Soulfated Read online

  Eleven

  We went inside a few minutes after Emma and Logan had. Tanner held my hand tightly, wearing a grin like he’d just climbed to Mount Everest and back.

  When we walked into the restaurant, I realized that it must’ve been a weekend need because the place was packed.

  “Right this way.” A waitress who I faintly recognized guided us to the back of the restaurant almost as soon as we walked in through the door.

  Emma and Logan were seated on the same side of a four-person booth, and she was laughing hysterically while his face was buried in his hands and his shoulders shook with laughter.

  We sat down across from them, and I was keenly aware of the way my side was pressed tightly against Tanner’s. There were already water glasses on the table.

  “You guys have to see to the waitress next time she comes back, okay? Oh, there she is. Don’t say anything, just watch.” Emma quickly turned her laughter into a calm, normal expression. Logan picked his head up too, when she elbowed him in the side.

  I watched, amused, as the waitress came back to our table. Her eyes were huge and wide, and her hand was shaking violently.

  “Do you know what you want to order?” it took her a few minutes to get the words out, and then her gaze locked on Emma and Logan.

  “We’ll need a few more minutes, thanks.” Logan gave her a quick smile.

  She stepped toward us so fast that I don’t think she even realized she was doing it. When she hit our table, it knocked her off balance and she slipped, falling hard on the ground. Her hand hit my water glass as she went, dumping ice-cold water all over me. Tanner caught the glass before it could fall and hit the waitress or the floor.

  I took a sharp breath in as Emma quickly slid out of the booth to make sure the waitress was okay.

  All of their laughter was gone.

  “Did you hit your head?” Emma checked.

  “Here, I’ll call an ambulance.” Logan picked up his phone as the waitress stood up lightning-fast.

  “No, I’m fine.” She hurried to say.

  The manager hurried over.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked, and I noticed his attention on Emma and Logan.

  “We just need some napkins. Make sure she gets looked at by a doctor.” Emma gestured to the waitress, who she was still kind of holding up.

  “Of course. I’ll send someone over to get your order immediately.” The manager hurried to say. When he finally noticed that I was soaking wet, he handed me a pile of napkins someone beside him was holding. “Your meals will be on us, of course, and we’ll pay to have everything you’re wearing dry cleaned. I’m so sorry about the accident.”

  He was assuming that Tanner and I were rich and influential like Emma and Logan, I guessed, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered with the dry cleaning thing.

  “You don’t need to do that, but thank you.” I hurried to say. My tank top and cardigan were so old that I thought the dry cleaners might just throw them away as soon as they saw them.

  “If you say so. Now, someone will be with you shortly.” He promised, before he hurried away.

  “Are you alright Hallie?” Tanner asked. Logan and Emma were looking at me too, to make sure.

  “Just cold. I’m going to try to dry off a little.” I gave him a tight smile before sliding out of the booth and heading toward the bathroom. I knew where it was without asking or seeing a sign, so I figured I must’ve been there sometime before my dad’s tumors.

  As I walked, I heard a male voice say,

  “Is that Hallie Mayfield? I think it is.”

  I walked a little faster. It had been years since I had friends, and I didn’t want to have to try to catch up with anyone.

  “She got hot.” Another male voice agreed.

  My cheeks warmed and I kept walking.

  “I haven’t seen her since the beginning of junior year.”

  When I heard the third voice, I slowed almost to a stop. I recognized his voice, it was one that I knew well.

  “Go talk to her, bro. She’s a babe.” One of the first guys insisted.

  “Hallie!” I might’ve turned a little too early, thanks to my new wolf hearing clueing me in on the guys’ conversation, but I turned to look at him.

  It was Trav. He and I had been best friends during my freshman year at high school, and we’d dated for sophomore year and a few months of my junior year. Back then, I’d thought we were going to be together forever.

