“So, explain how you’ve had a date in the last year when you guys live like hermits.” She gave a wry smile.
“Finn gets antsy and goes off and does his thing.” Conner moaned at the flavor of the chicken. “I go off and do mine. Finn likes to spend his time off as a bear, which I personally think is lame. I like to come to the city and mingle with people.”
“Mingle, huh.” She threw a piece of crust that bounced off his head. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Well, I am still reasonably young.” He picked up the crust she threw and defiantly popped it into his mouth. “Surely you didn’t think I was celibate or something.”
“I don’t know what I thought.” She lowered her voice.
“Does it make you jealous to think of me with someone else?” He stopped eating and sucked the chicken seasoning off the tips of his fingers.
“You eat like an animal.” She rolled her eyes.
“Way to deflect.” He appeared unbothered.
“Does it make you jealous to think of me with someone else?” She tilted her body toward him.
“Do you want me to be?” His gaze intensified, and she blushed.
He propped his arms on his knees, lacing his fingers together. Jillian picked up the tray and set it on the chair.
“Are you going to get dressed, or are you planning on riding on my back in that.” He gestured to her robe. “Not that I’d complain either way.”
“Very funny.” She readjusted her robe so that her chest was completely covered. “I can’t leave yet. My father is going to scan the signed documents and sent them over to his buddy at the Capitol unless I stop him.”
“So, you want to what?” He looked around, and his site settled on the candles. “Burn the house down?”
“That would give him all the ammo he needed to discredit anything I had to say.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “And it would destroy all the evidence against him.”
“It bothers me that you didn’t know I was joking.” He coughed. “So, what’s plan B?”
“I don’t know.” She sat down on the edge of the bed, her shoulders deflating as she hung her head. “I fucked everything up when I tried to talk to my dad. Now I have absolutely no chance at getting through to him.”
A tear dropped from the tip of her nose, and Conner realized this wasn’t a joke. He bit his lip, tugging at the collar of his hoodie before sitting beside her. She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her. His cheek brushed against her forehead as she turned her face up to look at him.
His gaze moved from her eyes down to her lips, but he didn’t move to kiss her. Jillian knew that if he did, she would kiss him back. Just like she knew that if she started, she would likely end up going further than she meant to.
Closing her eyes, the memory of Vincent surfaced in her mind; the way everything in her body was pulling her toward him, and he somehow conjured up the will to stop. She knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him, and yet he went out of his way to make sure she knew that it was entirely her decision. His wisdom, his restraint, his strength all made him the perfect candidate to father children.
Plus, there was the fact that he was the alpha of their den. Even though he had made it clear that the oracle didn’t need to be mated to the alpha, it would make for a strong structure for their tribe, which would, according to him, be growing exponentially in the near future.
There was the fact that Conner stood up for her when she and Vincent disagreed about how to save Finn. But could she be sure that he was doing that for the right reasons?
“Can I kiss you?” Conner’s voice cracked. “Just a kiss.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you.” She pulled back, wiping her eyes. “I have to pick one of you to raise children with. The four of us are likely going to spend the rest of our lives together, and I don't want to make things weird.”
“Vincent told you how his people do relationships, right?”
“I assume you mean the polyamory thing.” She rubbed her arms. “Yeah, he ran that by me.”
“And?” He prompted.
“And I'm not sure I want to be the village bicycle.” She turned away.
“That's a fucked-up thing to say.” He poked his tongue lightly to the inside of his cheek.
“Why? Just because I’m not cool being passed around like a peace pipe?”
“Like a what?” He grimaced. “We have treated you with nothing but respect from the moment we met you. We don't fight over you or objectify you. You say you want to kiss me, but then you don't because… why? You feel like you're cheating on Vince?”
“No… well kind of.” She blinked. “I'm just afraid of making a life-changing decision in the heat of the moment.”
“What is wrong with trusting what you feel?” Conner drew in a sharp breath before continuing. “What could be more important than that.”
“Look, I don’t even know what I feel right now.” She lifted her shoulders toward her ears.
“Yes, you do.” He took her hand and put it over his heart. “Everyone knows what they’re feeling. You’re just too afraid to say it out loud… Say it!”
“I feel something different for each of you.” She stood up, placing herself between his thighs as she kissed his forehead. “But I only get one shot at making this decision, and I don't want to fuck it up.”
“Look, I'm not trying to talk you into mating yourself to me.” He rested his hands on
