Page 13 of Bullied Pretend Mate (Silverville Firefighter Wolves #3)

When I wake up the next morning after the pack party, I’m already thinking about Felix. He kept his hands on me the entire night. If his hand wasn’t on my thigh, it was on the small of my back.

As the night went on and we sat with the others—Lachlan and Valerie, Phina and Xeran, Kalen and Soren—Felix was constantly moving me. Pulling me into his lap, standing behind my chair with his arms around me. Tugging me closer to him. Slinging his arm around my shoulders or waist.

And I still feel the lingering tingle of his touch, the reminder that it’s only been eight hours since the last time he had his hands on me.

Considering the fact that my rental is just across the street from the park, we walked back here last night. Felix was sure to leave his bike outside where everyone could see it, right next to my Jeep.

As quietly as I can, I sit up and peek over the side of the bed.

He’s sprawled out on his stomach on the couch, snoring gently, his head turned to the side. His hair is shorter than I’ve ever seen it, and I resist the urge to reach out and run my hand over it.

I’m just about to say his name when I hear my phone buzzing on the counter.

Kelly (Hollerand).

“Holy shit,” I breathe, scooting down the bed as fast as I can, grabbing my phone and hurrying to the bathroom, shutting it just as I hear Felix say my name sleepily.

Heart pounding, I allow myself one more ring before I pick up, trying to sound as cool and collected as a Hollerand partner might be expected to act.

“Maeve Villareal speaking.”

“Maeve! Hi, this is Kelly with Hollerand Merchandising.”

“Hi, Kelly, how are you doing?”

“I’m very well, thank you for asking. I’m actually calling to check in on those samples? We sent out a formal email asking for an approximate date of arrival, but I noticed we haven’t gotten an answer to that quite yet.”

“That’s right—I’ll make sure to get that to you as soon as I can. I’m working out some details on my end.”

“That sounds good. Please do email us as soon as possible, as we’re really looking forward to receiving those samples. We do have quite a few other brands interested in working with us, so if it’s too much for you at the moment—”

“No,” I say, a little too quickly. “Absolutely not. This is perfect timing for me. You’ll get that email from me today, and the samples as soon as I can possibly send them over.”

“Great. Talk to you soon, Maeve. And have a wonderful weekend.”

When I get off the phone with Kelly, my hands are shaking and my heart pounds hard enough that my entire body sways. It takes me a moment to center myself, and when I do, I hear Felix on the other side of the door.

“Hey,” I say, swinging it open and revealing him there, ear poised like it was to the door, just like how he used to eavesdrop when we were kids. I let out a snicker. “You are so nosy.”

“You need that money, don’t you?” Felix asks, his brow furrowing.

I suck in a breath. I do need the money. Rather than showing him how nervous I am about it, I just nod and flash him a grin.

“Yep—and that’s why everything has to go perfectly at our meeting today.”

***

The legal office looks exactly the same as it did last time, but now it feels different with Felix sitting at my side, looking massive in the chair next to me, and fidgeting for the entire five minutes we have to wait for someone to come and get us.

“Ms. Villareal.”

The secretary appears just like she did last time, her heels clicking across the floor as she stops, looking at us, her gaze flitting between me and Felix.

“He’ll see you now,” she says.

We follow her back to the office, where Mr. Stone is waiting for us, a tired look on his face. He gestures for us to take a seat, and we do.

“So, Ms. Villareal,” he says, glancing between the two of us, clearly picking up on the way our scents have started to mix. “It seems you are in the process of taking a mate.”

I have to be bold with this. Reaching out, I take Felix’s hand in mine. He plays the part perfectly, turning it over and kissing it before pulling it so it rests on his thigh, his hand covering mine protectively.

Turning back to Mr. Stone and hoping we haven’t put on too much of a show, I say, “I am. This is Felix Rana. We were childhood friends. I never meant for this to happen, but…coming back to town, it rekindled the spark we didn’t know was there.”

“I see,” Mr. Stone says, lowering his glasses and looking at the two of us. “If you don’t mind, I am required by the late Mrs. Villareal to ensure things are proceeding appropriately. Her testament details that in the event you bring a mate, I am to ask them several questions.”

