I knew our date couldn't last forever, but I also knew I wouldn't be the one to end it. Tobias' presence was like a drug to me, and I was borderline addicted. If he was a regular person, everything would be easier and I wouldn't have to control myself, but this way I had no idea what to do. I knew what was the right thing to do, but I couldn't do it. Fortunately, I didn't even have to, and Fate decided to be on my side for once.

"Huh." Tobias' expression turned confused and then he lifted his head to the sky, making sure he wasn't imagining it. Another drop landed on his forehead and slowly rolled down his cheek, following the texture of his nose perfectly and landing on his full lips.

I'm not going to lie, I couldn't look away and watched the movement, wishing that for a small second, I too could turn into a raindrop. It was a dangerous thought, just as my gaze was dangerously locked on his lips.

For an agile predator, my charm somehow faded in Tobias's presence, as he managed to notice my gaze before I could divert it. Not that I made any extra effort, as every time I glanced at him, I found myself in a trance that was hard to come out of.

"You're staring," Tobias accused me, but thankfully there was no remorse in his voice. Rather, I wondered if I'd actually heard a hint of pride.

"I already told you, you're a looker." Lying was not going to work, since he'd caught me right in the act, so I had to choose the truth.

"I'm going to be a wet looker if we don't get out of here," he pointed out. For some reason, my mind (and I bet my wolf had a hand in this) decided to play tricks on me and show me visions of a soaking-wet Tobias. There was no doubt in my mind that muscles were hiding beneath his shirt, and the moment I'd see them, nothing and no one would be able to keep me away from him.

"Not exactly the best choice of words," I decided to remark, though it took us into the danger zone.

Tobias apparently hadn't realized until now that I could have interpreted his words differently, and so the blush appeared on his face again.

"First date and you're already thinking of kinky things. I feel like I'm on a Tinder date." Luckily, I'd spent enough time with people to know what Tinder was and why it wasn't a good idea to be associated with it.

"If it was a Tinder date, you'd be disappointed that I look completely different in the photo, and in reality, I'd have a phone full of fish photos." My explanation made Tobias laugh, and he didn't even know it was based on true events. My former classmate Melissa had plenty of experience with this.

"What do you know, maybe the sexy fisherman is just my type," he declared, but the twitching corners of his mouth betrayed that he was only joking. Plus, I knew exactly what his type looked like. After all, the Moon Goddess only paired us with people we found attractive. If anyone claimed otherwise, they lived in denial.   

"Hmm, I don't know if this date will work then. I can't see myself on a boat."

"We're about to feel like we're on a boat," Tobias declared, turning his face back to the sky. I followed his lead and saw the dark clouds moving ever closer to us. It was clear that although it was just sprinkling now, in a small moment we were going to be caught in a violent storm. It was such a perfect chance for me to talk myself out of it and go home, but somehow the words wouldn't come out of my mouth.

"What now?" I asked instead.

Tobias' eyes rested on me again, taking away my last reasons for an excuse. He was frowning and seemed to be thinking about something, though I couldn't guess what. Maybe he was trying to get rid of me as much as I was trying to get rid of him, I just hadn't noticed. For some reason, I didn't like the idea.

"There's a café nearby if you're interested." he finally said, and I nodded before I could even think about it.

Tobias didn't need more as he promptly stood up, leaving me with no choice but to follow him.

"Let's go." I automatically fell into step beside him, and our footsteps aligned. We walked faster and faster, clearly aware that neither of us carried an umbrella and our motivation was driving us so much that I had to be careful not to accidentally start using my werewolf speed.

"Are you actually a merman and you don't want me to discover your secret identity?" I joked after finally finding my voice again. Tobias turned to me, looking somewhere between surprised and amused.

"Nope. In fact, I'm a siren and I plan to eat you alive at the end of this date." For some reason, my brain connected the words eat and end of the date with a different meaning than Tobias had intended.

"I see we're both thinking about a different kind of eating," he chuckled, and I could feel the heat rising to my face.

"You started it," I accused, even though I knew it wasn't true.

"You wish." He shook his head in amusement and his wet locks of hair swirled around his face, losing a few drops of water in the process.

"We'd better hurry." Tobias' eyes looked up at the sky again for a small moment, and his smile turned into a grimace. Clearly, he wasn't a fan of storms, and I had to agree with him. Plus, I wasn't going to take any chances on how long the spray would last if it started pouring really hard.

I nodded in response, wasting no time with words, and after a silent agreement with our eyes, Tobias and I took off running together. I had no idea where he was taking us since I didn't spend much time in this part of town, but I tried to keep up with him and not delay us unnecessarily.

After a while, Tobias realized my unfamiliarity with the route and sorted it out in his own way. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when he grabbed my hand, and even though I knew it was dangerous for him to touch me, I decided not to protest for now. It couldn't hurt, could it?

Despite our best efforts, the storm slowly caught up with us and we got a little wet just before we reached the door of the café. It wasn't too bad, but you could clearly see that the storm had beaten us.

"After you." Tobias opened the door to the café and let me in first.

It was an older cafe, with wallpaper on the walls depicting fake bricks and round tables. Overall, it looked quite cozy and exuded a pleasant atmosphere. If Tobias chose it on purpose, and not just because of the proximity, it definitely spoke volumes about his tastes and made him an even more interesting person than I first thought.

This time it was me who let Tobias go first since he had obviously been here before and it was his idea to come here. He took me to a table at the back by the window and waited for me to sit down first. It was starting to look like a game where we both wanted to please the other, and it was kinda amusing.