  When my dad was diagnosed, he tried to keep the relationship going. He came to my house every day for three months, until my mom left and I told him that I was dropping out of school. I’d told him he shouldn’t come back, and he never had. So it had been at least two and a half years since I had seen him.

  From the looks of it, he was either home for a little break from college or he’d never gone at all.

  “Trav?” I pretended to be surprised to see him. Admitting that I had wolf hearing and had heard his friends’ conversation about me wouldn’t exactly be the way to stay under the radar.

  “Wow, Hallie. You look great.” He smiled at me appreciatively and grabbed my arm. “You have to come say hi to me and my friends for a few minutes, it’s been years.” He didn’t give me much of a choice, towing me toward his table.

  “What have you been up to?” Trav asked, pulling me into his booth with him and his two friends. He leaned up close to me, and it felt wrong. While being squished in a booth with Tanner had felt perfect, it just felt uncomfortable with Trav.

  “Oh, this and that.” I was vague on purpose. “What have you been up to?” I turned the subject on him. People usually didn’t have a hard time talking about themselves, I had noticed.

  “It’s spring break this week, so we’re just home visiting our families.” He gestured to his two friends whose names I couldn’t remember for the life of me.

  “Oh, that’s cool.” I nodded and bit the inside of my cheek. Trav started telling me about something they’d done that week, and my eyes searched the restaurant. My table was at the back corner away from the bathrooms, so I couldn’t even see any of them.

  As he spoke, his arm crept up around my shoulders.

  “What are you doing tonight, Hallie?” Trav asked. I would say he was smooth, but he really wasn’t.

  “I have plans.” I tried to slip out from under his arm, but he tightened it around me.

  “With us, you mean.” One of his friends grinned wickedly.

  “Let go of me.” I swallowed my fear, looking around the restaurant one more time. I still couldn’t see Tanner.

  I’d heard my name from a ways away from my table, so I hoped that if I said his name loud enough he would hear me.

  “I’m here with someone, Trav.” I raised my voice a little. “If you don’t let go of me Tanner is going come over here and you don’t want him to do that.”

  I waited for my knight to appear, hoping Trav would just let go of me so Tanner wouldn’t make a scene or anything.

  “You never even broke up with me, Hallie. Technically we’re still together, and I think that means—“

  “I think that means you’re going to let go of my soulmate before I make you let go of her.” Tanner’s voice was low, quiet enough that the tables around us probably wouldn’t have heard.

  The boys in the booth with me all turned to look up at him, my mountain-sized soulmate.

  For the first time since we’d met, I was actually glad that he looked a little scary.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. This is my old girlfriend.”

  “I’m not going to ask again. Let go of her or I’ll break your arm.” Tanner warned.

  There was no part of me that wondered whether or not he knew how to break someone’s arm.

  But if he broke Trav’s arm, we were definitely going to be taking a trip back to the police station, which I definitely wanted to avoid.

  “I’m a shifter now, Trav. Let go of me or I’ll break your arm myself.” I threaten
ed him, pushing his arm away again. This time, he let me free.

  Tanner took my hand and pulled me to my feet, pushing me behind his body for what felt like the twentieth time that day.

  I moved his arm out of my way.

  “It was nice to see you again.” I nodded once at him before pulling my soulmate away from the table and toward the bathrooms.

  Twelve

  I peeked my head inside the girls’ bathroom, and when I didn’t see anyone washing their hands, I yanked Tanner inside and pushed him into one of the stalls. Another stall door started to open, so I yanked the door closed and locked it.

  When I turned to look at Tanner, I realized that the stall was smaller than I realized, and the two of us barely fit. Our fronts pressed tightly against each other, and he was looking down at me with a barely-contained grin.

  Tanner opened his mouth to say something, and I covered his mouth with my hand. No one could know we were in there.

  The sink stopped a few seconds later, and we heard the door open and close.

  I waited a minute.

  “There’s no one else in here.” Tanner finally said.

  I cupped his mouth with my hand again.

  “Shh!” I whispered, looking around.

