More than Secrets

Cents and Sensibility

TYLER'S P. O. V.

I wait patiently for Dani to come back from the bathroom. I know I messed up big time. I should never have gotten involved in or tried to control her love life.

Yeah, dumbass! What did you think was gonna happen? Hunter growls at me.

Ugh! How do I fix this?

Dani comes back just as the server brings our food to the table. "Let me know if you need anything else," she says, winking at me.

I nod a thanks, but my eyes never leave Dani. I watch as she grabs her chopsticks and tucks into her vegetable chow mein.

The silent treatment is killing me. I would take her shouting at me, but not this. Ugh, Hunter is right. I am a dumbass.

She keeps avoiding my gaze, staring out the large window instead. It has a great view of the bay.

I can see that she's been crying and I just wanna kick myself for hurting my mate again. I can't let our first date end like this, I have to fix this.

"Why did you do it?" she asks me in a small, shaky voice. Her eyes are fixed down on her bowl.

My heart aches at hearing her voice sound so broken and knowing that I'm the reason for it just makes the pain all that worse.

"I wanted you all to myself," I answer as truthfully as I can. Obviously I can't tell her "I had a feeling you were my mate when we first kissed 6 years ago and I wanted to make sure no stupid boys would hurt you while I waited for my wolf to tell me what I thought to be true all along."

"Then why did you ignore me all these years?" she asks in whisper shout.

"I don't know, Dani. I was stupid and selfish and I wanted you so badly, but for personal reasons, I wanted to wait until I turned 18 to ask you out." I run a hand through my hair in frustration. "I'm so sorry. I had no right to interfere with your life... I just didn't want to see you ever get hurt, " I say pointing at her bruised hand. "I'm an i***t, I know, but I love you so much. I only want you. Please can you forgive me."

She sighs, but offers me a small smile and a nod. I'll gladly take it as a sign that all hope is not lost yet.

Hopefully, when I'm able to reveal everything about me, she'll be able to fully forgive me for all of this.

We finish our meal and make our way back to Green Hills.

I drop her off in front of her family's bookstore and she gives me a small kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car.

Hunter is happy knowing that at least our mate doesn't hate us anymore, and I am beyond relieved too.

DANI'S P. O. V.

My shift (well, really it was El's shift) at the bookstore ends without any mishaps and when 6pm rolls around my parents are more than happy to let me leave early, saying that they could manage locking up without me.

El always gripes about being forced to work at the bookstore, but I really don't mind. I guess it helps that I love reading too.

Our parents don't pay us our wages directly. It gets put into a savings account for us instead.

How it works is that you set a goal for what you want to use the money for, then, when you turn 18, you get that amount and whatever amount may be outstanding for you goal (our parents said that they would loan us the rest on the agreement that we pay it off once we start working and earing an income).

My goal is to be able to buy a car when I turn 18 and, since I never miss a shift working at our bookstore, I almost have enough saved up for one now.

Our parents are really masters of being savvy when it comes to money. They're the most sensible people I know.

Poor Lee's father, Mr. Archer is in such a depression that's only worsened since the day his wife, and Lee's mother, passed away many years ago. Lee was only 4 years old at the time. I remember once my mom told me that the story was all over the news (something about an animal attack and quite a few of the town's people had died that night). I suddenly felt so sad for Riley. She had to grow up with no mother and only a shell of, what used to be a whole man, as a father.

I remember going to bed that night thinking that of all the things I had to be grateful for in my life, having a stable home and two best friends who were strong and resilient females were my top two contenders.

Brie's home life was challenging in its own way too. You see, she has two moms. Her birth mother's name is Irene, who's married to Nora - the birth mother to her half-brother Martin (Marty). I know, this all sounds very confusing, but try to understand that Brie herself is a tall and athletically-built girl, being raised by two women. That sort of thing comes with its own stigma. She's being judged on a regular basis, by complete strangers who automatically think they have the right to give their opinions on what her sexuality or s****l preferences may or may not be. I can see it hurts Brie. She may be a badass on the outside, but inside she's just a girl with her own desires.

Mark my words, this girl is going to save people's lives with her protective aura, she would gladly give you her life in exchange for saving yours. Brie loves fiercely and with all her heart... and never regrets a thing if it's done in an act of selflessness.

My Lee and my Brie... my girls. I could seriously write a book about them.

This is what's going through my mind as I hop into the back of Lee's car. Brie is riding shotgun and we're heading to my place to pick up clothes for our sleepover, and, of course, they want to know all the little details about my date with Tyler.

They just about lose their minds when I tell them we kissed and that it was heavenly. Lee swerves her car like a maniac, bouncing up and down excitedly in her seat. Brie is making gagging faces and pretending to puke in her backpack. I'm dying of laughter in the backseat, more than a little banged up from being tossed around (did I mention that I'm terrible at remembering to buckle up?).

Yip, I'm definitely writing a book about these two crazy kids whom I want to take on my future with with them by my side.