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I looked up at Silver and grimaced. “Well, just from one parking lot to another. And there’s a lot more room inside than it looks,” I told him as I pulled my keys out of my pocket.

I loved my little car. It was perfect for me, and until fate had decided my mate was a giant of a gorilla shifter, I didn’t have any reason to need anything larger.

“It’s a Fiat.”

I grinned. “Isn’t it great? It’ll only be a few minutes to get over to the other parking lot,” I told him as I looked at Silver over the roof.

I opened the door and easily slid in behind the steering wheel.

Up until a few hours ago, there was absolutely no reason for me to have to worry about the size of my vehicle.

Silver opened the door, and he held the box of cake out to me. I took it and placed it on the floor behind the seats with the other one. I will admit that it was an adventure to watch my mate try to pretzel his way into my tiny little car. It was perfect for me, and I just loved the little thing.

I grinned at Silver after he pulled the door closed. He definitely wasn’t comfortable in my car, which was a bit sad for me. I completely understood though. He was a big guy, and my car…well, wasn’t.

“So, where did you park?” I asked as I drove around the zoo from one parking lot to the other.

“I’m in A3.”

I nodded and headed that way. It only took a minute to get to the other lot and to the section he was in. I went to the third row and slowly drove down it.

“There, the large black truck on the right.”

Of course he would drive a big-ass truck. He was a giant of a man. I stopped in front of it and couldn’t even see over the top of the hood it was that tall.

“This one?”

Silver grinned at me. “Yeah. If you want to follow me, I’ll lead you to my place. It’s not too far.”

I nodded in agreement. Once Silver managed to remove himself from my car, I actually felt bad for him because he seriously struggled to get his legs out of it.

I backed up a little to give him room to pull out of the space.

Once he had his truck moving, I tucked in behind him, wondering if maybe I should have at least gotten his number in case we got separated.

I needn’t have worried though. Silver made sure I was always able to remain directly behind him.

If I got caught at a light, he pulled over to the side of the road to wait for me.

I became a little concerned, though, when he signaled that he was going to turn into my neighborhood.

I thought we were going to his and not mine.

We entered the neighborhood, and when I would have taken the first left to go to my house, Silver turned right.

Since I knew what this neighborhood was like and how all of the roads were a lot like a maze, I made sure I didn’t lose sight of him.

Not that it would be easy with as large as his truck was.

Silver finally slowed and signaled he was turning into a drive. I moved to the curb, stopping on the street because I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to park behind him, beside him—he had a double-wide driveway—or on the street. He quickly came out to me, and I rolled my window down.

“You can pull in beside me if you want. I’m the only one that lives here.”

I nodded, and after I parked beside his enormous truck, I turned off my car and reached back for the cake boxes. Silver had my door open and was reaching out, so I handed him the boxes and then climbed out of my car.

“I was reaching to help you, but I guess taking the cake did that.”

I chuckled. “You will never believe this, but I live on the other side of this neighborhood.”

Silver looked thoughtful for a moment. “Over in the little cottages?”

I nodded.

“Well, isn’t that ironic. Shall we go have that conversation?”

I grinned and followed Silver to the gate that led into his spacious backyard.

There was a single light on beside the door, and Silver typed in a code on the keypad.

I heard a click, and seconds later, Silver slid the door open and reached inside.

The deck was immediately lit with strings of lights, and I could only stare in awe at this little outdoor oasis.

“I take it you approve.”

I grinned up at my mate. “How could I not? This place is amazing.” I suddenly found myself comparing my little cottage to Silver’s much larger house and, well, found mine lacking a bit.

It was perfect for me, but would Silver be comfortable there?

I guess that was something we would need to discuss.

“Come, let’s sit and we can talk. I’ll grab some drinks and light the fire pit for us.”

I nodded and followed Silver over onto the deck where he’d indicated.

I sat down in a super-comfortable chair while he disappeared into the house.

I honestly didn’t know if I ever wanted to leave his deck.

This place was absolutely amazing, and I could see why he offered for us to come here and talk.

It was private and very comfortable and inviting.

Unfortunately for me, my backyard was about the size of my little cottage: tiny.

It worked for me and my koala, but yeah, I could only imagine how Silver would be uncomfortable in a place as small as mine.

Even as a human, he was much larger than I was.

And when you thought about my animal’s size and then his?

Yeah, Silver definitely wasn’t going to be comfortable in my space.

Would he ask me to move in here with him?

It was fast, but thinking about it, if he were to claim me tonight, it wouldn’t make sense that we continued to live apart.

I pinched the bridge of my nose while shaking my head.

I was definitely getting ahead of myself.

We were mates, and we both realized and admitted that.

But that didn’t mean we were going to claim each other right away, did it?

I thought back to what Silver had said when we were still at the zoo.

“I was under the impression that you were completely on board. We were talking about having sex, and sex usually leads to claiming when mates are involved. If I’m mistaken, I apologize.

We can slow down if that’s what you need.

” Everything about that screamed mates and claiming.

Was that what I wanted? Was I ready for that?