Mateless and Home Bound

Chapter 7: Closeted Truth

He couldn't believe this. He didn't want to believe this. He was just supposed to have a good day with his friend and comfort him a little while he grieved for his grandmother. They were supposed to just go out on the town for a little bit and talk about stories of the past. Laughter was always the best medicine when it came to things like this. And Sage always loved going to different stores, even when he didn't have any money to spend.

But his day had to turn sour from the moment he hugged him in the airport. He thought that it was just a weird coincident. That maybe he was freaking himself out too much since everyone had been talking to him about it the whole rest of the week. His parents were already talking about trying to get him to go to another party. He was thinking about how he was going to tell Max that he didn't want to go this time. He was searching his mind for some excuse the whole week.

Now it seemed as though one just fell right onto his lap.

Reggie just didn't get it, though. Usually, it was the smell that you caught onto first. Sage's scent was really faint, but he could still smell it. It was a tad sweet mixed with the smell of wood. But that would have been heightened if it was what he thought it was. Instead, he could only tell when he touched him.

No. It had to be a freak incident. He couldn't have found his mate right then. He shook it off and tried his best just to enjoy the car ride that he had. His eyes kept wandering to him while he was driving. He was sure that Eric was going to give him so much shit for this when they got home, but he didn't care at the moment.

Sage knew how to keep the conversation going at least. He was always the best at changing tense situations to better ones. It was a gift he wished he had. He didn't work well when things were really tense. It was one thing he was working on since he was planning on being Alpha. But it was still his downfall.

As the drive went on, he had somehow convinced himself that it didn't even happen, that the feeling when he hugged him was just some sort of fluke incident caused by him missing his friend. But a part of him wanted to be completely sure that it was. That was why he instinctively opened the door for him and held out his hand. He knew he should have been more careful with Eric being around. He wanted to come with him to meet the friend that he always talked to him about. Ana would have come too, but she was stuck in the garden at the time.

When he held his hand, though, he felt it again. Sparks traveled all throughout his being. It was the most amazing feeling. He had never thought that it would feel that good. He never wanted to ever feel it. Because he knew that if he did, he would never be able to be away from that person.

Oh, he was not looking forward to any of this.

"Alright," Sage broke off the connection. He had been staring into those honey brown eyes for who knows how long. They were swirls that had him craving sweets right when he looked into them. "If you're really going to pay for this, I'm still going to need help getting all my stuff in a room."

"Uh, right," he popped open the trunk and started grabbing the bags. He was good at acting like nothing had happened, just not when it came to this apparently. His nerves were more than frayed.

"Calm down, man," Eric's voice came into his head. "Just act cool. You're all over the place."

"I am cool," he told him, shaking his head. "Don't worry about me."

"I never knew you were going to act like this when you found yours," Eric looked like he was this close to cracking up. "Ana's going to love this."

"Ana's not going to find out," Reggie glared at him for a second.

"If you act like this around him all the time, she is."