"Do you come here often?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Actually, I've been coming here since I was a little kid. I don't come here that often now, but I still like it here." His answer surprised me, but it also confirmed my deduction that this café had been around for a long time.

"That's nice." I didn't quite know how to respond after seeing earlier that his family was probably a touchy subject. "I bet little Tobias was adorable."

"Little Tobias was a screaming monster who always had busted knees." He laughed at his own answer, and I couldn't help but join in.

Our next conversation was postponed as a young man approached our table with a note to take our order.

"Hey, Tobias. Long time no see. Grandma will be pleased to have you here." The young waiter greeted Tobias as if they were friends, which was probably true, though Tobias didn't look entirely pleased to see him. If I hadn't been watching him closely, I would have almost missed it, but his smile faltered for a moment.

"Hey, Mark." Tobias returned his greeting. "You know how it is. I've been busy, and I've been trying to help Annie as much as I can."

"How's she doing anyway?" His curiosity seemed genuine, and it was clear he really cared about both Raeken siblings.

"She's doing great. Can't wait for the baby to be born," Tobias answered him.

"I can imagine," he chuckled at that. Only then did his attention finally turn to me, as if he'd noticed me for the first time, and I gave him a small smile. I still had no idea who he was to Tobias, and even if he was his ex-partner, I had no reason to be jealous. Even though he was my mate, he was allowed to have a past, plus I still had no idea if we would ever be able to be together.

"Sorry if I'm ruining anything here. Tobias doesn't come here often, so I get excited every time I see him," he explained, and I nodded, though it wasn't anything new that I hadn't picked up from their previous conversation. "I'm Mark, by the way. Though you've heard that before." Then he held his hand out to me, and I automatically shook it.

"Cole. It's nice to meet you." I gave him a smile that wasn't nearly as radiant as his, but I still didn't feel entirely good about it, though I had no idea why.

"Cole's my date." Tobias decided to step into the conversation and elaborated.

Mark was clearly taken aback by his words, as he lost his typical smile for a brief moment and blinked in surprise. He didn't keep that expression for long, however, and immediately went right back to smiling.

"That's great. Tobias is a great fellow." His words were obviously directed at me, so I just nodded, smiling at him again. However, since his attention continued to remain on me, I decided to verbally acknowledge it as well. "He is."

"You know what else is great? Your grandma's hot chocolate." Tobias's words made Mark turn into the waiter again, and thankfully he took the hint.

"I'll bring it to you right away. It's on the house." This time his smile was more of the professional one you see on most waiters, and his whole attitude changed as well.

"Thanks."

The moment he left to get the hot chocolate ready, I turned to Tobias, hoping he would explain what had just happened, since being alone I had no idea how to start this conversation.

Tobias sighed and leaned back against the back of the seat.

"I know it looked weird, but I promise it's not what it looks like."

I frowned, not quite understanding his words, and not wanting to jump to conclusions.

"What did it look like?" I asked.

"I didn't do anything with him." Apparently, we had the same idea of what it looked like and surprisingly his words reassured me more than I expected. Not that I'd have blamed him if it had been any different, but at the same time, I had a feeling it would have made the memory of our first date a little uncomfortable.

"Okay?" Again, I didn't know how to answer, since I had no right to feel relieved by the revelation.

Tobias sighed again and it was clear to me that he was not comfortable with this topic. However, I had no idea whether it would be better to tell him to leave it at that, or to let him explain, so I decided to wait for his next words.

"Like I said, I've been going to this cafe since I was a kid. Mark's family has owned it for generations, so we used to see each other a lot. When we got older, I found out that Mark had a crush on me, which I did not reciprocate, so I avoided him for a while. It was years ago, but it's still pretty weird between us, and I've never brought up any of my dates in front of him, so I was afraid that ours would go sour because of it.”

It seemed I was right about one thing and wrong about another. It did not surprise me that Mark was fond of Tobias, because it was hard to imagine that anyone would be able to resist him.

"I'm sure if there was one thing that would ruin our date, it would be the two of us and our awkwardness," I said with a laugh. I decided to lighten the mood and it seemed to work as Tobias returned to his original position, resting his elbows on the table. He was a little closer to me and I was happy with the distance between us.

"We really can be awkward," Tobias confirmed to me with a smile and an overly serious expression that quickly turned into laughter.

"I hope the hot chocolate is good," I remarked.

Tobias' pupils widened and it was as if he only then realized what he had just done.

"Fuck. I didn't mean to order for you. If you want anything else, no problem..." he was on the verge of panic, but I quickly stopped him.

"I was just kidding. I don't have a problem with hot chocolate. Especially if you really like it." However, my reassurance did not erase the distressed expression that appeared on his face.

"It's really okay, Tobias," I said in a soft voice, and if I wasn't afraid of any contact with him, I would have taken his hand, which was lying on the table right in front of me.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his tone reflecting his sadness at what he had done. He wasn't embarrassed as he had been when I had made fun of him, but he actually sounded as if he regretted it, even if it was only a small thing.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Tobias. I was a lot more disappointed when I found out that I had killed ducks when I was a child," I assured him. The corners of his mouth twitched at my statement, and he had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing out loud.

I admit, I liked seeing him like that.

"If you are going to pull the ducks on me every time I fail, it will stop being funny at some point."

"Nah, I don't think so," I protested immediately.

Tobias shook his head in amusement at my statement, but a small smile remained on his lips, which I took as a victory.