His maharishi rolled his giant flaming eyes, “I don’t want to hear any shit from you, Gunner. Wait until you see his shifted form. You’re going to want to cuddle with him as much as I do, but I called first dibs on that, so you’re going to have to wait your turn.”
Gunner shook his head, “You were saying Gio wasthinking?”
It took his dragon a moment, and then he nodded, “Yes, well, he was talking to Bren about it and I happened to be playing poker with Azul… which he totally cheats at if you ask me, but I at least get to eat some of his pizza. That damn dragon is stingy and totally spoiled.”
“Focus please.” Gunner warned.
Sighing heavily, his maharishi said, “Fine. Like I was saying, I was playing poker with Azul and when I heard what they were talking about, I went to them and we talked, and I told them what I tried to tell you… and before you say anything, I have tried to get you to listen to me about Gordy being our sentience even if we haven’t felt the dragon heat. I told them you didn’t believe me, but unlike you, they did and we started coming up with a plan.”
Gunner dropped his head down, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And eventually you are going to tell me this great plan you all came up with… right?”
His maharishi huffed, “Of course I am, if you would stop interrupting me.”
“Then please get on with it before daylight.” Gunner grumbled.
“Bren and Jude thought it might be that Gordy hadn’t scented us enough or something. After all he is a shifter. Even if we didn’t jump into the dragon heat, he should have at least scented us… right? Anyway, we figured that if we could get the two of you together, then maybe it would not only give you guys a chance to get to know each other, but maybe kickstart the dragon heat.”
“Kickstart the… okay, I can see where that makes sense. So he’s expecting me?” Gunner asked.
Shaking his head, his maharishi said, “Not you, per se, but he is expecting someone. Truth be told we don’t know how Gordy is going to act. According to Gio, Gordy suffers from a serious lack of self-esteem. He’s socially awkward and really struggles when it comes to talking to people. Gio said that it could be that Gordy did scent us, but could be too shy to even say anything about it.”
“Are you serious?” Gunner asked, not understanding that at all. Why would the man think so poorly of himself and why the fuck wouldn’t he come to us if he knew we were his mate?
His dragon replied, “Gio wasn’t sure why he always talks down about himself… well, not until tonight. We were in the bathroom getting Gordy ready for his date, he actually let some shit about his past slip out. We still don’t know why he’s in Drago, he doesn’t talk about it at all, but maybe since he opened up to them about his growing up times… well, we can always find out from Wiz, or just look the shit up ourselves as to why he’s in Drago, right? I don’t like the thought of our sentience in danger, Gunner, and I want it eliminated as quickly as possible.”
“You were in the bathroom with him?” Gunner asked in shock.
Shrugging the dragon said, “I was attached to his back where he couldn’t see me, and I won’t apologize for it. I learned something I think it would have taken a long time to discover, and it may help us with understanding our mate better and how to handle him when we tell him who he is to us. Maybe then he can tell us if he knew and was just too scared to say anything or… or if there’s another reason he didn’t tell us.”
Gunner listened as his maharishi repeated what Gordy had told them all and his heart broke. The poor guy had no one but a cook his entire life? What the fuck kind of parents did that to a child? If Gunner ever found Gordy’s parents he’d kill the fuckers… unless Gordy said he couldn’t, then he would just have his maharishi make an appearance. If nothing else, that would make them shit their pants. Then, he thought about what his dragon had said, and realized that Gordy was sitting… in a bar… alone… with a possible target on his head… Holy shit! What the fuck were these guys thinking, placing Gordy in danger like this? He quickly found himself snarling that very question, “And you guys thought this would be a good place to have this date? What if whoever he’s hiding from finds him here? What the fuck were you guys thinking? I need to get in there.”
Grabbing his phone, Gunner called Pit.
“Hey, Gunner, what’s it look like over there?”
“We have a problem, Pit.”
“What kind of problem? Do you need backup?”
Gunner really didn’t want to tell his leader, but he knew that his ass would be grass and Pit would be the lawn mower if he didn’t say something. “You know how we talked about my interest in Gordy.”
“I told you to back off of him, Gunner. Now focus on the reason you’re in that town and stop the bullshit with Gordy.” Pit snapped.
“Gordy is the reason I’m here, Pit. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Gunner snapped back.
Pit’s patience was coming to an end, if his tone was anything to go by, when he said, “Then just fucking tell me already, damn it.”
“It seems the mates got together with my maharishi to plan a blind fucking date.”
“A date? You’re telling me that Spirit and your dragon lied to us?” Pit asked with a snarl.
Yep, the man was pissed. Fuck, if he was this upset at that, Gunner didn’t want to imagine what he would do when he found out the rest. Sighing heavily, Gunner said, “Yes, and that isn’t all. Gordy is currently sitting in Beer and Brats waiting on his date to arrive and…”
“What?You have got to be fucking kidding me? What the fuck was that boy thinking! The danger… Fuck! Just get him back here, Gunner. I’ll deal with the mates until you guys return to Drago.”
“Uh, Pit… you can’t deal with the mates.” Gunner muttered.
“What the fuck do you mean I can’t deal with the—”
