Page 14 of Surge of Storms

“Just Aydan?” Evander asks, not sounding happy.

“For now,” I say.

We have to tell him first, just in case.In my gut, I know it’ll go well, but I think this will ease some of Granger’s worries.

“We’ll see you soon,” Evander responds grumpily.

After I end the call, I wrap Granger in my arms. “It's going to be okay.”

“Aydan will hate me.”

“He won't.”

“They'll be disappointed that I'm the storm dragon.”

“They won't.”

“Fuck,” he whispers.

“I've got you,” I reassure him. “We'll face everything together, I promise.”

And I mean it.

FOUR

Samantha

The clockin my room is ticking loudly. Granger’s sweaty hand is clenching mine tightly as we both stare at the door. His nervousness is feeding my own, but I try not to show it. He's going to completely crumble if I even waver in my confidence.

Except, I’ve just realized something important. Something that’s going to change the way this goes down.I have to make sure Granger’s aware of it…

“Just so you know,” I tell him gently, “this whole room smells like us, so we need to just tell them straight away.”

His panicked gaze meets mine. “We should do this in another room. If we just–”

“Granger, we just need to do it, like ripping off a bandaid. Everything will be okay.”

It will be.Won’t it?Yes, it will. My men have learned to share already with each other. They knew we were searching for the storm dragon, and that they’d have to be open to the idea of me being with another guy. Out of all the options, there’s no one they’d rather share with than Granger. I’m sure of it.

And if there are any problems, I’ll do my best to protect Granger from them.

His dark eyes flash with pain, and I know what he’s thinking before he even says it. “He's like my brother. I could never hurt him.”

“I know, honey, I know–”

The buzzer sounds on the door, and we both flinch. I can tell the second he realizes I'm scared too, but I command the door to open. It parts onto the three men. They look tired, but safe.

“I thought just Aydan was going to come,” I say, my plan suddenly going out the window.

Evander gives me a look. “Whatever you have to tell him, you can tell all of us at the same time.”

I should’ve expected this.

Granger goes a shade paler, and I know that at any second they’re going to smell us, and we won’t be able to get out in front of this thing.Like ripping a bandaid off. Just do it.

“We found the storm dragon,” I tell them again, a little too loudly.

They eye me as they enter, looking confused. I see them start to sniff as their expressions change.The puzzle pieces are shifting into place.

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