Page 33 of Tolerated By the Sigma (Mate Hunt 7)

But still, going from not knowing each other to knowing that we were soulmates was far from a small thing. I had to imagine that awkwardness was a given, though I’d never really considered that possibility before.

Maybe I needed to ask Sab or Lizzy if there had been awkwardness for them. They had both recently discovered their own soulmates, so they sure as hell knew more than I did on that topic.

“Kelley?” Ryder waved a hand, jerking my attention back to him.

“Oh, sorry. Right. Sure, let’s do the kitchen.”

Despite my lack of desire to continue having conversations when I knew exactly what I was going to want to talk about, I knew it was a jerk move to turn down dinner at the table when Ryder had just personally cooked for me. And I might’ve been awkward, and slightly anxious, but I wasn’t a jerk.

At least, not usually.

I dropped my cleaning supplies on the bathroom’s counter and scrubbed my hands with the yummy-smelling hand soap I always put there, then dried them and reluctantly followed Ryder out.

“Something seems off,” he told me, as he set my plate down on the table.

“Really?” I feigned surprise. “What is it?”

His eyes narrowed at me a bit, but I sat down and grabbed my fork before he could ask more questions.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, him watching me and me trying not to let him see my discomfort.

I was a grown woman; I didn’t need to feel awkward because a sexy man was staring at me.

I am woman, hear me roar, and whatnot.

Though I tried to eat slowly, eventually I was starting to finish with my food. Ryder was already done, and was still staring at me with his eyes slightly narrowed.

I shoved a bite into my mouth when he started to remark, “You’re acting weird.”

Scrunching my face up in surprise, I swallowed my food and asked, “Really?

His eyes narrowed further.

A knock at the door saved me, though.

“I’ll get that,” I said, standing swiftly and striding toward the door, glad for an excuse to ditch the food Ryder had made for me. It was delicious, but I’d been full five minutes ago.

I felt him behind me as I grabbed the doorknob, and his hand wrapped around my hip as I tugged the door open. My body flushed a bit with his possessive grip, but I tried not to show that as I found two middle-aged people I recognized but couldn’t name on my doorstep.

It was a man and woman who were clearly mated. When I looked a bit closer at them, I noticed the resemblance between the man and Ryder.

Shit.

This was his parents; they were sort of my sister’s enemies because she flipped houses and they renovated ones that people were currently living in. Though as far as I knew, Mrs. Hughes didn’t do any of the construction or renovation work herself; she ran a little hardware store or something similar that also functioned as their businesses’ headquarters. They ran a business, where Vi just bought, renovated, and flipped houses for fun. Whenever I’d suggested that her job was a business, she’d chided me because she hated that idea and just wanted to see houses transform and make money in the process.

She was damn incredible at what she did though, and made more than a fair wage in the process. Especially if you asked me. Though my opinion was a bit skewed, considering I was living off of a high school counselor’s salary.

“Mom. Dad. What are you guys doing here?” Ryder reached past me with the hand that wasn’t still on my hip and gave his mom a quick half-hug.

They didn’t answer immediately, though, their eyes totally locked on me.

THIRTEEN

It was awkward for a minute.

Ryder’s dad—Ozzy, I was pretty sure—finally looked at him, though his mom was still staring at me with big, watery eyes. “We had to hear throughRoccothat you found a second mate.”

Second mate.

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