“Cristie’s waiting,” Kaiser said, without breaking stride.
“I want to talk to you, son. You’re obviously hurting,” Basilio said, following him through the house toward the door.
“I’m not hurting. I’m fucking numb,” Kaiser said, reaching for the front door and pulling it open so he could leave.
Just as he prepared to step through, Basilio put his hand on the door and shoved it closed.
Kaiser schooled his features into a non-aggressive expression, then turned to look at his father.
“Tell me what’s going on. Please. I only want to help you,” Basilio said.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kaiser said.
“Does she know she’s your mate?” Basilio asked.
Kaiser huffed a laugh. “I’m more than sure that the thought of mate has never entered her head.”
“So that’s a no.”
“I gotta go,” Kaiser said, opening the door again.
“When you do want to talk, I’m here. No matter what’s going on, or why you’re so torn up over it, there’s always a way. We’ll figure out,” Basilio said.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kaiser said again as he strode toward his car without looking back.
“Kaiser!” Basilio said in that voice that demanded to be obeyed.
Kaiser stopped short of opening his car door and looked back at his father.
“Cristie’s mate is a Dragon. It’s not only your friendship I'm worried about. Tread lightly, son. They can be dangerous, very dangerous.”
“So can we. He can bring it,” Kaiser said, opening the door and getting in the car. Seconds later he’d already put the car in gear and was backing away from his parents’ house.
Cristie watched him quietly, knowing he was upset. She waited until he’d driven them away from his parents’ property and set out on the highway toward town. “You good?”
“Better than,” Kaiser said, glancing her way quickly to flash her a smile before he turned his attention back to the road.
“Is it my fault?” she asked.
“No. It’s my fault.”
“I don’t understand,” Cristie said. “What happened? We were all fine and then, this.”
“The only thing my father is worried about is the fact that if I get in the middle of your issues with your mate, it could hurt our friendship when you take him back.”
“If! If I take him back. And it would not damage our friendship in any way.”
“Cristie, seriously? He’s your mate. He didn’t cheat. He didn’t renounce you. He was just already involved. At some point, you’ll forgive him — more than likely.”
“Shut up,” Cristie grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and staring straight ahead, “you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am. Always. I’m just pointing out the differences between what you felt, and are probably still feeling, and what actually happened. But I’ll still stand beside you and throw stones at him as long as you want to.”
“Boulders. I want to throw boulders,” Cristie said.
“Let’s aim really well when we do,” Kaiser said with a grin as he glanced her way.
Cristie smiled.
