The front door opens, and Quint strides inside. He doesn’t skip a beat when he sees the three of us. “You didn’t invite me,” he says as he drops his bag and joins me on the couch. “What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Evie starts.
“The master and everyone that was with him at the warehouse is gone,” Zane adds. “We’ve got nothing on them, but our best trackers are on it.”
“Except for this one,” Quint says, nodding at me.
“Yeah, well he’s got other responsibilities now that his mate has showed up.”
“Speaking of the adorable Tessa, how is she?” Quint asks.
I growl at him calling her adorable. “She’s asleep in my room,” Evie provides. “She works nightshift and needed to sleep, but her suitemates are terrible.”
He nods. “She in your room?” he asks me.
“No,” Evie answers for me. “She’s in mine.”
Quint squints his eyes at me. “I would have thought you’d have taken the opportunity to put her in your bed.” I lean forward and smack the back of his head. “For a nap...without you,” he adds, rubbing the back of his head. “If it were my mate—”
“She’s not,” I tell him in no uncertain terms.
“But if she was—” he starts again, and I growl low in my chest.
“Quint, stop trying to goad him,” Zane orders.
Quint laughs. “I can’t help it; you guys make it so easy.” He grins. “So, I guess we’re back to night patrols then?”
Zane eyes me, waiting for my response. “How many times a week is she on security?” I ask Evie instead.
“It changes weekly. Usually it’s around three or four nights. I can try to get her schedule weekly,” she offers.
I nod. “That would be good. She probably won’t give it to me.”
Evie grins. “I wonder why not?”
I scowl at her. “Maybe because you told her I was a jerk.”
Quint turns to Evie, wide-eyed. “For real?”
“She wants nothing to do with me,” I grumble.
“Okay. That has nothing to do with me,” Evie defends herself. “You did all that yourself.”
“You told her I was a jerk,” I counter. Quint makes a tsking sound that we all ignore.
“No, I really didn’t. That’s just what she picked up.” I level a look at her, and she fidgets next to Zane. Zane shoots me a warning look that I ignore. “I really didn’t. It was all crazy. I was trying to explain why you looked like a deranged, serial killer when she finally met you for the first time.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Evie’s eyes are wide. “Yes, you did.”
“You totally did,” Quint adds.
I look to Zane for support, but of course, he takes her side. “You did.” He laughs. “What? It took the three of us to hold you down, so she could escape.” I growl at the memory of them keeping me from my mate.
“See, that right there,” Evie says pointing at me. “That look and growl.”
“What was I supposed to do? You all were trying to keep me away from my mate,” I respond as anger rushes through me. “And thanks for the heads-up that she works security,” Iadd since I’m already irritated. “That would have been good to know.” I tried to get information on my mate from Evie, but she was like a vault. She just kept telling me I needed to get to know her on my own without cheating—whatever that means.
