Bloodbond

Chapter 12

When I reached the gym door, I hesitated. I was nervous to be around Taran now that I knew he had more than just simple, friendly feelings for me. I had to give myself a pep talk. You're a big girl, Cas. You can do this.

I finally worked up the nerve to open the door. When I did, I immediately spotted Taran lifting weights over by the window. It's wasn't difficult since he was the only person in the room. As I shut the door behind myself, Taran looked up to see who had entered. Did I mention that he wasn't wearing a shirt? Oh, well he wasn't...and it was a wee bit distracting.

Taran didn't seem too happy to see me but I tried to push that thought aside. He was hurting and I needed to try to be understanding about that. I made my way over to where he was and sat down on the bench next to him. I could feel him stiffen, but he stayed silent and didn't move so I guess that was an improvement..

I really wasn't sure how to start, but the silence was getting very uncomfortable. Finally, I said screw it, and dove right in.

"I haven't heard anything from you since I left a few days ago." That earned a grunt of acknowledgement but nothing else. "You didn't come see me when I got here yesterday. How come?"

Still, Taran said nothing and I was starting to lose my patience. With the way things had been going recently, I was surprised I had any left in the first place.

"Damnit, Taran! Say something already! I don't deserve to be treated like this and I thought you were better than that," I snapped. I could tell that my words had hit home because his face instantly fell. All the hurt he had been hiding was clear as day and it was solid proof that Claire hadn't been exaggerating.

As soon as I saw his expression drop, I regretted my words. This wasn't going the way I had hoped. "Taran, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. It's just...you've been completely different ever since you walked in on Gabriel and I and it kinda hurts. I thought we were friends," I said sadly.

Taran put down the weights he was holding and laid his head in his hands. "I thought so, too," he finally spoke.

I still wasn't sure if touching him would be okay so I kept my hands clasped tightly in my lap. "Talk to me, Taran. Please?" I begged.

He pulled his head up and turned to look at me. "When I saw you two, it just...it hurt. This wasn't supposed to happen. You're my brother's mate and I can't do anything about that. But I...," he paused, attempting to find the right words. "I couldn't stop it. I know it hasn't even been a week but I feel this connection to you. Everytime I'm around you, I can't help but smile. Having the fact that I can't be with you thrown in my face like that, it just...," he stopped and his face looked miserable. It was killing me to see him like that because of me. I had no idea that someone could feel this strongly about another person after knowing them for such a short time.

This whole thing just didn't seem fair. I had hit it off with Taran from the very start, but I also knew that there was something there with Gabriel. I couldn't give Taran false hope when I had no idea what would happen.

I finally decided that I couldn't keep my hands to myself anymore and I wrapped my arms around him. Taran immediately relaxed his body and leaned into me.

"I'm so sorry, Taran," I began, but was interrupted when someone roughly shoved the door open. When I looked up to see who it was, Nadia stood there smirking.

"What's going on here, hmm?" she asked. Her tone sounded giddy and I knew she was up to no good. God, why couldn't she go bother someone else?

I slowly released Taran. "We were just talking. Was there something you needed, Nadia?" I couldn't keep the snarky bite out of my voice. Hey, you were lucky I didn't go over there to scratch her eyes out, okay?