“No, and you don’t need to lecture me. I know I was an idiot. I’ll be sure to do that in thefuture.”
“What makes you think I’m going to lecture?” Peterasked.
“You have that look of disapproval my dad getssometimes.”
Peter raised his right eyebrow. “Did you just say I remind you of yourfather?”
“Um.” Quain bit his lip. “Only in the vaguest disapprovally manner ofcourse.”
“I’m pretty sure that isn’t aword.”
“Sure it is. It’s like Scrabble. It’s a word if I can work it into asentence.”
“I’ll have to make sure not to play Scrabble with you,” Peter saiddryly.
Quainlaughed.
“Call your family.” Peter nudged him toward thedoor.
“Yes, sir.” Quain saluted him with a sassy wave of his hand, then exited to the balcony. Peter pretended to give him privacy and avoided staring at Quain’s perky ass as he walkedaway.
Quain’s personality was beginning to come through after his rough captivity followed by a series of visions. How much of his cheer came from self-protection? Did he use humor to get people to dismiss him while he dealt with his sight? Only time spent together would help Peter understand Quainbetter.
Out on the balcony, Quain waved his hands while he talked and paced in front of the windows. A smile curled Peter’s lips at Quain’s animated conversation. He didn’t pay attention to the words but to Quain’s actions. His mate was a handtalker.
After ten minutes, Quain wrapped up his conversation, then came back inside and returned Peter’s phone tohim.
“How did itgo?”
“Fine.” Quain shrugged and didn’t offer anymore.
“What’s your familylike?”
“Overbearing.” Quain’s succinct response had Peterblinking.
“Huh. It’s never good when you can sum up an entire group of people with oneword.”
Quain grinned. “It fits most of them, unfortunately. I mean they’re good people, don’t get me wrong, and they were right to be worried about me. I guess I just feel guilty because they have to spend so much time and energy keeping me safe. I’d say it wasn’t necessary, but whenever I get a little more space, something happens, as me beingkidnapped.”
Peter didn’t know what to say. He would reserve judgment since it appeared they could be justified in their paranoia. If Quain received visions as often as he had in the little time Peter had known him, then Quain couldn’t function like everyone else. The limits of his life baffled Peter. How could anyone follow a regular daily routine when a vision could put them out at any moment? Ordinary things as showering could result in aninjury.
“I’ll try not to smother you too much. Are you used to having someone with you at alltimes?”
“No. I usually get a warning when I’m about to have an episode. I get a low-grade headache. The past few days have been different. The visions have come out of nowhere. I don’t know what todo.”
Quain’s hopeless expression pulled at Peter’s heartstrings. “We’ll work out something. Maybe I can have a pack member come and stay with you during the day until things go back to normal. Anthony could be subconsciously triggering them. He tends to attract magic. He could have accidentally activated more of your ability just by being the focus of futureevents.”
“I hate not knowing when I might collapse. At least with the warning headache, I could find time to sit down somewhere.” Quain rubbed hisforehead.
Who would make a good babysitter for Quain? Names flickered through his head and were discarded just as quickly. Dare. Peter hummed as he considered the tiger shifter. Everyone always roped Dare into watching their children because of his easygoing nature. Maybe he could hire Dare on a permanent basis and pay him a salary. He would be helping two shifters with one job. Steven often whined about all the men hitting on Dare while he bartended. If he were at Peter’s place, keeping Quain company, it would solve one unnecessary stress on theirrelationship.
“It’s not really consistent.” Quain played with the bottom of his shirt, his fingers sliding back and forth across the fabric. “Sometimes, days can pass when I don’t have a single vision, but other times, I get them hourly. With Zeus asking me to watch out for Anthony, it will depend on what might be going on that could affect him. I’m probably having more visions because of having met Anthony rather for anything he might havedone.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Peter went to answer it before he said something he would regret. He nodded to the pimple-faced teen who wheeled in the deliverycart.
“Where do you want me to set up?” the waiterasked.
“On the table, over there.” Peter pointed to his dining roomtable.
