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Nex glances down at the finger in his chest before his gaze returns to Brenden and then slides to me. “What are you doing here?”

Brenden scoffs. “We’re at the market. What do you think we’re doing?”

“Oh, right.” Nex flushes. “That makes sense.”

Silence falls over us as we glance at one another. I don’t have any idea what I’m supposed to say right now. The last time Nex and I spoke, his words were cruel. I should hate him. Iwantto hate him, but I don’t. I don’t know if I can with the unrelenting mate bond insistently tugging at me. It wants us to be together as we’re meant to, but Nex doesn’t want that.

I wonder if it tugs at him in the same way. Does it hurt him to stand so close to me and not touch me? If it does, then how can he stand there so nonchalantly?

The silence quickly grows awkward, and I wish I was anywhere but here.

“We should—“

“I was just about to—“

I bite back a smile as the two of them speak at the same time, both cutting off.

“Go ahead,” Nex says, and Brenden shakes his head. With another glance at me, Nex takes a deep breath. “I was just going to say I’m planning to grab some dinner now that I have what I came for. Maybe the two of you would like to join me?”

“Why?” I blurt it out before I can stop myself.

He runs a hand through his dark hair, wincing. “I…I’m sorry for the things I said to you, Audrey. I didn’t mean them, but having you around all the time without being able to touch you was driving me crazy. I thought that if I could run you off, it would be easier.”

“And how did that work out for you?” Brenden asks, flashing his fangs again.

“Clearly, it didn’t work. It was a million times worse than when I was at least able to see you.” He shakes his head. “I know apologizing isn’t enough to make up for what I’ve done.”

“It sure the fuck isn’t.”

I lay a hand on Brenden’s arm, trying to calm him as he shoves himself into Nex’s face. “Stop, Brenden. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can fight my own battles. As far as dinner goes, I’m starving. We might as well eat together, right?”

Hope flashes in Nex’s eyes as he nods. “I’d really like that.”

“Are you sure, Audrey? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” At my nod, Brenden sighs. “Fine. We’ll have dinner, but if you even blink the wrong way, I’m going to snap your neck.”

I glance between the two of them, trying to figure out if he’s actually threatening Nex or if he’s flirting with him. That might seem like a strange question to be asking myself, but when it comes to Brenden, it’s sometimes hard to tell. Especially if he’s as obsessed with Nex as I think he is.

Nex holds his hands up in surrender, slowly backing away. “There’s an excellent restaurant just up the road.”

“It sounds perfect. We’ll follow you.”

Nex shoots me a small smile and starts down the street. When I go to follow him, Brenden stops me.

“Are you sure about this?”

I snort. “Not at all, but it seems a bit kismet, doesn’t it? Like we were meant to run into him here. He’s not acting like an asshole like he has been. I think we need to take a chance—give him a chance. I still don’t know if I can forgive him, but if I don’t try, I’ll never know.”

“Yeah, okay.”

It doesn’t take long for us to catch up to Nex, and I have no idea what I’m doing—or thinking or feeling. I’m a fucking mess.

At least I won’t be a hungry mess after we eat, so that’s a plus. Let’s just hope this doesn’t blow up in my face.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Nex

Idon’tknowwhatmademe invite Brenden and Audrey to dinner. The question kind of popped out before I really had a chance to think about what I was doing.