The Denied Mate

Chapter 6 *REVISED 2020*

The Denied Mate: Chapter 6

Sexual Content ahead :-)

"Fancy seeing you here, friend," A deep voice said behind me, making me jump and let out a small yelp. I turned behind me to see Lucas holding two cups of coffee, struggling to keep his face straight. I rolled my eyes and slapped him on the arm as he sat down to join me on my blanket in the park.

"You suck," I muttered, grabbing my cup of coffee and taking a big sip of it. This had become Lucas's and my routine for the past week or so. Every morning I would come to the park right by my apartment and read. It gave me a sense of tranquility. I normally flew solo, but last week I had run into Lucas and he sat with me, declaring that it was the first act of us being friends. Friends. I sighed, looking over at him, watching him get lost in his own book. I still couldn't believe that we were friends. It felt right and obscure all at the same time. Why couldn't we be more? Cassia, I stopped myself. Think about what he's done to us. I closed my eyes softly as my mind started rolling like a strip of film with all of our encounters over the years. Tears. Rejection. Denial. Friends is good, I told myself. Friends is safe.

We continued reading in silence for the next hour or so, hearing birds chirping and leaves rustling in the distance. I heard families laughing in the distance and couples talking quietly to one another. Even though it was end of November, it was still gorgeous in New York, and everyone was taking the weather while they still could. I felt my mind wandering still and I sighed, dropping my book and leaning back on the blanket, lying flat on my back to look up at the cloudy sky. I heard Lucas put his book down and lay back with me. "What're you thinking about Cass?" He asked lightly, curling a strand of my hair around his finger aimlessly.

Even though we were just friends, Lucas was always finding a way to touch me, innocently of course. He seemed to take a strong liking to my dark locks, and I always found him to be playing lightly with my hair at our daily reading session. I shrugged, turning my head to look at him, meeting his green-eyed gaze. My heart skipped a few beats and I started to get lost in them again. Damnit, Cass! Not now. I couldn't bring up my internal debate to Lucas, things were just getting good between us. We were both settling into this new normal.

"Nothing much," I muttered, looking back up at the sky. I watched the clouds float in the sky. "Hey look, it's a dog!" I said, laughing lightly. Lucas chuckled and looked up at the sky.

"Piccola, I think that's a flower," he muttered. I scoffed.

"Whatever, old man." Lucas growled playfully and rolled over, so he was on top of me.

"What did you just call me?" He said, putting his full weight on my body making me groan.

"An old man! Elder! Whatever you old folk like to call yourselves. I should really call you fatass because you're crushing me!"

Lucas laughed loudly, a smile adorning his face. "Oh, baby this is nothing but pure muscle and we both know it." He shifted his weight off of me put still lay on top of me, just looking at me with content on his face.

"Tell me about you," I blurted out. I saw his eyes widen in shock and I threw a hand to my mouth, blushing a deep red.

"Well that's a turn," he muttered, rolling off of me. I didn't dare move as we sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, still not looking at him. I felt him slowly roll me to my side and I saw him propped up on one elbow looking at me curiously.

"Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. We've just been hanging out a lot more than normal," I started, seeing him tense up. "As friends," I quickly added, seeing him loosen up. "And I just feel like I still don't know anything about you." I said quietly.