Page 36 of Miles's Pact
"Hey," I murmured as I approached him, perching my ass on the coffee table beside a bowl of water Duckie had used to clean Snowball.
Reaching forward, I ran my fingers over the puppy's head, then slid them over his back. Duckie sucked in a breath when my fingers brushed against his hand, and I glanced up at him, meeting his dark eyes. His hair hung forward, framing his face and making my fingers itch to tuck the strands behind his ears.
"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for bed," Mateo declared as he strolled into the living room, freshly showered by the looks of his damp hair. His sparkling brown eyes slid from me to Duckie, and he visibly bit back a smirk. "Oops, looks like I interrupted a moment."
Rolling my eyes at my brother, I pulled my hand away, then stood up, taking the bowl of water and cloth into the kitchen to put away as Mateo told Duckie about our sleeping arrangement.
"I can sleep on the couch. I don't want to be a bother," Duckie insisted, and I shook my head. Even I couldn't fit comfortably on the couch, and he was taller than me. No way was I asking him to do that.
"Nah. Miles and I shared a room for years, don't worry. You and Snowball will feel much more comfortable in Miles's room. Trust me. His mattress is to die for."
That was true. My bed was one of the few things I'd splurged on when Mateo and I first got this place. Even after all these years, I could not sleep on the floor or a too-hard mattress without having nightmares.
Once I'd also assured Duckie I didn't mind him taking my room, he finally relented, carrying Snowball in his arms as he went up the stairs to my room.
After cleaning up, Mateo and I went upstairs as well, but it took me a while to fall asleep. As I waited for sleep to come, I used the time to make some plans for tomorrow. Now that Duckie was in his human form—and didn't seem to be in a rush to shift back—I wanted to make my intentions clear. Duckie was my mate, and I wanted to date him.
I'd never been in a relationship before—at least not any that lasted longer than a weekend—but I had a lot of ideas. Mateo liked teasing me by saying I got all the romance genes between us, and he wasn't all wrong. I liked romantic movies and books, and I wanted towooDuckie.
Duckie
Mateo had been right. Miles's mattress was heaven.
I'd had the best sleep of my life, and my head was clear, my body loose and relaxed as I opened my eyes to the warmly lit room. The sun was up and bright today, which wasn't usually the case in Mistvale from what I'd noticed so far.
Sitting up, I smiled when I spotted Snowball comfortably dozing away in his pet bed. I'd tried getting him to sleep in the bed with me—after Miles assured me he wouldn't mind—but the puppy was still a little wary. At least he liked his bed, so that was good.
Pushing the comforter off, I paused when a folded piece of paper with a pen tucked into it fell down to the floor. I picked it up, unfolding it to find a note with one simple question.
Would you like to go on a date with me?
Below the question were three options:Yes,No, andNot today.
It didn't take a genius to figure out Miles had left this note for me, and I stared at it for a few very long seconds. I'd never been on a date before, obviously. But I understood my feelings enough to know that I was interested in Miles that way. He was my mate, and he was a good-looking man who was sweet and kind, and apparently quite romantic.
Untucking the pen from the note, I carefully circledYes,then wondered if I'd have to go downstairs and hand the note over to Miles.
Before I could start to worry about the potentially awkward notion, the words on the note flickered, then changed.
A smiley face appeared on the note, along with the text:There are clothes for you on the armchair. I'll see you downstairs.
I blinked, then turned to look at the armchair placed near the window on the far side of the room. Sure enough, a stack of clothes sat on the velvet-covered cushion, a single red rose perched on top.
My smile was wide and instant, and I dropped the note on the bed before going over to the clothes. They were in my size, and I wondered when exactly Miles had gotten them since it wasn't the outfit I'd worn to Mom's. Maybe when he went to get my phone?
Shaking my head, I picked up the flower and took a sniff, humming at the soft, natural scent. Then I took the clothes to the attached bathroom, and filled a glass with water from the sink to put the rose in.
Placing the glass on the sink, I turned on the shower as I undressed, and every time my eyes fell on the bright red flower, it made me smile.
As I showered, I heard the door to the room open, then Mateo's voice as he talked to Snowball. Things went quiet after a moment, and I figured he'd taken Snowball with him.
Once I'd freshened up, I pulled on my new clothes, then brushed my damp hair. I eyed the hair dryer sitting on the counter, but I wasn't confident in my ability to use it, and I didn't want to accidentally damage my hair before my very first date.
I took the rose to the bedroom, placing it on the nightstand so I could look at it some more later, and then took a moment to ready myself to go downstairs.
I was eager to see what Miles had planned for us today, but I was also nervous. It had been a long time since I'd been 'human,' and the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass Miles by doing something dumb.
"You got this," I told myself, tugging at the well-fitting dark green button-down Miles had picked for me. He'd paired it with off-white jeans and dark green shoes, and I had to admit I looked quite good in them. It was still a little strange, looking in the mirror and seeing this adult,humanface reflected back at me, but I was starting to get used to it.
