Page 34 of The Fated Mate Bandit

Link grabs the loaf of bread and a bunch of bananas on the counter. “Yep. Good luck, man. I want all the updates, okay?” He writes his name and phone number on the paper, too, although it doesn’t look particularly legible.

Tin, Link, and Coin head out. Only Quin is left in the kitchen. He picks up the paper and hands it to me. “Do our moms know he’s pregnant?”

I shake my head.

“They need to,” Quin says.

“I know. But I’m not sure he’s ready yet.”

He purses his lips. “Okay. It’s just… he needs a mom. Or a dad or whatever. He needs a parent.”

“I’ll take care of him, Quin. I promise.”

Quin shoves his hands in his pockets. “Sure. But you’re sleeping with him, aren’t you? That makes things complicated. I think Lucas needs love that isn’t complicated right now. Make sure he charges his phone, okay? And ask if you can take him home for family dinner this Saturday. Tell him I’d love to see him.”

“Yeah, okay.”

He holds out his arms to me. I bring him in for a hug. He smells of vanilla and warm bread, as always.

“Thanks for coming over,” I say.

He pulls away. “It was good to see you. I left some cookies in the freezer for you and Lucas. I hope you can make it on Saturday.”

I watch him go, waiting for the inevitable loneliness that always comes after a visit from one of my brothers, but all I feel is concern for Lucas. I’m not sure if I should let him have space or go comfort him.

In the end, I decide to knock on the door to the guest room because of Quin.

I think Lucas needs love that isn’t complicated right now.

I’ll give Lucas all the love that I can, complicated or not.

15

LUCAS

Silver knocks on the door. I don’t answer.

He knocks again. I stay in bed.

He knocks a third time. I know I should get up. I should apologize for not giving his brothers my number. I should tell him that he was right, I was wrong, and I’ll never do it again. I should cook him a nice breakfast and plaster a smile on my face until he’s too busy with work to notice how upset I am.

Except Silver isn’t Daryll.

My heart still pounds as he waits by the door. I don’t normally ignore alphas who want something from me. I give them what they want or try to calm them down. If neither of those things work, I run.

Lying here in this bed is the opposite of all that.

“Stay in there for as long as you need to, Lucas. I’ll be working at the table when you’re ready for company.” His voice is calm and soft.

I wait for him to speak again, louder this time. I wait for him to pound on the door. I wait and I wait until my stomach gnaws with hunger and the phone under my pillow becomes harder to ignore. I haven’t checked for any messages from Daryll since yesterday morning. I know he’ll come looking for me at some point. I just don’t know when.

I slide the phone out. It’s dead, of course. The battery was low yesterday morning, and it’s an old phone. I could keep it under the pillow and continue to ignore it. What’s the point of reading Daryll’s messages anyway?

I slip the phone back into its hiding place and get out of bed. The house is completely quiet as I sneak out of the bedroom and creep down the hall. That must mean the others have left.

Silver is sitting at the table, like he promised. He doesn’t seem angry. He’s just typing on his computer and munching on a piece of toast. My mouth waters. I haven’t eaten anything all morning.

What would Silver do if I walked over to the kitchen and made toast for myself? He didn’t mind when I helped myself to food yesterday. I slowly step forward, holding my breath. I get all the way to the counter before Silver turns his head to look at me.

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