“Yeah, they’re fine.” I pushed my cowardice away and opened the door.
His eyebrows shot upward, and he smirked. “The point of changing was to get dry.” He gestured to the wet clothes against my chest.
“And the point of asking you to not tell someone about me was for you not to call someone at the first opportunity and spill my secrets.” My voice rose as my anger bled through. I shoved past him, marching toward the front door.
“Hey, wait,” he said as he followed me and gently grabbed my arm. “It’s not what you think.”
“Oh, so the whole ‘there’s a girl I want to tell you about’ wasn’t actually about me?” I lifted my chin, daring him to deny it.
“Give me a chance to explain.” He raised a hand and gave me puppy dog eyes.
And the more insane part was that it worked. My resolve crumbled. “You’ve got one minute.”
“You know how you were talking about how you didn’t feel right staying here?” He jumped right to the point.
“Yes.” This had to be some sort of trap, and I was walking right into it. His dark eyes turned milk chocolate. “What if you staying here helps me too?” “How so?” I hated to admit that I was intrigued.
He rubbed his hands together. “Date me.”
I jerked back. “What?” I had to have heard him wrong.
“Date.” He touched his chest. “Me.”
“You seem great.” He had lost his mind. Maybe when I’d punched him, I’d caused a brain injury. “But my family and entire pack were slaughtered this morning, and I’m kind of running for my life. Dating isn’t high on the priority list.” I edged toward the door. I didn’t want to startle him. I’d heard fast movements could aggravate insanity.
“There won’t be strings attached, only exclusivity.” He motioned between us. “You need a place to live, and I need the pressure to date someone to go away. It’s a win-win.”
“You don’t want to date someone, but you asked me to date you?” My head spun, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t from almost drowning.
“I can understand why you’d be inching toward the door.” He shook his head. “But it isn’t as insane as it sounds. Like I said, we would date and be exclusive, but we’ll be friends dating without the romantic pressure. There’s this girl eyeing my best friend, and she’s pushing her best friend at me. I’m not interested, but I can’t get Luna to leave me alone.”
Wow, so much information at one time, but I had nowhere else to go. “So, you want to date me for real, but we’re just friends. Nothing would be actually expected from me… in any capacity- physically or otherwise.”
“Exactly.” He blew out a breath. “I mean, you’re gorgeous, and you’re strong and direct, which reminds me of Olive. My sister. It’s kind of nice being around you. It doesn’t seem quite like she’s gone.”
Some of the discomfort fell from my chest, and surprisingly, his words didn’t hurt my feelings. He was handsome, but I wasn’t into him that way either. “If I agree, what does that have to do with the conversation with whomever it was earlier?” If he thought his weird proposal would distract me from that… it wouldn’t.
“Well, this is where it gets awkward.” He tugged at an ear. “I did tell Griffin-that’s my best friend-about you, in the sense that I said I couldn’t go out with that girl tonight because I was with you.”
“You assumed I’d say yes?” My emotions were bouncing all over the place; I couldn’t settle on one. I was equally horrified, angered, and flattered. It was a trifecta of conflict.
“Actually, it kind of came out, and I’m hoping you’ll say yes, or I’m kinda screwed.” He gestured to the house. “But this place is big enough for both of us. You can stay in Olive’s room. Make it your own, and I’ll stay in mine.”
“This is a little crazy.” And the funny thing was that I was downplaying it by calling it crazy. “I have nothing to my name-”
“Which makes this even more of a good plan.” He took my clothes out of my hand. “I’m the alpha of Shadow Ridge, and I’ve got connections. I can help you get a fake ID and get you a job at the Shadow Ridge University coffee shop. You would have a secret identity with money and a place to live.”
He was so young to have such a leadership role, but sometimes fate forced our hand. His help sounded a little too good to be true. “If you’re alpha, that means others will be around a lot. I’m trying to blend in.” Unless…maybe his pack being around would help with that. “Besides, why don’t you tell that girl that you aren’t interested? It would be a hell of a lot easier than doing all this other stuff.”
“Don’t worry about the pack. Honestly, I kind of stay out of their way. Even though I’m technically the alpha, I’m taking a hiatus, and my dad’s beta is filling in. They’re giving me space to go to college and grieve for my family, so you’ll be more off the radar here than anywhere else.” Sadness crept into his voice. “In regards to the girl, I’ve tried.” He blew out a breath. “The problem isn’t even her-it’s her best friend, who keeps pushing for us to go out. The best friend is close with Griffin because her dad works with him. Griffin doesn’t see that she’s trying to force his hand to settle down. So, me having a girlfriend will make things easier with a lot less drama than continually refusing them.”
He had no clue how girls worked. This would cause even more drama. Girls like that didn’t back down without a fight. But a fake ID would be an amazing thing to have, and maybe his messed-up life could distract me from mine. “And I’d get to keep the fake ID?” With that, I could get a plane ticket or whatever else I might need when verifying my identity would be involved.
“Yup,” he said and beamed as if he knew he had me. “I know we’re being secretive, so I haven’t even bothered asking your name. But is there a name you want on the ID?”
“Uh…” I chewed on my lip. I had so much on my mind; I didn’t have the capacity to add anything else to it. “Surprise me?” I squeaked.
“Can do.” He scratched his neck. “Any other information I should know?”
“Nope.” I got that he was curious, but I’d told him enough for one day. “I’m facted out for now.”
“Then let me make it official.” He got down on one knee and lifted a hand. “Will you please do the honor of being my girlfriend?”