There were a million ways I could’ve gotten in touch with him.
But my hang-ups always got in the way of my happiness and goddess-damn me, I let them.
This time might’ve been my worst. Brent was always around the shop and, if I wasn’t avoiding the place before, I was now.
Until I got the call from Greta, my sister-in-law. Mated to my older brother, Xavier. I didn’t even know how the tattoo, meant for my mate, my fated mate, was put into the machine, but now I had to answer for it.
And answer for my actions. I’d intentionally made the tattoo with my mate in mind to be completed over two days. Two days to get to know my mate and solidify some kind of bond while I marked him as my own.
I was on my two days off from the fire station, sleeping in for once in my life, when I got the call.
Brent of all people had gotten my drawing from the machine.
A quarter. That was all it took to decide my fate.
The mate who’d abandoned me.
“How in the fuck did my mate design get into the machine?” I asked. “Some random could’ve picked it.”
“Hello to you too, little brother.” Sothea was in the back, restocking supplies. Gloves and sanitizing sprays and wipes among others.
“Did you do it? You think that just because your mate and your tattoo worked out that that machine is some kind of messenger of Fate?”
Sothea’s patience was only good for his mate and their daughter Laney. The rest of us? We got the brooding, grumpy bear. He turned, one eyebrow up, challenging me. My dragon didn’t like it one bit, but he was my big brother. “I didn’t put it in the machine. You’re breathing fire at the wrong bear. Xavier didn’t either. Or Greta. We actually have no idea how it got in there.”
“So it magically got into the machine, and now, Brent of all people picked it?”
Sothea shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought you liked Brent. You took him home the other night when we went to the bar. The way you were looking at each other…”
I scratched the back of my head. The last thing I wanted to do was admit to my brother, who treated his mate like a king, that I’d run out on Brent, though I knew from that one night, he was my fated. My dragon knew as well and hadn’t stopped huffing smoke at me since.
His smoke was worse by far than any fire I’d ever run into.
“It’s all fucked up.” I didn’t give him details. “What do I do?”
Sothea put his boxes down. “You go in there and mark your mate. Say whatever you need to and let him do the same. This is your mate.”
Straight to the point. That was why Sothea was my favorite.
I walked into the front to get Brent, my stomach filled with nerves. He had put a quarter into the machine and somehowgotten the tattoo I drew for one person and one person only. Did I understand it? No. Was I still going to walk in there and mark my mate with my ink? Absolutely.
“Hey, Brent,” I said.
Xavier and Greta announced they were going out for lunch and left. They had zero couth.
“Hi, Theo.” He held up my drawing. “I got this in the machine. I didn’t mean to bother you or make you come all the way down here. In fact, I can put another quarter in and get a different one. I will, another day.”
He walked toward the machine, but I reached it first and put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s not a bother, Brent. It’s…I’m honored if you want this tattoo. Truly.”
He blushed, and suddenly I was taken back to that night. Lying on top of him. Looking down at those beautiful rosy cheeks as he called out my name in climax. Goddess, how could I have left him after the most incredible sex of my life?
What a fucking coward I was. Even though he was the one who left, I could’ve called him. Made sure he was okay. Hell, I still didn’t know the reason why he departed.
“Are you sure?” Brent asked.
“I’m absolutely sure. Follow me. They told you this is going to take more than one day? It’s pretty extensive.”
“Yeah. That’s fine. I’m around here with Altan anyway.”
