Chapter 168

Damn, I love her.

Joel couldn't help the smile on his lips every time he looked, saw, or smelled his mate. Human or not, he wouldn't change a freakn' thing about Ruth. While his love for her might have started because of a chemical reaction exclusive to his kind, hers evolved out of a genuine like of him for him. To a boy, now a man, who fought for acceptance his whole life, the trust she placed in him, the love she sent his way, melted the ice he'd encased around his heart.

His dad was still a dick. His mother still abandoned him. But someone loved him. Loved him and wanted him just the way he was.

Screw fate. This was what love was all about. Acceptance, laughter, and trust. With a healthy dose of sex.

"I'm not wearing underwear," she whispered in his ear.