and put myself bodily between you and him. I should've known then. One of a mate's most urgent instincts is to protect."

Maddie swallowed. The emotion-driven side of her longed to crawl into his lap and let herself believe all this was real. The logical part was still hanging back.

"Do you know how hard that is to cope with when your mate is feisty and hardheaded and can easily stand on her own two feet?" Fallon shook his head. "I can tell you it's a thousand times worse when her job puts her in danger."

Maddie didn't say anything for the longest time. She had no idea what to say or do. Fallon didn't move or speak, waiting for her to as he searched her face for...who knew what. After several beats, disappointment flattened his lips, his shoulders dropping, and she had to stop herself from reaching for him.