Page 104 of Torin
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Would you have killed Cade if it hadn’t been me?”
He takes a moment to answer. “No.”
“If he’d done the same thing to another woman?”
“I’d have stopped him.”
“But you wouldn’t have killed him.”
“No.”
“Then why was I different?”
“Because you’re my mate.”
A shiver runs through me.
“Yesterday, while you were gone…” I hesitate. “Orson said that.”
“Yeah.”
“So, it’s true?”
“Of course.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I thought you knew.”
“How would I know?”
His eyebrows rise. “I tried to kiss you.”
“I know. But then nothing really happened after that. I started wondering whether I’d read too much into it.”
“You thought I changed my mind?”
“Maybe.”
He reaches for my hand. “I was trying not to push you.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “You could’ve pushed me a little.”
His thumb brushes my knuckles.
“I’m a bear.”
“Uh huh.”
“I don’t go around kissing women for the fun of it.”
I stare at him.
All those years, he knew there was someone out there for him. He wondered who she was. What she’d be like. How they’d meet.
