Chapter 76

Carol’s POV

“I thought you would never get here. You were supposed to be here like 30 minutes ago,” Fiona says as she pulls me into her condo.

Fiona only lives about 20 minutes away from Aiden’s house and I got here as soon as I could. The memory of my time with Aiden moments before I left his house is still fresh in my mind and I find myself blushing at the thought. Fiona notices right away and her brows raise.

“I think I can guess why you are late,” she chuckles.

I lower my gaze, not wanting to confirm her accusations, but unable to hide it either. She shrieks and chuckles as she guides me into her kitchen. She already had a couple of empty wine glasses and two huge bottles of wine set out for us. She goes to her fridge and pulls out a platter of cheese and crackers along with mini sandwiches.

“I thought it’d be better if we didn’t drink on an empty stomach,” she adds as she puts the platters on the counter.

I smile at her.

“You’re right,” I tell her. “It’s better if we didn’t.”

“I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever,” Fiona complains as she opens the wine and starts to pour our glasses. She got my favorite red wine and for that, I’m thankful.

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve just been dealing with a bunch of stuff,” I confess as I grab my glass of wine and bring the red elixir to my lips. I can already feel my body relaxing with each small sip I take.

“Tell me about it,” she says, leaning against the counter. “I saw that your name was cleared. Was it really that bitch Katrina? She’s the girl you told me about right? The one who thinks she has some sick claim on Aiden?”

I nod, not wanting to relive the moments.

“Yeah, it was Katrina,” I confirmed. “My name is officially cleared, and I got my job back.”

“That’s such a relief,” she says as she shoves a cracker in her mouth.

I grab a mini sandwich, turkey and cheese with a little bit of mayo, and take a bite. Fiona has always been good at making food, even if it was just a basic sandwich. She always knew how to shop for the best ingredients. The fresh flavors of the produce danced in my mouth and smiled, satisfied.

“Good, right?” She chuckles, taking a sandwich for herself as well. “So, what else has been going on?” She asks through her mouthful of food.

“Zach came to see me at work today,” I blurt then I take another long sip of the wine.

Fiona’s mouth drops open.

“Are you serious?” She gasps. “What could that asshole possibly want with you?”

“He told me he wanted me back. Says that he’s actually my fated mate and that he’s sorry for deceiving me,” I tell her, trying not to groan as I speak.

“You don’t believe him, do you?” She asks and I can hear the worry in her voice.

I let out a throaty laugh.

“Of course not,” I tell her, shaking my head. “He was drunk, Fi. It was pathetic to watch him like that.”

Her eyes widen.

“He showed up at the stadium drunk?” She gasps.

I nod, still unable to process all that had happened.

“And he basically forced himself on me,” I tell her, shuddering at the memory. “I was about to shove him off when Aiden appeared and tore him off me himself.”

“That’s lucky,” she says, taking a sip of her wine. “Did you know you were in trouble?”

I shrug.

“He suspected something was wrong when I didn’t return to the stadium right away. I went out to get my phone while he was in practice and Zach appeared in the parking lot.”

“Wow,” she breathed. “Do you think it has anything to do with the mate bond thing? I read about it a while ago and apparently, when you are bonded with a wolf, they can feel your heightened emotions and they know when you are in danger.”

“I’m not fully bonded with him though,” I remind her. “We won’t be bonded until after the mating ceremony. He hasn’t marked me as his.”

“I read that it can start even before you are marked. If you spend enough time with one another your bond will start to happen sooner,” she explains, shrugging. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think he could feel your anxiety.”

I thought about that for a moment as I took another long sip of wine. She grins and refills my cup.

“I guess it’s a possibility,” I admit.

“So, where’s Zach now?” She asks.

I shrug.

“I don’t know. He left. I didn’t see where he went. Hopefully, he went home though.”

