If I Were Allowed To Love You

Nine

Ryan watched as Melissa sat down beside Lucas, giggling at his stories from the circus. She stared at him in awe, and Ryan attempted to control his seething. Melissa and him may have been made for one another, but she was not his. As hard as it was to accept, she was human. She did not feel the mate pull until he did something to ignite it. Flirting was not enough. There had to be something more.

He had to kiss her.

He refused to kiss her. At least not until she accepted a proposal to go out on a date. He had to make sure it went well enough to invoke a kiss on the cheek. If he could do that, surely she would think about it over and over enough to times to think about him more and more. So when he finally did kiss her on the lips, she would feel the mate pull. Until then, he wasn't entitled to be upset over her flirting with someone else. All he could do was watch and hope that on Sunday he had at least a chance to prove to her that he was worthy to be her partner.

"You don't look very happy about those two," Evie commented as she walked up next to him. Ryan relaxed his face, hoping he would look more passive than anything. "Do you know her?"

"That's Theo's best friend."

"How is he doing anyway?" she asked with a big smile. "It's been a while since I've seen him."

"He's out of the closet now. Hasn't found his soulmate yet."

"He's in high school. I doubt he would have found him so soon. It's not like anyone can just know who their soulmate is with one look," she chuckled. "Then again, is there really such a thing as a soulmate?"

Ryan nodded. "There is. I have one, I do."

"Have you met her yet?" Evie questioned as she leaned forward.

Without a word, Ryan winked at her before flicking his gaze back to Melissa and Evie's cousin.

"Not that I picture or think or daydream about trapeze artists in my spare time-" Melissa stated.

"Great start," Lucas chuckled.

"-but I always assumed they'd be more muscular." She gabbed Lucas's bicep and felt it. He inhaled through his nose, staring at her with soft eyes she didn't pay attention to. "It's like a stick I could pick up in the bushes over there."

"That's mean," he pouted as he shifted out of her grip. "Also unfair since you have muscles."

"Exactly." She flexed before him and grabbed his hand to place on her arm. "This is what I should be feeling on your arms. All you're doing is holding yourself up on bars as you fly through the air. Even a bit toned would make more sense than...this," she winced.

Lucas let go of her arm and chuckled as he shifted in his seat. "It is a lot of carrying myself, I will admit that. But I have a valid reason for being skinny like this."

"Tell me," she smiled in awe.

He leaned in close, and she leaned in closer. He smirked. "It's a secret."

"Bitch," she pouted as she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms as she grumbled. "Well, I have a secret to my knife throwing skills, too."

Smiling fondly at her, he reached out a moved a piece of hair away from her forehead. "It's nice to have a secret, isn't it?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you know you trust someone if you're willing to tell them what it is. And it's nice to know you can trust someone."

"Then it makes losing that trust hurt all the more."

"That's why you have to be careful of who you tell your secrets to. You should only tell them to the people who will take care of your secrets and hold them close to their heart. That means they're holding your trust in high regard. Isn't it nice to find people like that?"