Best Friends to Mates

Chapter Nine

"So.." Thatcher hummed, making me turn around to face him again. The boyish smile on his face had my heart melting. I never realized just how incredibly handsome he was.

"This is.. crazy." Thatcher stated, blowing out a breath. I nodded, agreeing. I still felt shocked, too.

"Yeah, it's definitely shocking." I replied, earning a chuckle from Thatcher.

"But, not a bad thing, right?" Thatcher asked after a few moments. My gaze snapped to meet his, and I immediately shook my head.

"No, no!" I rushed out a little too quickly. I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment, but Thatcher only grew a wide smile on his face.

I cleared my throat. "Um, no.. it's not a bad thing. Do you think.." Thatcher cut me off before I could even finish my sentence.

"No, Tessy, I don't think it's a bad thing. Not at all." He stated while staring into my eyes. I searched for any sign of reluctance but found none. This only made my stomach flutter more.

A wide grin grew on my face before I could stop it, making me look away from Thatcher. I felt my cheeks heat up even more, but this only caused him to chuckle again.

The sound of his deep, husky laugh sent shivers through my whole body. I loved the sound, and I knew in that moment that I could listen to it for the rest of my life.

"It's definitely gonna take some getting used to, I think, though." I spoke up after a short pause. "We went from being inseparable best friends to now mates.." I trailed off but couldn't hide the grin.

Thatcher had gotten closer, without me even noticing. I could feel the soft tingling sensation of the mate bond as he stood directly in front of me. I raised my head back up to look into his eyes.

"I know it will take a little time to get used to, but we already know each other inside and out. My love for you will grow and change in a different way, and I'm honestly grateful to the moon goddess for giving me such an amazing mate." Thatcher spoke sincerely as he stared deep into my eyes.

"I'm grateful, too, Thatch." I smiled softly at him.

Silence fell between us as we stared into each others eyes. It felt as if this were all a dream, and at any moment, I would wake up and none of it be real.

The moment seemed magical, almost. The insane tug of our mate bond felt like a magnet that was trying to pull us together constantly. It felt both exhilarating and a little scary to feel such a crazy amount of attraction to someone else, especially someone who I grew up with as my best friend my whole life.

"I know it's going to take some getting used to, but I'm more than willing to take things as slow as we need to, Tessy." Thatcher spoke up after the brief but comfortable silence that had fallen between us.

"Do you want to try?.." Thatcher added, almost seeming shy to ask. That only made him even cuter to me.

Though, I admit, it feels a little strange to call Thatcher cute or handsome; but only because he has been my best friend for my entire life.

I give Thatcher a wide grin. "Yes, I want to try, Thatch."

My answer seemed to excite Thatcher, as he hurriedly picked me up in a tight hug and spun me around a few times.

He sat me down after a few moments of my constant giggling. He wore a boyish grin, showing off the dimples on both cheeks. They only came out ever so often when he was incredibly happy about something; which only made my heart soar.

A knock erupted from the door, gaining both of our attention. Thatcher let go of me, to allow me to open the door.

My mother stood on the other side, still sporting a huge smile as she glanced between the two of us.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but everyone is waiting on you to start breakfast. Should I let them know you'll be a while..?" My mom trailed off with a hint of mischief.

My eyes widened in shock, and I instantly felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment at her remark. I immediately shook my head.

"No, we- uh.." I stuttered, feeling completely flustered. Thatcher chuckled from beside me, gaining a laugh from my own mother.

"I'm just teasing, now come on down for breakfast." She laughed before turning and walking back down the hall.

Thatcher wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me out of my bedroom and towards the stairs. I could still feel my cheeks burning and knew that they were most likely cherry-red colored.

I sighed internally, knowing that wasn't going to be the last joke from our two families about our newfound mate bond. I could only hope they kept their comments to a minimum.

Thatcher and I walked into the kitchen, with his arm still wrapped around my shoulder. Although this wasn't something new, as he used to do this to me all the time when we were just best friends, it was completely different now.

"Ah, there's the two new love birds!" Portia teased, earning a few chuckles from everyone at the table.

I lowered my head in embarrassment, but my lips couldn't help but curl into a grin. It caused ripples of butterflies to erupt into my stomach at those words.

'Love birds' wasn't something I was used to hearing, especially not for Thatcher and I.

The scraping of a chair caught my attention, making me look up. Levi walked around the table and over to me. He held a large smile of his own, and for a moment, I thought he was going to join in on the teasing.

"Pryn, I have something to tell you." Levi smiled. I raised my brow in anticipation.

A soft knock on the front door rang in my ears. Confusion found its way to my face, but Levi's grew an even wider smile. What was going on?

Levi walked out of the kitchen and into the front room to answer the door. Muffled voices echoed through the room.

It didn't take long for Levi to return to the kitchen, but he wasn't alone. A long, black haired girl around my age followed my brother. Her skin was a slightly pale color, and she stood a little taller than me.

The girl smiled widely at me, and I returned it. Something about the girl just radiated warmth and happiness, like someone you would want to be around.

"Pryn, this is Hazel. Hazel, my little sister, Pryntess." Levi pointed to each of us as he said our names.

"Pryn, this is my mate."