Page 11 of Brock’s Mate

“I just moved to town.”

“Really? From where? Are you living in town, or outside?”

She raised her eyebrows. “You ask a lot of questions, Spanky Boy.” She caught the waitress’s eye and signaled for another drink.

He shrugged. “How can I stalk you if I don’t know anything about you?”

Surprisingly, it was one of the Cocky Asshole Twins who brought her drink—she thought it was the one called Remy. He also brought a lurid green one for Spanky Boy.

“Brock, Brock, Brock,” he said, shaking his head. “You promised you’d give speed dating a chance, and now you went and hurt Number 17’s feelings. Jaeda says you still only deserve Sex with an Alligator.”

Desi snorted.

“Speed dating sucks,” Brock said. “And I didn’t like Number 17. I made a friend, though. Look.” He gestured toward Desi.

“We’re not friends,” Desi told him.

Remy turned to Brock. “I know you wouldn’t harass a woman who is not interested in you. Because Colt and I would have to throw you out of here. Through the window. And then Callie would stab you in the balls.”

“Hey,” Brock protested. “I’m doing great, here. She hasn’t told me to go the fuck away or thrown a drink at me or anything.”

Desi asked Remy, “Is he a friend of yours?”

“Kind of?” Remy said. Brock backhanded him in the abs. Which must have been rock-hard, because he didn’t even flinch. “Okay, yes. He and my wife grew up together. She has an irrational affection for him.”

“Tell Desi I’m not a dick,” Brock said.

Remy considered. “Well, he’s less of a dick than I am.”

Brock and Desi said at the same time, “That’s not saying much.”

Remy rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He turned to Desi. “I vouch for him. Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He walked away.

Desi turned to Brock. “Is there actually anything he wouldn’t do?”

Brock gave a huff of laughter, but his answer was serious. “Hurt his mate. Betray his friends or his family.” He paused. “Beyond that, I don’t think so.”

He sounded pretty damn sure. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Since we were kids. Our families are all friends. Remy and his brother and their wives—they’ve helped me through… a pretty hard time. Got me to move out here so I’d have friends around when I needed them.”

“That must be nice.” Desi felt a sudden stab of envy. She couldn’t imagine having a community of people to rely on. She was so used to being the lone wolf. In spite of herself, she added, “I’ve never really had that.”

“That’s too bad,” he said. “Don’t you have any family?”

“No.” And that was all she had to say on that subject. “Do you?”

He gave that little huff of laughter again. “Oh, yeah. And I love them, and everything, but… It’s complicated.”

“Life is fucking complicated.” She sounded more bitter than she’d intended.

Just then she heard a text message alert. She looked at Brock to see if he would answer it, but he wasn’t moving. “Do you have to get that?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It’s not me. Must be you.” He nodded to where her phone lay face-down on the table.

She went cold. No one had this number. Slowly, slowly, she reached out and flipped the phone over to see the notification.

It was a message from Jered.