If I Were Allowed To Love You

Five

Even as all those concerns and worries filled his head, his most mind possessing thought was over whether or not she finished her book. He hoped she would not glare the next time she thought of it, instead smile over the fact that Miss Bennet was finally seeing what a loyal man Mr. Darcy truly was. He hoped she no longer saw the prejudices against him, as he was able to do the same for her. And that was what he hoped would happen with her, that she would be able to accept who he was.

"Hey, Ryan," Theo said, snapping his fingers in front of his brother's eyes.

He blinked, glancing at Theo. "What's up?"

"You zoned out as I was answering your question."

"Right, sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was saying Melissa was here-"

"Where?" Ryan exclaimed, excitedly looking around for the blue hair of his mate.

"Relax. She's not going to stab you. Like I said, she hates violence. She doesn't do anything unless it's necessary."

Ryan's heart sank, remembering they weren't talking about his mate. Theo noticed the change and asked, "Were you hoping to get stabbed?"

Ryan laughed. "No. No. It's just..."

"What? Spit it out," Theo impatiently demanded.

Covering his mouth to hide his smile, he replied, "I met my mate the other day."

"Shut up!" A few people turned to stare at them, but no eyes lingered too long. "When?"

"Friday. She came in after school to read before she headed to work. We had an instant connection, and I'm looking forward to seeing her again. I just don't know when."

Theo sucked in his lips, hoping to contain his smile. He knew it was Melissa, but he wanted it to remain a surprise. "Tell me about her. What book was she reading?"

"'Pride and Prejudice'. She was glaring at it the whole time," he laughed. "She must be incredibly invested."

"Or finding it to be a challenge to understand."

"I guess. But it's not that hard to follow."

"Based on the shift in language and cultural norms from then, I'd say it could be a bit difficult to follow."

"True. I never thought of that."

"Maybe you could teach her," Theo smirked.

Ryan blushed. "No. No. Alexa would kill me. We already had a small flirting moment earlier, and she did not appreciate it since I was on the clock."

"You two flirted?" He was suddenly upset she never texted him about it over the weekend. He wondered if she felt anything towards him or was just teasing him.

"Yes," Ryan smiled. "It was all harmless. She ignited the majority of it, so I was merely reciprocating. But if it was a one-time thing, I'd hate to make her uncomfortable by flirting with her again. I don't want to make her upset by any means."

"I doubt you flirting will upset her. It's meant to be, so it will happen."

"Yes, but she's human. It will take a long time for her to understand and fall in love with me back. And I don't want to tell her about the mate pull just yet, because I don't want her to feel like she has to be with me because of it. I want her to know that I love her and always will, that I will never run away because it would be impossible to. If she's my soulmate, then I'll fight to keep her every day."

"Please do not tell me you love her already," Theo groaned.

"No. No," he chuckled. "I do love her energy, but I am not in love with her. That will take time for me as well, but I know it will happen."