EIGHTY

VALENS

"Why do you keep sneaking glances at me?" I asked when I noticed from the corner of my eyes that my mate had once again glanced furtively up at me.

"I am not sneaking glances at you," she defended but there was no missing the guilt in her tone or how she coloured.

I closed my laptop and moved it to the side of my desk to give her my full attention. "What do you want to say?" I asked, leaning back into my seat.

"Can we go out for lunch?" She asked. I knew that wasn't what she wanted to say so I refused to play along.

"Are you bored?" She shook her head. "It's okay if you don't want to be here," I reminded her for the tenth time.

The new house was too big. She wouldn't admit it because she wanted a big house and a lot of space in the first place, but she was lonely in that house. I was going to ask Octavia to move in with us and the women who would train her but it kept slipping my mind.

"I want to be close to you," she protested. "It's fun watching you work."

"What's fun i