Chapter 7

I placed my hands on his chest, gently pushing him away. Once the spark hit me, I immediately withdrew my hands. 

"What is all of this about?" 

"I need you." He said in a low growl. 

Need me…. The way he said it made me feel like the last piece of diamond on earth. That made blood rush to my cheeks. 

He heaved a sigh. "Lyric, the last thing I want to do is scare you away, so we'll take things slowly. I understand this is a drastic change for you, especially since you don’t want a mate, but everything we do will be in your will. Nothing rushed, nothing forced." For the first time since the Halloween party, he sounded the way he had sounded that night, enchanting, not the authoritative tone he spoke with. "Please don't view this as completely negative.  Can you attempt to give this a try? If it doesn't work for you, then you can just keep it as an act till the deal can be cut off." 

I let myself dwell on it, and honestly, what did I want? Since Roger broke up with me, I had lost all hopes of life and romance. Being in a relationship had never been on my mind. Yet, deep down, I knew I didn't want to die single. That'd only make Roger a winner and get away with what he did to me. I never wished to see Roger again, but if our paths ever crossed, I'd prefer he saw me with someone ever hotter than he was. 

Don't be too hard on yourself. Give 'mate' love a chance. That was my final conclusion before I nodded. "Okay, I'll give this a chance." 

The corner of his lips quirked up to a lopsided smile. "Thank you.” His smirk grew. “Like I said, my goal is to make you fall madly in love with me, and I'd do everything I can to achieve that." When he noticed my eyes widen, he added, "but let me know if you're not comfortable with anything I do, and I'll respect your choice." 

Dang, respect my choice? That was the first time anyone has ever said that to me. "Thank you." I smiled.  

*** 

My math professor kept on yapping about some strange symbols of a language they called 'math equations'. I, on the other hand, had gone past this realm. Physically, I was in class. Mentally, I was with Professor Brian. 

It had been two days since I last saw Brian, and though we had been texting each other consistently, my heart still stung from his absence. Images of him being shirtless ran through my head like a TV screen, making blood rush to my cheeks and body parts. 

'I need you'. Those words reverberated in my head for the umpteenth time, causing a smile on my face. 

Lyric, get it together. I shook my head slightly, snapping out of my pool of thoughts. My gaze caught a glimpse of the girl beside me shooting a forehead-rumpled stare at me. 

She mouthed, 'are you okay?'

I nodded then she whispered. "You're all red." 

"It's hot." I whispered back and she squinted her eyes at me like I was crazy before returning her attention to the professor. That was a stupid excuse. This room was like Antarctica in action. 

Once the class ended, everyone started walking out of the classroom. Packing my bags, I sent a mentally note to myself to study for this class lecture because my brain had been studying the details of Brian's abs instead. 

"Look at this picture, Bri." One of those two girls that sat behind me said. 

"Dang, he's fine!" The girl I now identified as Bri said.

"Yes. He's so hot. I had to do a lot of digging to get this picture." She let out a dreamy sigh. "He's too perfect." 

I glanced at them, remembering they had first informed me about a 'hot professor' in this school. "Let me guess, another hot professor?' I playfully rolled my eyes. 

"No, it's the same one!" Bri grinned. "Anna, show her." 

Anna extended her phone to me, exposing a photo of Brian in beach shorts and a surfing board hugged up by his side. I couldn’t help the way a pop of excitement filled my eyes. He was probably in college in this picture, and those gray eyes staring into my soul still had the same effect on me. 

He's hot! Shrugging, I said uninterestedly, "he's okay." 

"Okay?" Anna gasped. "This is a piece of art! Do you need glasses?" 

"I'm fine, thank you. He's not really my type." The lie slipped out faster than I could think. "I'll see you next class. Bye." Hanging my bag over my shoulder, I headed out, pursing my lips to stop the smirk from growing on my face. These girls were obsessed with Brian while he was chasing after me, claiming that he needs me. A prideful chuckle vibrated from my chest. 

*** 

Getting off the bus, as I walked into the street of the bar, I found myself scrolling through my FasheBoke account, and before I could think about it, I had typed the words, 'Emily Stone' , clicking on her account. 

Why was I searching my ex-boyfriend's girlfriend's account? I had no idea. Maybe because Roger’s rejection still left a hollow space in my heart that could only be filled with a confirmation that their relationship was destroyed. However, anytime I checked her account, she always posted their latest vacation or one amazing thing Roger did for her, making my face contort. 

"This is so unfair." I said, scrolling through her pictures. She had visited a beach with him. In the picture, he was holding her waist and kissing her neck from behind while she held his huge biceps, grinning. On her finger, I saw the same ring from six years ago when he had proposed to her in my face! "Karma is a thing, until it gets to me." I scoffed. 

'Get off her account.' My wolf urged me, because seeing him was making my muscles feel tight from the rejection and my wolf was feeling the familiar tension we had taken a long time to recover from. 

As I was about to leave, I accidentally refreshed her profile and saw that she jhad just posted a picture a few seconds ago. It was with Roger again. However, what caught my attention was her location. The park there. It was Scent Moris! That was a park in Dentville! 

No freaking way! Opening the location she tagged, it confirmed that they were indeed in Dentville. "No, no, no!" I stomped my feet. Why would my ex and his girlfriend move to the city where I now reside?

My phone began to vibrate and the caller ID of my Mom popped up. "What does she want again?" Rolling my eyes, I answered the call. "What is it? I already sent you the remnant of my account balance. What more do you want?" I growled, opening the door to the employee entrance of the bar. 

"Ly, baby, calm down." She coughed, clearly from the smoke of her cigarette. "I still need more money, but that's not why I called. I was checking the weather forecast in Dentville. I found myself on their news page then realized a full moon is predicted to be out anytime this month in Dentville." 

At that, I came to a halt. "How didn’t i realize that?" My voice was calm now. 

"You can't be that reckless!" 

"I know, Mom." I frowned. 

"You clearly didn’t know. You need to be informed. What if you accidentally stayed out?" She scolded. "If anyone finds out about that curse of yours, you know you'll be in the lab in the next minute. You've gotta be careful!" 

"I know, Mom, I know." I snapped. 

"Please confirm the date of the full moon and make sure you don’t step out all day long." She said, concern reeking in her tone. 

"I won't."