If I Were Allowed To Love You

Seven

Melissa scrolled through the racks of clothes, holding three new shirts in her hands as well as a new skirt. "These are definitely perfect. There are no stains, holes or tears. How much for them?"

Theo scanned the clothes and smiled. "With my discount for you, five bucks."

"It's so nice having you work here. I'd have no new clothes ever if it weren't for you." She touched her head. "Or blue hair."

"The color suits you more than it ever suited me."

"It's going to suck once it grows out. I don't want to go back to chestnut hair or whatever brown people call it."

"Can buy you hair dye if you want."

"No. You already do enough for me with your discount. I don't want to you to have to do anything more."

"Then I guess I know what I'll be buying you for your birthday and Christmas," he smirked as he stacked the clothes in the paper bag. "Just so you know, the ripped, hole shirt thing is a new trend. And it doesn't look bad with your bra poking out of it."

"That's because I know how to look sexy like this," she teased. Her white tank top had little holes in it that were slowly growing bigger and frayed. Her black sports bra poked out from underneath, and her ripped purple tights and black shorts helped completed the look. "No man will ever admit it, but every man wants to date a girl who looks like me at least once in their life. It means we're edgy and cool, and we're 'not like all the other girls.' The only thing guys don't understand is that we don't want to be assholes who put other women down when complimented."

"You go from such saying positive things about yourself to the decimation of men within seconds."

"I have a lot on mind, so that means I have a lot to say."

"Well do you have anything to say about my brother?"

Melissa rolled her eyes as she leaned against the counter. What was there to say about him? He was a sweet person, never trying to say anything that would come across as rude. And he always accepted her teasing comments with a blush and smile. Out of anyone she ever could have met that day, she was glad it was him.

But in a way, it felt weird to like him since he was Theo's brother. Theo was her best friend, practically a brother of her own. She didn't want to make anything awkward between them by going out with Ryan, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking about him. Somehow, he was always on her mind. Always someone she thought of whenever something made her exceedingly happy. And each time she was on her way to the library, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing him. Her crush was deepening, and she didn't know how to stop.

Theo whistled. "Melissa," he sang. "Thinking of him?"

"I was," she answered. "He's a nice person, but don't worry. Nothing's going to ever happen between us."

"Oh?" he asked, shocked. He knew human mates had more leisure with deciding to be mated to a wolf, but he didn't think she would turn him down right away. "Why not?"

"Lots of reasons," she stated. "The first being that he's your brother."

"I don't care about that. If you two like each other, I see no reason why you two shouldn't get together."

"But then there's also the fact that I'm going to leave for college. I don't know where I'll go, but I know I'll be going somewhere away from here. I want to explore the world and see new things. He's already built his life here. I don't want to be with someone if I'm going to leave once I have the chance to."

Theo never thought about Melissa leaving. He knew she did want to leave someday, but with Ryan being her mate, he assumed something within the pull would want her to stick around. He had hoped that she would one day leave this town and go out somewhere new. He hoped she would find a better life where she wouldn't have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck. If leaving town was going to give her the happy life she wanted, he couldn't find any reason to stop her. Even if it meant his brother had to say goodbye to her.