  He gently grabbed my wrist and moved it away from his mouth.

  “What are we doing in here?” he whispered.

  “I don’t know.” I held out my hands, panicking a little.

  “Well then I think it’s a good time to mention how sexy it was when you threatened that guy.” Tanner grabbed my hands, a sly smile on his face. The smile turned into a serious expression a few seconds later. “Thanks for asking me to come help you.”

  I shook my head and turned, my whole body brushing up against his as I unlocked the stall door and pushed it open, heading for the exit.

  “Why are you leaving? You’re the one who brought us in here.” Tanner reminded me, following me to the door.

  “I’m not.” I twisted the lock and turned to face my soulmate again. “Thank you for coming to help me, but it would’ve been much more effective if you’d pulled me away from him diplomatically, like if you’d kissed me and then shook his hand or something.”

  I threw an example out there, hoping he’d catch my drift.

  “I didn’t know I was allowed to kiss you.” Tanner raised his eyebrows. His eyes then focused completely on my lips.

  “Well you aren’t now.” I folded my arms. He put his hands on my hips. “I don’t want to go back to the police station, Tanner.”

  “Fine, I’ll be more subtle next time.” His gaze hadn’t budged even a little, though his hands were roaming my back.

  “What are you doing?” I stepped away from him and his sudden need to touch me.

  “I wasn’t doing anything.” he held up his hands, showing me that it was true.

  “You’ve been touching me a lot, you haven’t done that before.” I folded my arms.

  “Oh, sorry.” He shook his head a little. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. You smell wrong.”

  I wrinkled my nose.

  “I don’t smell bad.” I turned to sniff my shoulder just in case, and I was right. I didn’t smell like anything.

  “Not bad, wrong. You just smell like that guy. The wolf in me is trying to mark his territory, I’m trying to hold it back. I didn’t mean to touch you so much.” He apologized.

  I grimaced.

  “I smell like Trav?”

  “Unfortunately.” Tanner folded his arms, and when his muscles tensed, I realized he was probably folding them to stop himself from touching me.

  “What does that feel like to you? When I smell like him, I mean.” I asked because I was curious, to be honest.

  “It feels like a challenge.” He didn’t budge. “I wouldn’t smell him on you if he hadn’t been turned on, Hallie. I smell him because he’s a threat.”

  “He’s not a threat.” I shook my head. “I would never sleep with Trav.” The idea that he had been thinking about me that way made me cringe.

  “It’s not a threat romantically, it’s a threat to your safety. A guy who wants you is a guy who could hurt you to get what he wants. Smelling that threat on you makes it hard to control my wolf.” He explained.

  “Alright, so fix me.” It sounded like the only option if he was going to make it through dinner.

  “I would have to touch you to do that, and you just told me not to.” He reminded me, a little bit of a smile on his face.

  “I never told you not to, I just asked why you were doing it so much.” I folded my arms to mirror his body position.

  “So you like it when I touch you?” he took a step closer, so we were only a few inches apart.

  “Of course I like it when you touch me.” I looked up at him, watching his gaze fall to my mouth again.

  My heartbeat picked up when he brushed the back of his knuckles against my cheek. He closed the small gap between us and wrapped his arms around me. It felt like it had earlier, warm and comfortable and perfect, but it felt more intimate this time.

  “Have I ever smelled like you?” my whisper tickled the side of his neck, and goosebumps rose on his skin as he pulled me closer.

  We both knew what I was asking.

  “No, I’ve been a perfect gentleman.” His voice had some growl to it, and it had to be the hottest thing I’d ever heard.

  “Huh.” I didn’t say much, hoping that would only make him crazier. “Are you going to get his smell off of me?” I looked up into his eyes.

  The desire I saw in them was so strong it almost scared me.

  “Gladly.” The word came out as little more than a growl. “Take your sweater off.” He whispered.

