Page 24 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

“Making friends is easier said than done, though,” I continued. “I don’t have a lot of free time to socialize.”

Bennett stopped tugging.

“If you do get time, there are some decent clubs close to downtown. Just avoid the ones on the south side. A lot of women have had their drinks spiked there.”

“Thanks for the warning. I appreciate it.”

The elevator doors opened, and he nodded to me before getting off with his companions.

I finally glanced at Bennett, who was thoroughly pissed off, based on his dilated pupils and trembling fingers that were still lightly holding mine.

At least, he was staring down at the floor so the other people hadn’t seen.

“It’s called polite small talk, Bennett. Useful to normal people who are put into social situations, and something I haven’t had a whole lot of practice with. Now, are we still getting me a burger, or is it tantrum time?”

“Burger,” he said roughly before motioning that I should exit first.

He followed me to the next elevator and then to the car so he could open the door for me.

“Are you okay driving?” I asked when he got in behind the wheel.

“Yeah.”

The ride was quiet, only interrupted by the stop for food. By the time we reached the house, though, Bennett seemed a little less on edge.

“Can I ask something and get an honest answer?” I asked when he opened the door for me.

“Sure.”

“Why is talking to the opposite sex so bad? I mean, I can understand when I was younger. Stranger danger and all that. But why is it still a problem? Do Mom and Dad really think I’m incapable of judging a person’s character, or do they mean to stop me from ever having a relationship so I can live at home forever? ”

Bennett leaned around me to close the car door then stayed like that, loosely trapping me between his body and the door.

“Do you like him?”

The question was laced with an angry growl and delivered close to my ear.

“I don’t like anyone, Bennett. I know better. Liking people gets me sent away. I was asking because I was curious, and I thought after our little breakthrough, you might give me a real answer. Guess I was wrong. Now, can we go inside and eat?”

He stepped closer.

I ducked under his arm and fled to the house before he completely lost it.

Why did it always feel like one step forward and two steps back with him?

Once I was safely in my room with the door closed, I let out a long breath, relieved that I had averted another crisis, and went to change into my pajamas. I wasn’t ready for bed yet but wanted to change the bandages and apply more ointment.

My phone buzzed with messages while I worked, and I wondered which parts of today Bennett had shared with Mom. The tripping incident this morning? Unlikely. If he’d wanted to share that, he would have done so right away. And I knew he hadn’t because she hadn’t called.

I paused with a frown.

Wait…he’d said they were worried after what happened and had touched my scrapes. Did that mean Mom knew and hadn’t called to check on me? What the hell?

My phone buzzed again.

If it wasn’t the tripping, it probably wasn’t my meet-up with Sophia either. After all, he’d found me there, and they hadn’t reached out after that, which meant he’d let them know where I was and who I was with.

And if it’d been the talk before my nap, there would have been texts waiting for me when I woke. The only messages had been from before he’d found me.

That meant they were messaging me because of my conversation with Walt in the elevator or my question to Bennett just now when we’d gotten home.

My bet was the latter.

I closed my eyes and coached myself.

You’ve been through much worse, Wren. Sure, it was because of their smothering love, but that’s in the past. Keep your cool in the present so you can have an amazing future—a future with no mean girls, no injuries, and no restrictions.

Letting out a calming breath, I opened my eyes, smiled at myself in the mirror until it felt real, then finished redressing my scrapes before grabbing my phone.

Mom: Bennett mentioned your frustration today, and I’m sorry.

Mom: I talked to Dad. You’re right. We should have a family conversation about your future. Are you free tomorrow night?

Bennett: I’m sorry. Can we have dinner together and talk?

Bennett: I have more chocolate.

My inner peace had an eye twitch as I read through all of that a second time. Am I free? I didn’t have a life. Of course I was free.

And Bennett could shove his chocolate up his chocolate factory.

“No mean girls, no injuries, and no restrictions,” I mumbled to myself as I typed out a response to Mom.

Me: Of course I’m free for dinner tomorrow. Where, when, and how am I getting there?

Mom: I’ll let Bennett know the details. He can drive so your hands can heal.

“Pfft. Right.” I left my phone on my vanity and went downstairs instead of messaging Bennett.

He was pacing in the kitchen while the bag of food sat on the counter. He stopped when I entered and watched as I grabbed the bag and turned around.

“I told you it wouldn’t take long,” I said as I marched out of the kitchen.

I closed myself in his bedroom, sat on his bed, and proceeded to gorge myself on all the fast food. Was I starving? No. I was petty, and eating Bennett’s food was a form of revenge for being a pain in my ass.

When I was full, I mashed what was left of his burger with my forearm, rewrapped the flattened disc, and put it back in the bag by the door. Then I sat on his bed and planned.

