For some reason, my eyes wanted to water as I hugged him back and whispered, “Thank you.”
Maybe it was because this was the reaction I should’ve received from Garrick, or maybe it was because I’d known Anton for such a long time, and I knew he understood how difficult it was to wait and how amazing and wonderful it was to find our mates.
He said, “You’ve waited such a long time, and Oakley is perfect for you. I know the two of you will make each other very happy.”
I stepped back, laughing a little. “Yeah, I hope so.”
“I know so.” He smiled, then moved closer to my car, knelt down, and ran his fingers over the undercarriage, searching for tracking devices. “I’m sorry Garrick can’t see that right now, but he will in time.”
“I don’t know about that. He’s one of the most stubborn people I know.”
“True, but we both know that Tan won’t let him get away with acting this way for long.”
That made me smile. “Fair.”
Anton winked at me, then ducked down to look under the car.
For a moment, all I could do was stare. I never thought I’d see the day when dignified Anton crawled around on the ground, getting grease and who knew what else all over himself. It was kind of surreal.
Shaking my head, I joined him.
Luckily, neither of us found anything, and when we walked into the house, Anton led me straight to the kitchen to wash the grime off, and then we headed into the family room.
Oakley was sitting in the corner of the ginormous sectional sofa with Jed beside them, both of them laughing at somethingor another. As grateful as I was to the vampire for making my Oakley laugh, I didn’t like how close he was sitting to them.
A low growl came out of my throat before I could stop it, and everyone froze. Trayben, the youngest vampire in the house, was sitting on the other corner of the couch, and he slowly scooted farther away from me, looking surprised and maybe a little fearful.
Beshiro and Phaeron looked resigned, and neither of them moved, but they did keep their eyes on me.
Kat was sitting on an armchair with her own viramore in her lap, neither of them paying one bit of attention to anyone else.
But Jed just rolled his eyes, looking seriously unimpressed. “Dude, I’m not even touching them, for crap’s sake.”
Another growl came out, and even though some part of me was telling my brain—my dragon—to calm the hell down, most of me was simply thinkingMine! I protect what’s mine!
Oakley sighed. “Rome, we’re gonna have a major problem if you can’t act civilized toward my friends. I like hugs, so I hug everyone. What are you gonna do when Ker gets home, and I want to give him a hug, huh? Stop being a dick.”
Instead of listening to anything they said, I walked across the room, growled at Jed until he rolled his eyes and scooted over, then climbed onto the couch beside Oakley, in between the two of them. I wrapped my arms around their waist and buried my face against their neck, breathing them in as they sighed in annoyed resignation.
“Wow. I’m so glad you were listening when I talked.”
I huffed out a small laugh and kissed their soft skin, not missing the shiver that swept through them. “I was listening.”
“You might’ve heard me, but I don’t think you were actually listening.”
“You said you like hugs, so…” I squeezed them.
They snorted. “Wow, so not what I meant.”
“So you don’t want my hugs?”
“Not what I said either. Ugh. Just… chill out. What do you want to eat?”
I almost saidyou, but managed to stop myself this time. Thank the Mother of Scales. “I don’t care.”
“Ugh. You’re no help.”
I hugged them tighter and moved my lips to their ear so only they could hear my words. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Actually, that’s not true. My dragon got allmine, mine, mine, and I couldn’t stop myself.”