“Of course,” Felix says, his voice oozing charisma, and I’m more grateful now than ever that he’s used to doing things like this.

My heart pounds, and my palms are sweaty with the feeling that I am doing something horribly wrong, but Felix is relaxed in his chair like we’re kicking back with a good friend and not about to get questioned by a legal professional.

But it turns out, I’m hardly questioned at all. All the questions are aimed at Felix—when did he first meet me, what did he think of me, what made him fall in love.

“Well,” he says, leaning forward and dropping my hand for the first time during this meeting. I take the opportunity to rub my sweaty palms on my pants, as Mr. Stone is fully attentive to Felix. “We were—oh, maybe eight or nine, and we were playing in the woods out behind her grandmother’s house.”

Felix gestures to the general direction of the house, and Mr. Stone’s eyes widen.

Maybe he didn’t really believe me when I said we were childhood friends.

Of course, he seems to take Felix’s word for it over mine.

I try not to bristle at that, try to stay calm, try to keep myself from showing how nervous and agitated I am.

“And I was being an idiot. I’d like to say I grew out of being reckless, but I’m not quite sure that I did.” Felix reaches forward, knocking playfully against Mr. Stone’s desk, and to my surprise, the lawyer smiles at him.

How is it that Felix can put anyone at ease?

“Well, I actually fell down a well.”

Mr. Stone’s brow wrinkles, and Felix goes on, “Yes, there was a well on the property. Yes, there was wood over the top, and signs saying to keep out. But I was curious, even as Maeve was telling me I was going to get myself stuck.”

The day is coming back to me—the wet, mildewy scent of the well, the water that sat stagnant before Felix disturbed it. The harsh scraping as Felix tried to catch himself on the stones, then finally hit the water at the bottom.

The sharp spear of pain that went through me when I thought he might be seriously hurt.

But even back then, he was an alpha, his body built differently than mine. More robust. Like he just had more layers protecting him.

“And when I was at the bottom of that well, ankle sprained, looking up into the empty sky,” Felix says, raising his hand up, painting the picture of the sky for this lawyer, who, somehow, looks entirely transfixed by the story, “little Maeve popped her head over the side, looking right down at me. I thought for sure she was going to leave me there to die. I probably would have deserved it—I was always getting into these sorts of situations. I was always dragging her in with me.”

My heart starts to beat harder—not faster but heavier, like it’s carrying more and more blood with each pump. I remember looking over the wall of that well. I remember staring down at him, looking so small, his head tipped up as he stared at me from his spot below.

“But she didn’t leave me there to die,” Felix says, his voice impossibly soft.

He’s not looking at me, but keeping his gaze intent on Mr. Stone.

I feel every word of his story with a sense of permanence, like he’s told it before and he’ll tell it again.

“She went and got me help. Even knowing how upset our parents were going to be with her…it was unfair. Sometimes, the blame was heaped onto her for the shenanigans we got into. But she helped me, and before she left, she smiled down at me, and she said, 'Everything’s going to be good, Felix.’”

There’s a pause, and Felix leans back, taking my hand in his, squeezing it like he’s my real mate, telling the real story of the first time he realized he was in love with me.

“That’s the thing I remember, and the thing I associate most with Maeve.

She didn’t say things were going to be okay, or that everything would be fine—she specified ‘good.’ And that’s the kind of life we’re going to have together. ”

When he’s done, it’s like he’s delivered the speech in front of an entire room; the crowd hushed at the weight of what he’s just said.

But instead of applauding, Mr. Stone just clears his throat, scribbles something down in his notes, and plows ahead with the questions. “Great, thank you. And where would you approximate your family’s position within the pack?”

It’s impossible to tell whether or not Mr. Stone buys the story, but based on the set of his jaw, I’m leaning toward no.

Felix squeezes my hand as he continues answering questions about his family, his abilities, and the date of his first shift. Some of them are intrusive, but he plows on like this is all very normal.

I don’t know what Mr. Stone is thinking. All I know is that time is running out for me to make this relationship completely believable—to ensure this lawyer doesn’t see right through us.

Felix is doing his part. Maybe I need to do mine.