With a grunt, I pushed myself to my feet, more to avoid the conversation than to alleviate his curiosity. Stevie’s letter was folded on the table. I hadn’t eaten there since she’d left. I’m not sure I’d eaten at all, to be honest.
I picked up the letter and tossed it to Brakkor before stomping into the kitchen.
Behind me, I heard him open it and begin to read as I stuck my head into the empty refrigerator. I suppose Ishould have gone shopping. There was always carry out, but I couldn’t be bothered…
With a sigh, I closed it just as Brakkor ambled in, toting that cooler. “So your Mate went off to prove to you that shecansurvive?”
“Maybe prove to herself,” I mumbled, tipping my head back and closing my eyes. “Fuck, I don’t know.”
“She’s right.”
I twisted to scowl at him. “What?”
But Brakkor had placed the cooler on the counter, and now pulled out a long sub sandwich that smelled of prosciutto and ham and salami and all my favorite things. My stomach growled just as he thrust the thing at me.
“Here.”
I took it. I mean,of courseI was going to fucking take it. It smelled delicious, and I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until that moment.
“She’s right,” Brakkor repeated, eyeing me chowing down on the sandwich, and already pulling out a second and a third from the cooler. “You hover over all of us.”
Through a mouthful of meat, I growled, “You think I’m wrong?—”
“No, you dipshit, we love you for it, but you treatuslike we’re competent and you expect us to do our jobs.” Shaking his head, he reached for another beer and propped his ass on my counter as he watched me slowly chew. “You always have. You respect us.”
I swallowed carefully. “I respect Stevie. She’s my Mate.”
But Brakkor shook his head. “You’ve been treating her like she’s made of spun sugar, like she’s going to melt during a light rain.”
Had I? “Is that a bad thing?”
Since I’d finished the first sandwich, he tossed me another. “When I showed up in here with that hoagie, you wanted it?”
I paused in my unwrapping. “Yeah,” I admitted warily.
“But you hesitated to take it. Fuck, you hesitated to admit it right there, see? You suck at accepting help, Garrak. You’re always so focused on helping us that you forget we need our own purpose.”
I didn’t understand.
Frowning, I considered him as I chewed and he sipped his beer, watching me. Finally I swallowed.
“I thought we just established that I respect you and think you’re competent and can do your jobs?”
“Yeah,” he agreed immediately. “Jobs you helped us find here on Eastshore. We’re making a place for ourselves, just like you are.”
I still didn’t understand, but the meat was helping. Salami made most things clearer. I shook my head as I chewed. “Make sense, Brakkor,” I commanded from one side of my mouth.
Was it my imagination, or did the other male’s lips twitch as he dug out a sandwich for himself? Impossible—Icouldn’t recall the last time I’d seen him smile unless he was mocking me.
“My point,D’malk, is that if you want Stevie to have a place with you, she needs aplace. She needs to do what we’ve all done and make herself a place on the island. You can help her, like you helped us, but you have to trust her enough to know she can build that place, the same as you trusted us.”
When he realized I was staring at him, Brakkor paused, sandwich halfway to his mouth. “What?”
“Thatdoesmake sense.”
“You have to give her a reason for being with you that’s not just great sex. Don’t deny it—we can hear her screaming down the hall. You’ve traumatized my nephew.”
Slowly, I straightened.
