I Bought the Wrong Beastman, and He Begged Me to Keep Him Chapter 04

I Bought the Wrong Beastman, and He Begged Me to Keep Him Chapter 04

I flinched.

“Nothing. Tessa was just talking trash on the phone.”

But Adrian still looked rattled.

Fear sat behind his eyes.

I tried to make it a joke. “What, you worried I’m gonna get rid of you?”

He fired back without missing a beat.

“Yeah, right.”

“In your dreams.”

The smile died on my face.

Of course. I’d been treating him like the wrong kind of hybrid this whole time. He was probably counting the days until he could get away from me.

Then, without warning, Adrian crossed the room and crushed his lips to mine.

He pulled back, his jaw was set, pride and stubbornness warring in his voice.

“You want to do it tonight? Fine. We’ll do it.”

“But don’t you dare use that as a threat. Don’t you dare.”

For one second, my heart did a wild flip.

Then reality snapped back into place.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I really didn’t mean it like that. You don’t have to force yourself.”

He stared at me like I’d slapped him. Two seconds later, he was out the bedroom door.

“Good! It better not be!”

“I’m sleeping in the guest room!”

He’d pulled this move before. Last time, I’d grabbed him by the waist, dragged him back to bed, and stuffed him under the covers.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Not a chance.”

But now, all I had was a tired smile.

“That’s fine. Separate rooms from now on works for me.”

Adrian froze in the doorway.

When he spoke, his voice cracked.

“…You’d better mean that!”

That night, the floorboards in the hall kept creaking until morning.

The agency messaged me again.

[Ms. Caldwell, have you made a decision about the swap?]

[The return window closes at the three-year mark.]

[You only have seven days left. After that, the offer expires for good!]

I started typing a reply. Deleted it. Started again.

Right then.

Adrian pushed open the bedroom door, his voice rough. “Time to get up. Breakfast is scrambled eggs and hash browns…”

He found me already sitting up in bed, and I never got up early.

He stopped short.

Then his gaze caught on the message on my screen. [You only have seven days left…]

Every muscle in his body went taut.

“Decide what?”

I shoved my phone behind my back.

Adrian’s eyes darkened.

The lie came out too fast. “My boss wants me to go on another work trip. Just thinking it over.”

His shoulders eased, and something like relief passed over his face.

“Mm.”

“You don’t have to hide a work trip from me.”

“I’m not some clingy hybrid who can’t function without you.”

I murmured, “Right…”

When I looked up, I saw it.

“Your eyes are red. Were you crying last night?”

He bristled so hard his ears pinned back, and color flooded up his face.

“Cry? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’d bleed before I’d cry. I’m not one of those pathetic hybrids who rolls over for their owner.”

He shot me one last burning look and walked out without turning back.

On the way to work.

All I could see was the way he flinched from me. The way he pulled away every single time.

I made up my mind and hit send.

[I’ll do the swap.]

[Set it up.]