Page 13 of Knot Your Sunshine (Snugverse Romcom #2)

Chapter twelve

Noa

I stare at the door Mia just fled through. Her scent still hangs in the air… mango and lavender mixed with something sharper, acidic. Distress. Fear. Maybe both.

"Well." I run both hands through my hair. "That didn't go exactly as planned."

Josh slumps into a conference chair like someone cut his strings. His glasses sit crooked on his nose, and his bottom lip juts out in what can only be described as a pout. "She didn't even stay to discuss the molecular structure of her formulation."

Keanu paces to the window, hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Did you see her face when we walked in? It was like she'd just discovered her surprise party was actually an intervention."

"Maybe we came on a bit strong," Josh mutters, spinning slowly in his chair.

My chest tightens, that same crushing sensation from last night when Mia pulled away from our kiss. When she looked at me with those violet eyes wide and conflicted before disappearing into the darkness. Just like she did thirty seconds ago.

The thought slithers through my mind before I can stop it: What if this isn't about our approach? What if she's genuinely not interested? What if the biological compatibility doesn't mean enough to her?

"She needs time." I force the words out, trying to convince myself as much as them, my voice sounding steadier than the earthquake happening in my chest. "We had weeks to process finding our scent match. She's had all of five minutes."

"So much for not overwhelming her." Keanu turns from the window, his reflection doubling in the glass.

His shoulders slump. "I honestly never thought our scent match would need to think about it.

We're literally designed for each other on a molecular level.

Plus, we can give her anything she wants, money, connections, support. "

"Apparently not," Josh says, pushing his glasses up with his middle finger. "She's clearly driven by achievement, by building things herself."

"This reminds me of that old story from our village," Keanu says suddenly, leaning against the window. "About Kaleo and Nalani? The fisherman who waited on the shore for seven years because his love was too busy becoming the island's greatest navigator to notice him?"

Josh stops spinning. "Didn't he finally get her attention by becoming the island's greatest canoe builder?"

"Yeah, but it took him seven years." Keanu holds up seven fingers like we might not understand the number. "Seven years of watching her sail past his beach every morning, never even glancing his way."

The knot in my gut twists tighter. Ugh, I don't want to wait seven years.

"So what do we do?" Josh's chair creaks as he spins again, slower this time.

I breathe deep, pulling in the last traces of Mia's scent, trying to memorize it in case—no. Not going there.

"We wait." The words scrape my throat like broken glass. "We give her the space she asked for."

"That's it?" Keanu pushes off from the window, his whole body radiating disbelief. "Just... wait?"

"And plan better for round two." I force my features into something that might pass for confidence if you squint. "She'll come around. The bond is too strong to ignore..."

It has to be.