We rounded the corner into the dining room to find the restof the inner circle, plus Hamish and Brodie, sat around the table.
“And I’m still not allowed my broadsword.” Finlay pouted. “Spoilsports.”
“Can’t you just overrule them?” Reid asked. Despite his nerves, he went around the table hugging each of them in greeting. My heart swelled. Reid might have been struggling with the aspects of clan life that reminded him of his past, but not with fitting in with my friends.
“Nah,” Finn said, accepting his hug and dropping back into his seat beside Chester. “It’s not worth the argument, to be honest. They don’t have any real say over anything after everything that happened with Danny and Riley, so I let them have this one.”
“Huh.” From Reid’s reaction, I guessed it wasn’t the same with the Clarksons. Given the little I’d witnessed from their council during their visits, I’d assume Clyde ruled with an iron fist.
“Anyway, you’re safe.” Logan carried a massive dish in. “Calan cooked. Beef stew.”
My mouth immediately started watering as everyone perked up. “Fuck yes. Calan, you’re a hero.”
“Saw the snow and figured we’d want warming up,” Calan grunted, lifting the lid and nudging the pot towards Reid. “You first. Don’t be shy. You need to load up.”
“Why?” Reid’s hand gripped his fork so hard his knuckles whitened. I shifted closer to him.Shit.I should’ve insisted we stayed home. “Because I’m so small and weak? Newsflash, Calan, I’m human. Eating isn’t going to make me one of you.”
Calan’s eyes widened as he shot me a panicked look. “What? No?—”
“Chester’s human too,” Reid said, his cheeks reddening. “Why didn’t you offer it to him first? Or tellhimhe needs to ‘load up’? Is it because he’s bigger than me? A more acceptable size?”
Chester leaned forwards, his forehead creased in concern. “Reid, I’m sure that’s not what Calan meant.”
Several pairs of eyes turned to me. Hamish’s confused. Brodie’s worried. Logan’s and Finlay’s pitying.
And Calan’s full of apology.
“But he said it.” Reid’s fork fell to the table with a loud clatter, his hand shaking too much to hold it. “It came from somewhere.”
Fuck. I’d been right to worry about him being here. Trauma didn’t go away just because you wanted it to. Being here, eating with the clan, it was a step Reid wanted to take.
That didn’t mean he was ready to.
Not wanting to make Reid even more uncomfortable by having this conversation in front of everyone, I pushed my chair back and got to my feet. “Excuse us a minute.”
Reid was staring into space now, seemingly unaware that I’d spoken or moved. I pulled his chair back, scooped him into my arms, and carried him out of the room.
He startled when he realised how far from the floor he was. “Evan? What are you doing? Put me down.”
“In a minute.” I ran effortlessly up the stairs.
Nudging open the door to my bedroom, I carefully sat Reid on the edge of the bed and knelt in front of him.
Reid wrapped his arms around himself in a move that had my chest hurting. “Where are we?”
“My room,” I said. “Figured we could use a minute.”
He didn’t speak, just rocked back and forth slightly.
“Reid, that’s not what Calan meant,” I said quietly. “He offered food to you first because you’re our guest. Chestereats here regularly, which is why he deferred to you before him.”
His shoulders drew in. “Then why did he tell me I needed to load up?”
“Because you’ve spent several hours out in the snow,” I reminded him, resting my hands on his knees. “We played right through lunch. You would have burned hundreds of calories. We all have.”
“He thinks I’m weak.” A tear tracked down his cheek. “I’ll never be good enough.”
“No,” I said firmly, smoothing the tear away with my thumb. “Calan’s a grumpy fucker, but he’s also a mother hen. He could rival Ma with his desire to feed us all and take care of us. That’sallof us, Reid, not just you. If you hadn’t challenged him, you would’ve seen him forcing fourth and fifth helpings on everyone.”
