Page 26 of Eddie

“And people?”

“And people.”

Matthias was pretty sure those people included him. He wondered if Eddie was going to say it, though. Hell, maybe he hadn’t talked about him at all. How was Matthias supposed to know?

“We talked about you,” Eddie added. “About how uncomfortable I’ve been with this entire situation.”

Matthias straightened, suddenly alert. “Uncomfortable? Why? What’s going on?”

Eddie sighed. Matthias heard the rustle of fabric, which made him wonder if Eddie was in bed. Probably. Matthias certainly was. It was past eleven, so it was getting late for both of them, but Matthias hadn’t wanted to give up his last conversation of the day with his mate. He was doubly glad of that now that he was hearing about Eddie being uncomfortable. He wished Eddie had told him earlier, but he hadn’t. That didn’t mean Matthias wasn’t going to try to fix it.

“I didn’t want you to freak out,” Eddie said.

“I’m not freaking out. I’m worried because I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. What’s going on?” If there was anything Matthias could do to fix this, he’d do it.

“It’s just that I’m not sure where we stand. You said you were going to come back, and you haven’t, and I get it. Your family’s important, especially after your brother was in jail, and yes, I know they didn’t arrest him. It’s still jail, and it still stings.”

Matthias disagreed with that. Noah had come out of there looking like he’d gotten the best sleep of his life. He didn’t care that he’d been in jail for one night. He’d been unconscious for most of it. He was already back on his usual track, which was partying with his friends as much as possible while being irresponsible and whining to their mother when Matthias said something about it.

Matthias hated that his family was sabotaging his relationship with Eddie without even knowing about him. It seemed like Jenna had kept her promise and hadn’t told anyone about Eddie yet, which was a small miracle, but Matthias didn’t expect it to last much longer. That meant that he’d have a lot of questions to answer, which was why he’d been lingering. He already knew his mother would blow up his phone once Jenna told her about Eddie, and it would be easier to answer her questions face-to-face. It meant staying behind for a bit longer, but he hadn’t realized that it would make Eddie so uncomfortable. Maybe he should have. He’d promised he’d come back as soon as possible so they could talk, but he hadn’t, even though everyone was fine.

But as much as Matthias wanted to blame his family for this, it was also his fault. He was the one who’d decided to stay back. He was the one who hadn’t warned Eddie or explained. This was firmly on him—he was Eddie’s mate, not his family’s.

“I’m really sorry about all of this,” he told Eddie.

“I don’t want you to be sorry. I just want to know what’s going on.”

“Well, Noah is still partying and drinking. I’ve been keeping an eye on him and driving him around at night so I can be sure he’s not driving, but I can’t help but wonder what he’ll do if I’m not there. He could call our mom, but she’s a pretty heavy sleeper, and our dad is useless. Noah also wants money, and I’ve managed to keep him at bay when it comes to that, but I can’t last long.”

“Tell him to get a job.”

“I have, and I will again, but it’s not that easy. He doesn’t have any experience and barely finished high school. Our mother has always coddled him, and she keeps slipping him money, but she doesn’t earn a lot. That’s why Noah comes to me.” And Jenna, although not as often. She had a pretty good job at a local bar. She was friends with the owners, so even though she’d quit to be with Tommy, they’d taken her back without hesitation. Noah, on the other hand, was entirely useless. He wouldn’t be able to work his way out of a wet paper bag. He’d probably call Matthias to do it for him.

“I promise I’ll be in Green Hill as soon as I can,” Matthias said. “I just need everyone to get their feet under themselves first. Once I’m sure Noah isn’t going to do something extremely stupid, I’ll be right there.”

“Sure you will.”

Eddie sounded skeptical, which Matthias couldn’t blame him for. He wasn’t lying, but he also wasn’t sure he was telling the truth.

“It’s just that even though I’m human, I feel like I’m more invested in our relationship than you are,” Eddie said. “Sometimes, it feels like you don’t care about it at all.”

“I do care.”

“I know you do. If anything, because you’re a shifter and you only have one mate.”

“It’s not only because of that. It’s because it’s you. Eddie, I can’t stop thinking about you and that kiss. I want it to happen again. When I come and spend time with you, I want to be able to focus solely on you. I don’t want my phone ringing every five seconds because my mother needs something.”

“You could turn it off like you did the other day.”

“I could. The problem is that she knows I’m looking for peace. If I tried to do that again, she might call the cops and report me missing.”

Eddie scoffed. “She wouldn’t do that.” He paused. “Would she?”

Even though Eddie couldn’t see him, Matthias couldn’t help but grimace at the memories. “She’s done it before.”

“What?”

“It’s not something I’m proud of. I don’t think she learned her lesson, unfortunately. She wants me at her beck and call, and if I don’t answer, she’ll do anything in her power to get me to. Apparently, that includes calling the cops. She was unapologetic when they came back to her because they found me, and I was perfectly fine. She told them that she was a worried mom, and of course, they let it go. She’s always been good at manipulating people.”