Page 28 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

I scuffed, giving him a look. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because you're off," Ayden said. "You agreed to clean not only the stove, deep freeze, and microwave but also helped out with paperwork, which you hate. So, what gives?"

"And no one just agrees to clean the toilets," Owen added. "We all know how nasty they are, and no one likes to clean them, and the only reason we have to clean them is because Ayden won't hire a cleaner because if we make the mess, we clean it.

I rolled my eyes. "Jesus, I'm in a good mood. God forbid I agree to do a little extra because of it."

"We see that, but why?" Miles pressed, tilting his head. "Did you fuck around with your sister's best friend? Is that why? Did you finally have some happy time alone?"

I scowled at him. "No, I did not. Who the hell calls it happy time?"

"Anyone that has a child and doesn't want them repeating sex around the house," Lucas said with a shrug as he walked into the kitchen opening the fridge.

"We're getting off-topic. Do you want the toilets cleaned or not?" I asked.

"You didn't answer the question. Did you sleep with her? Or did you dream about doing so?" Miles asked. "I'm normally in a good mood after a good dream."

"No," I growled back. I was clearly lying, but that wasn't the point. I was in a good mood because Riley had been happy during our run. She looked like a different person when we collided, laughter filling the air. And I got to hold her for a moment. And during that moment, I felt so close to her. There were no walls to break through, no lies going on. It was just us.

I was trying to forget the next part and just focus on her being happy.

"Okay, everyone has things they need to get to rather than picking on Cayden," Ayden said, waving his hand.

The guys snickered, and Thomas sat next to me. He poured himself a cup of coffee. "I'll clean the toilets."

I glanced at him. "I can clean them."

He made a face. "So, what is really up with you?" Thomas said, setting his phone down.

"Why does something have to be up?" I asked.

"Because you agreed to clean the toilets," Thomas said. "I wouldn't agree to that even if a woman was blowing me."

I rolled my eyes. "Riley and I went for a run yesterday and had a good time."

"A crush on your sister's friend? You sure that's a smart idea?"

I remained quiet for a moment before I sighed. "She's my mate."

His eyebrows went up. "Damn, really? What are the odds of that? How long have you known that?"

"I've known it since we were younger. I've never done anything because she's my sister's best friend and she's four years younger than I am. I never wanted to force that on her when she needed to focus on growing up."

Thomasnodded his head. "I get that. So, what are you going to do about it then? You guys aren't kids anymore, and four years means nothing when you're an adult."

I had no idea yet. "I'm not sure. She and April were only going to stay for a short time, but I think she wants to stay. I want her to stay. She's old enough now that I don't have to hide how I feel about her. And….if I'm being honest…I think she feels the same."

I kept seeing the way her face grew red once she realized she was naked underneath me. She hadn't been embarrassed right away. There was a moment when we were both comfortable.

"And how would your sister feel about that? I can imagine she'd had some feelings about her best friend and brother getting together."

That was still unknown. April and I had a good heart-to-heart on the phone, but I didn't know how she would feel if she found out that her best friend and her brother were mated for each other. She would likely be pissed that neither of us told her. I doubt she would want to add that to everything else she was dealing with.

"I have no idea. We've been getting along, and I would hate to ruin it with something like this. But god… I've avoided doing anything with her for so long. Is it wrong to want her?"

Thomas shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Wanting your mate is natural. Fighting it is what's hard. I just can't believe you've been fighting it this long. How is that even possible?"

I took his words in, and I knew that Riley and I would need to talk about this if we wanted to see if this would work or not. There was no real reason we couldn't besides maybe how April would feel about it. But either way, we needed to speak about it.

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