I fall quiet as I continue to drink the wine. I’m already feeling the effects of it as we walk into her living room and sit on the couch. I know we are meant to watch a movie, but we decide to skip the movie and just talk instead. We are both on our second glasses of wine, about to be on your third. Fiona tells me about her week, which in hindsight wasn’t as interesting as mine, but it was nice knowing she didn’t face the same struggles as I did. I miss having a quiet and uneventful life sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

There is no doubt in my mind that I’m falling in love with Aiden. The thought terrifies and excites me all at the same time. But I also fear that he doesn’t feel the same for me; I was in love with Zach too at one point and that ended up biting me right in the ass. I was terrified that something like that would happen again.

As o drank my third glass of wine, I could feel my emotions start to get the best of me and I worried that I was going to lose control of myself. I wasn’t much of a drinker, and it was definitely starting to show.

“What’s wrong?” Fiona asks, studying my face.

I shrug one shoulder and meet her eyes.

“I was just thinking about something Zach had said,” I confess, playing with the rim of the glass.

“And what did he say?” Fiona asks as she grabs the bottle of wine off the coffee table and refills my glass. I smile my thanks to her and take a deep sip.

“He told me that Aiden was lying to me and that he’s not my fated mate,” I admit. I knew it was a Ludacris thought; but how did I know for certain that Aiden was being truthful with me? I didn’t know him for long before I slept with him and then decided to basically move in with him.

Heat rushes to my cheeks at the very thought.

What if Aiden had been playing me this whole time?

“Zach is a liar!” Fiona says after she takes a long sip of her wine. “You already know he’s a liar so why would you believe a thing he says?”

Her words were slurring, and I wondered if mine were too. I didn’t realize we had drunk so much until the room started to get dizzy and my words started to slur together.

“I was gullible once…I just don’t want to be gullible again,” I admit. “I feel like I’m causing a lot of stress to Aiden… he doesn’t need this kind of mess in his life.”

I was getting depressed over the situation.

Fiona wraps an arm around my shoulders and holds me close to her.

“Do you love him?” She surprises me by asking.

“Yes,” I admit for the first time out loud. “More than anything in this world. Sometimes I think my heart is going to explode from all the love I feel for him.”

“Then, that’s all that matters,” she tells me, giving me a sly grin.

“But what if he doesn’t love me?”

“What’s not to love about you, Carol?” She asks, glancing at my face. “He’d be an idiot not to love you.”

“I cause so much stress,” I tell her again. “And now there’s a possibility of another scandal because of Zach. He doesn’t need that in his life.”

I wrap my arms around my body like I’m trying to hold myself together. I take another deep sip of the wine, which is probably a very bad idea, but I seem to be full of those lately.

“If he didn’t love you, he wouldn’t be with you,” Fiona tells me with confidence. “For reasons that you just stated.”

I know she’s right, but I can’t help the anxiety bubbling in my stomach. I take out my phone without much thought and bring up Aiden’s contact number.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Fiona asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Something I should have done sooner.”

I press the phone to my cheek and wait for Aiden to pick up. He answers on the 3(rd) ring.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asks. “I wasn’t expecting a phone call tonight.”

“We need to talk,” I say quickly.

“Have you been drinking?” He asks immediately.

Was it that obvious?

“That’s not the point,” I say, feeling a surge of annoyance. “You deserve better than me Aiden. I cause you nothing but stress and it’s not fair to you.”

“What are you saying?” He asks, sounding very concerned.

“I’m saying that I cause you too much stress and I should walk away from you. I don’t even know if I fully trust you. I was so hurt by Zach, and I felt naive and stupid for being him. I don’t know for sure if you are telling me the truth about being my fated mate and I shouldn’t have jumped into something so quickly like this.”

I’m aware that my words are slurring and that I’m rambling. Before he has the chance to say anything, I continue.

“The right thing to do would be to walk away from the team and away from you,” I blurt out. “But I can’t do that because I’m selfish. I’m so selfish.”

“Carol…” he starts to say.

“I’m selfish and I’m pathetically in love with you.”