Tipping The Scales: Knox (Mate Craze)(31)

No.

It hurt to type, but it felt like the right choice. Until I hit send, anyways. Now I wanted to type JK, come now. Please. But I wouldn’t. Always go with your gut. That’s what Gran always said, not that she was one to be taking advice from on this one.

I could see he was typing. Moments turned into minutes before it actually popped on my screen. Whatever he had been typing had become reduced to three words.

I won’t push.

He might not push, but I wanted to. Needed to. Not with the personal what’s going to happen or not happen with us stuff. No, I needed facts. All the facts. The future lawyer in me demanded them.

How did I know where the bar was with no name on it?

That had been bugging me since we first got there. I followed him, not in true stalker fashion by trailing him, but by hearing where he was going and “accidentally” being there. How had I done that? It wasn’t the biggest piece of this puzzle, yet it was what my curious soul needed to know at that moment. It was official. I was a freak. A superhot dude with an amazing ability wanted me, and yet I was worried about how I found a stupid bar.

There was a name then.

His answer came back quicker this time, probably because it was a right or wrong, I could look it up kind of question. If it weren’t for all of the creepy staring by the people at said bar, I would’ve asked when we were there.

But now it’s gone?

His reply popped up almost instantaneously. He must have sent it too soon. It gave me comfort to know he was as nervous as I was, even if he was the one with the huge arse secret and I was just a girl. Possibly. That was debatable at this point.

It was for when one of the local kids made an attempt at indie film making.

Small town by day, flourishing artist colony by night. And dragons’ lair. Can’t forget that.

But you called it by name.

I thought back to that night. He had very clearly said where he was going to be with a name and street. How else would I have found it? Or did my imagination fill in blanks over time? If I hadn’t sprouted feather and began to cluck, I’d have been dialing the phone to hear his voice and not have visual proof of the dumb arse questions I hounded him with.

I started to pick at the polish on my finger nail. It was a disgusting habit and I chided myself, but continued. As far as vices went, I could be drinking or so the argument I made with my mother numerous times would indicate.

Because you were listening and I wanted you to come find me. I was pretty sure you were my mate.

He set the bait for me and I took it. He wanted me even then. Or did he? Not once did he say hello or even give me a wink. I was with my mother, a damper to be sure so maybe that was it. Wait? Pretty sure. Was he sure now? Why did not knowing the answer to that form such knots in my stomach?

But now you’re sure.

I wrote it like a statement, but I was really asking. I just didn’t want to all but call him a liar. If he wasn’t one hundred percent sure, that was fine. Really it was. Sort of. Suck. Not at all. Not being sure was not all right on any level.

Now you’re older, so my dragon knows for sure. Before, you were younger.

By less than a year.

Can I call you?

I typed a Y and an E before my feathers took hold. Was he mad I called him a liar about me being older? What did age have to do with it anyway? I grabbed my dragon sculpture and squeezed it, willing it to send me answers.

Not yet. One last thing. You said I don’t have to pick you. What about you? Can you not pick me?

I knew I was leaving questions unanswered, but the unimportance of it slammed into me as his words from earlier hit me. I didn’t have to pick him. Not once did he mention himself. Not that I could blame him. He was a flipping dragon, so me not passing out or trying to kill him was a miracle in and of itself, mostly the passing out bit. It wasn’t like he could expect me to hear every minute detail of what it meant to be a dragon or the mate of one, or in this case possibly not being the mate of one. Argggg. I was over thinking again.

I blamed him for that. In the time it took him to respond I had removed the polish completely from two nails, sat in three different positions, kicked off my shoes, and counted to four hundred twelve. I was anticipating a novel when his single word answer arrived.

No.

What happens if I don’t pick you?

I would. I already knew it to my core. I didn’t know the hows or whys or even if it was what I wanted, but it was what it was. I was his and he was mine. Mine. That word felt so good as I rolled it over in my mind. Knox was mine.

You’re second question would be correct.

Second question? Stinks, what order did I go in? I scrolled up for what seemed like forever. And there it was.

Are you evil?

Did I truly have that power? No, that made no sense. How could my rejection cause him to be evil? If it did, wouldn’t that mean the evil was always there?

I had looked his dragon straight in the eye, and while I’d been startled and a bit shocked, never once had I felt fear. Surely if he had been a danger to me, my body would’ve reacted in some way.

I clutched my dragon as if it was a life preserver and I had just been dropped in the middle of the ocean, just as my doorknob turned. Just what I needed, a roommate meaning well and begging me to tell her all the things. Not that I would. No, this was between Knox and me. Well, Knox and me and from what I gathered earlier, the entire town.

I jumped out of bed, trying to look like I was getting ready to leave already when she arrived. No need to be too concerned, because she had her phone glued to her head. She hated talking on the phone, not that what she was doing could be described as talking. She was listening with that look on her face. The one that told me all was not right in the world of her parents.