“I’ve been sitting on my ass for too long,” I replied instead of what I really wanted to say. “I needed to use my muscles a little.”
“You used them pretty well last night,” he joked, sliding his arms around my waist.
“Maybe if I were on top, I could use sex as cardio,” I mused, tilting my head. “But missionary? Nah.”
Daniel laughed and let me go as I moved around him.
“Your dad’s making breakfast.”
I nodded. “He likes to cook.”
“Are all those cookbooks his?” He fell in step beside me as we headed for the house.
“Some were my mom’s,” I replied. I knew exactly which ones. “The rest are his. I started buying them as birthday and Christmas gifts, but now that I can afford better presents, I usually try to grab him a local one when I’m traveling. The trick is finding them in English. They’re a pain in the ass to translate.”
“Do you travel a lot?” he asked curiously.
“Once I started working with Uncle Dalton, yeah. People contact us from all over. We go where we’re needed.”
“Morning,” Pop greeted as we let ourselves inside. “Made a scramble. It’s on the table.”
“Thanks, Gary,” Daniel replied as he sat down.
“Mm-hmm,” Pop replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Dig in.”
I glanced at Daniel before bumping Pop out of the way with my hip and pouring my own mug. Did my mate realize how furious Pop was?
My father had spent more years than I’d been alive controlling every micro-expression on his face. His life and the lives of his teammates had depended upon it. Most of the Vampires I’d met were like bulls in a china shop. They didn’t need to hide their feelings or opinions—that’s what came from being born at the top of the food chain. Their human counterparts were different. I didn’t know most of what Pop had done while he was working with Vampire Command—I’d never know—but I’d picked up enough over the years to know that he’d spent a lot of time undercover. He’d infiltrated places that would give me nightmares. Cozied up to madmen so well that when they were finally taken down, they’d looked to him for help. He’dlistened in on conversations that would still, to this day, get him killed if anyone ever found out.
So when he’d greeted Daniel the day before like everything was just fine, I hadn’t even been surprised. Pop watched and he waited and helistened,and if there ever came a time when he needed the information that he’d burrowed away like a squirrel getting ready for winter, he’d use it. His body may be failing him, he might not move like he used to, but my father was the most wily and intelligent person I’d ever known—human or Vampire.
“Coffee?” I asked Daniel.
“Please,” he said, half rising from his seat. “I’m sorry, I should’ve gotten it.”
I waved him off. “No worries. You’re the guest.”
The words stung, even though I hadn’t meant them to. I could see it in the small way he’d flinched as soon as they were out of my mouth.
What did he expect? He didn’t live here. Hell, I didn’t even live here. I’d built my own home in a little townhouse fifteen minutes away. Sure, I kept plenty of things at Pop’s house, because when I wasn’t traveling, I liked spending most of my time up here. But I had my own place. It was girly and feminine and smelled like spiced apples year-round because I stocked up on the candles in the fall and carefully burned them through the other seasons.
God, I missed my house.
After handing him his coffee, I sat down and unzipped my sweatshirt, peeling it down my clammy arms. I nearly lifted my arm to check my pits, which I would’ve done if my mate wasn’t watching me across the table. Instead, I just pressed my arms unobtrusively to my sides and hoped that I didn’t reek. As soon as I could escape, I was taking a long shower.
“Saw you out with the tire,” Pop said with a little grin. “Get all your feelings out?”
“Just needed some exercise,” I countered, loading my plate. He’d made some kind of hash with ham, eggs, potatoes, and peppers. I wanted to bury my face in it. “I don’t think I’ve gone this long without working out since I was like thirteen.”
I missed the gym I’d set up in my spare bedroom.
“I think I’ve got some equipment out in the loft somewhere,” Pop offered. “If you want to go looking.”
“It’s fine, Pop,” I replied. “The tire works just fine.”
We fell into silence as we ate, but it wasn’t comfortable. Daniel and my pop seemed totally fine, but I wasn’t. I was having a very difficult time wavering between wanting to drag Daniel into the woods to have my way with him or, alternately, dive across the table to pummel him.
He was so calm. Happy, even. To Daniel, the world outside might be on fire, but in our little house in the woods, all was well.
