One corner of his mouth quirked up into a smile. “Maybe. My point being, there’s time to do things. I don’t want you to feel pressure to make everything a date. We can just hang out, like we will once you’re bonded.”

I saw the hope in his eyes, and I breathed it in. “That sounds nice, actually.” After going out last night, a quiet evening with a movie and—probably—sex was exactly what the doctor ordered. “Seems like you have quite the set-up.”

Ry had a television even bigger than the one in my bedroom, and a comfy-looking couch in front of it. “It’s a nice place to watch things. Any preference?”

“I’m not much of a movie person,” I told him. “Except for when I would lock myself in my room and marathon romcoms. So you pick something you like.”

Plus there was every chance we wouldn’t make it through the entire movie.

It wasn’t what I expected. A quieter movie about a man on a journey. Darker fantasy with beautiful visuals and a gorgeous soundtrack. There were images in there I wanted to paint.

“Are you one of those people who cares if people talk in movies?”

“Sometimes. But more if it’s something I haven’t seen before.”

“Will you tell me how you ended up with the pack?”

“Sure.” He tucked an arm around my waist and let me lean against him. “But it’s not really that exciting. Everyone thought I would be an Alpha, and it was a surprise when I never broke out of being a Beta. I don’t mind,” he said quickly. “You of all people know there’s more to life than your designation. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise. My family, the business—construction and contracting—is run by Alphas. Always been that way, and I don’t think they wanted to break the tradition, even for me. So I ended up going to school for art, and it’s where I met Ben and Avery.”

On screen, the knight started fighting. A battle with a sword where the blades were moving so quickly you could barely see them. “How did you know you were meant to be a pack?”

“Hmm.” He turned his head so his lips were brushing my forehead. “It’s hard to explain because it’s not tangible. You just know. There’s no friction or questioning. You feel a pull. Like it makes more sense to do life together than apart.”

“That sounds nice.”

He laughed softly, the sound vibrating under my ear. “None of us had really chosen tattooing, and then Ben found it, and we all kind of dove in head first. We found Kade while looking for studio space. We walked into a place that was going under, met him, and he never went back to work there.”