  I pulled it off slowly, letting him watch me as I did. Tanner’s hands ran up and down my arms, his touch gentle. His hands remained on my arms and hands, touching me as he lowered his mouth to my neck.

  My heart pounded in my chest as he breathed on me, and when his lips touched my neck, I grabbed his biceps and tilted my head, urging him to continue.

  “Hallie, I should stop.” Tanner’s voice was breathy, and I could feel his heart pounding almost as fast as mine.

  “You haven’t even kissed me yet.” I breathed.

  He yanked my body tight to his, taking my face in his hands and pressing his lips to mine. As my mouth parted to deepen the kiss, someone banged on the door.

  Tanner and I both jumped, and I realized that he had managed to position himself between me and the door even then.

  “Quick, get back in the stall. I’ll pretend to be sick or something and you can sneak out when the coast is clear.” I instructed, in a flushed whisper.

  “We’re picking this back up later, right?” Tanner asked, letting me push him into a stall.

  “You can count on that.” I gave him another quick kiss on the mouth before unlocking the bathroom door.

  “Are you okay?” the restaurant worker behind the door asked when I opened it.

  “Fine now. I wasn’t feeling well so I must’ve locked it on accident, I’m so sorry.” I apologized.

  “It’s alright.” The woman promised.

  I made my way back to Emma and Logan as quickly as I could, knowing my face was as red as a firetruck.

  They were just bringing our food out when I sat down, though, so I figured our little…moment hadn’t lasted nearly as long as I thought.

  Emma and Logan were grinning when I sat back down. I focused on the burger I’d ordered, hoping that if I avoided meeting their eyes for long enough they would just stop staring.

  “You smell like Tanner.” Emma remarked, the smirk on her face ridiculously large.

  Tanner sat down as she said it.

  “Believe me, she knows.” He grinned as he sat down next to me. “Perfect, we’re just in time.”

  “He smells like her too.” Logan and Emma exchanged grins.

  “Keep your noses to yourselves.” I chastised them, picking up the burger in both hands. It h
ad been a long time since I’d eaten anything that wasn’t microwavable, so I was practically drooling over the burger.

  “Or to your food.” Tanner suggested.

  “Keep your mouths to yourself.” Emma challenged, and I could still see the smile in her eyes.

  “Or to your food.” Logan suggested.

  I choked on my food when I laughed, and Tanner hit me on the back a few times. He’d forgotten about the bruises, I was sure, so I was careful not to wince or anything.

  “It’s their first night together so I guess we can be reasonable.” Emma finally said, after she swallowed a bite of her sandwich. “You don’t have to keep your mouths to yourselves.”

  “True. Just don’t try the emotion swap thing until you’re ready to take things to the next level. It’s intense.” Logan advised.

  “What emotion swap thing?” I frowned and looked to Tanner.

  “If I touch your cotie you feel my emotions, and if you touch mine I feel yours.” He explained through a mouthful of food.

  “Cotie? That’s the mate mark thing?” I gestured to my ear, my mouth semi-full too.

  All of the others around the table nodded.

  “What else does it do?” I asked, once I’d swallowed.

  “It kind of itches if you haven’t shifted in a while.” Logan gestured to his ear too.

  “You people are a disgrace to our kind.” Emma complained. I lifted my hands, half of a burger in one of them.

  “I’ve only became one of your kind ten or twelve hours ago.” I reminded her. “It was the longest twelve hours of my life, but still.”

  “So your soulmate is the only disgrace. Sorry, Em.” Tanner shrugged.

  “Our coties are the physical symbol of the animals inside of us. They connect us to wolf side, so itching is not the only thing they are there for other than feeling each other’s emotions.”

  “So it’s pretty much like a magical tattoo, right?” I checked.

  “A sacred magical tattoo if you trust Emma.” Tanner nodded.

  “Oh you’re both hopeless.” Emma leaned back in her seat. “At least I have Hallie now.”

  “My soulmate’s your consolation prize now?”

  “Yep. Cody’s is too, when he finds her.”