“Come on,” Clay said as he tugged on my hand. “Mica is out back, and I want to introduce you.”
I went willingly with Clay. I wanted to meet the fourth brother. I knew that aside from Silver, he was the one that Charlie was closest to. He’d often said that Mica was super friendly and sweet, but he’d also said that Clay was a bit on the grumpy side. I’d not really seen that from my mate.
“Hey there,” Clay said as we stepped onto the back deck. “This is Duncan, and I wanted to introduce you.”
Mica put the tongs down on the side thing and closed the lid to the grill. When he turned, he was all smiles.
“Hi, Duncan. It’s great to finally get a chance to meet you.”
“Same. Charlie has talked about you a lot, and Clay has mentioned you a few times.”
“Only a few?” Mica asked as he gave his brother a hurt look.
“What did you expect? I’m newly mated. I’m not going to be gushing about my brothers to my mate,” Clay said. I was about to say something, but a few seconds later, both he and Mica started laughing.
Mica patted me on the shoulder. “Welcome to the family, Duncan. I hope you don’t take any of us too seriously.” Mica glanced to the side. “Especially not Flint. He’s in a mood, and you’d think that him finding his mate was the end of the world orsomething.” Mica shook his head. “I’ve come to accept that after Silver found Charlie, and now Clay found you, we’re all going to be finding our mates, and that’s how it’s going to be.” We all turned as Flint made a big production of plopping down on a lounge chair. “I don’t know if it’s because she’s a human or if it’s because he truly didn’t want his mate, but he’s been unbearable lately.”
“I’m about to knock him into next week,” Silver said as he joined us. “Duncan, would you go inside with Charlie?”
“Uhh…” I looked at Clay. “Sure.” I hurried off back into the house and found Charlie at the kitchen island, eating a cookie. When I got closer, I saw he looked upset. I hurried over to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Charlie shoved the cookie in his mouth, but before he finished chewing, there was shouting outside. Then there was a growl, and I looked at Charlie in concern.
“Yeah, so Silver is going to kick Flint’s ass. He’s seriously been a raging asshole since meeting his mate. He made a comment about how not all of them want to ignore the rest of the family and knock up their so-called mate.”
My mouth dropped open, and I grabbed a pair of cookies. There was a loud thud outside, and when we looked toward the back door, a deck chair went flying by.
“Ah. I guess now I know why Silver wanted me to come in here.” I took another bite of cookie. “Want to go get ice cream or something?” I asked.
Charlie looked at me like I’d offered him the best thing ever.
“Yes. It’s ice cream.” Another deck chair went flying by, this one landing on the grill, knocking it over. “Maybe we should pick up some pizzas and tacos since the steaks and chicken are now on the ground.”
I nodded. There were several loud growls outside, and I took Charlie’s hand and led him toward the front of the house.
“Hey, hottie? I know you and your brothers are kicking Flint’s ass, so have fun with that. Charlie and I are going to get pizzas and tacos.”
I heard Clay grunt through our bond.“Supreme for me, please.”
“You got it. Try not to get too hurt.”
“I won’t, sweetie. Be careful.”
“Clay wants a supreme pizza.”
“That’s what Silver wants too. And some wings.” Charlie pulled out his phone. “You drive, because I can’t, and I’ll order the food.”
I nodded. “Sure. You’ll have to give me directions, though, because I still don’t really know this neighborhood too well.”
Charlie and I climbed into my new SUV, and after our seat belts were on, I started it. “You know, I thought my SUV was nice, but I can really see why Clay likes this brand.”
I grinned. “I’m still terrified to drive it. We’ve had it for a week and a half, and I’ve only driven it twice. Once was to get it home.”
“Why? This thing is gorgeous!” Charlie turned around to look into the back. “It’s three rows?”
“Yeah.” I pulled away from the curb and very carefully drove away from the house. “Where are we going?”
“Sorry. Take that first left. That road will lead you out to the main one. Then go right. The pizza place is down about three blocks on the left.”