A lot of bad things had happened to me in the few days I’d been home.

The face bruise from Miranda, being pinned to a wall by Milena, and then tripped by Storm.

Mom’s concession to talk about the future didn’t give me any warm, hopeful feelings.

No, I knew better. It was an appeasement talk.

A “be patient” talk. We’d had plenty of those in the past, usually after something happened and I expressed a desire for something—like leaving that seventh-ring-of-hell school—that didn’t align with what they wanted.

I would be coaxed and managed until I conceded to whatever they wanted.

Which was why I needed Bennett on my side.

Aiden and Karter would have been preferable, but the assholes weren’t here.

And now I was stuck with moody Bennett.

I sighed.

A second later, he knocked on the door.

“Can I come in?”

“No. Go away, Bennett. I’m thinking and don’t need you to add to my headache.”

The door didn’t open, and after a few minutes, I relaxed and went back to contemplating the problem that was Bennett. He was volatile, and that unpredictability was messing with my plans.

If he would just claim his mate already, I’d have my bed, and he’d stop doing weird things like pinning my hands above my head and trying to taste what I drank.

“You said you would stop running away from me,” he said suddenly on the other side of the door.

Annoyed, I got off the bed, grabbed the food bag, and yanked open the door. He caught the bag when it hit his chest.

“I didn’t run; I walked. And I’m avoiding you so I don’t say mean things until I’ve calmed down.” Rather than shutting the door in his face, I kept going.

“Why do you always treat me like that when you’re in a mood? I’m a person with feelings, too, Bennett. How would you like it if someone bigger and stronger tried to physically intimidate you every time you annoyed them?

“And for the record, my choice would be to not annoy you at all…by not being here. So don’t even try to say it’s my fault for being annoying.”

One second, I was standing in the doorway, verbally slapping some sense into him; the next, my back was against the wall, and he was holding my hands to my sides as he met my gaze.

His pupils were spasming between fully blown and pinpoints, making him look like the lunatic I knew he was.

“I know you’re a person, Wrenly. I wasn’t trying to intimidate you.”

“Right, because holding someone down during a conversation is normal.”

His lips pulled back in a snarl, but he didn’t let me go.

“Are you sure you’re not annoying me on purpose?” he asked.

“Nope. It just comes naturally. Why are you here?”

“It’s my room.”

“Give me my bed back, and I’ll get out of it.”

He closed his eyes, and I knew from the way he took a slow breath that he was struggling to keep calm. A wise person would have been afraid. But I wanted to laugh.

Served him right!

His eyes snapped open. His pupils weren’t spasming anymore but had completely swallowed his irises.

And there was the fear…filling me quite quickly.

“Remember, I break easily,” I said faintly.

Frustration crept into his expression a second before he leaned in. His lips brushed my ear as he said, “I’m not your enemy, Wrenly. I would never hurt you.”

Then he was gone, along with his mashed food.

Alone, I hurried to close the door, then stared at it as the feel of his breath on my ear haunted me. It hadn’t felt brotherly.

The things he’d said to me over the last several days—things I’d been desperately not overthinking—ran through my head.

I don’t hate you.

I will never see you as my sister, Wrenly.

I am not your brother, Wrenly.

What do you see me as, Wrenly?

No…it wasn’t…he couldn’t.

Don’t fear me. I won’t hurt you.

I would never hurt you.

I’m trying to understand you, Wrenly.

This time, she’s home for good.

Like a marionette on loose strings, I stumbled back to the bed and sat hard. Mom’s voice filled my head.

He’s more patient than most. He’ll give her the time she needs, even if it drives him crazy.

He’s deeply afraid she’ll reject him.

She’s never shown any interest in him as a mate.

If he looks like he’s going to lose his temper, hug him, Wrenly.

I think you’re the only person he needs to see.

I shook my head. No, I was wrong. There was no way that I was the mate that Bennett was waiting for. But I thought back, and so many things were aligning with this new and very unsettling suspicion.

The kiss at the museum. Pinning me to the wall after I stomped on his foot and saying maybe I'd want to play later.

Grandma suggesting flattery.

The way he'd reacted when he found me sitting next to Walt in the park, which I'd blamed on Mom and Dad's “No Boys” rule.

How he’d freaked out about the other woman's scent in his office, but was fine with me napping on his couch.

All the ways he'd messed with me after my panic episode.

What if what he'd done hadn't been a test but an actual kiss on my neck?

The fact that he'd thrown Aiden and Karter into a wall when they mentioned his mate but never did anything to me...they were shifters, though, and could withstand his version of a spanking.

His horrified tone when he’d asked if I liked girls.

I covered my ears as if it could stop my thoughts.

I was wrong. The idea was completely and absolutely ridiculous.

I had to be wrong .