Page 36 of Eddie

“I wanted to.”

“Maybe next weekend, I can cook breakfast.”

“I won’t say no to that.” Because as much as Eddie enjoyed taking care of Matthias, he knew that Matthias enjoyed taking care of him, too. The relationship went both ways, unlike Matthias’s relationship with his family. Eddie knew it was important for Matthias to feel that, and he was happy to make sure he did.

“Any plans for today?” he asked as he put a plate down in front of Matthias.

Matthias suddenly went squirrelly. He looked away from Eddie and carefully didn’t look back at him. That was enough to get Eddie’s attention, and he wondered if he should confront his mate. Should he say something or should he let it go? Maybe he was just imagining things.

He was sure he wasn’t. Matthias was hiding something, and there was no way for Eddie to know if that something was good or bad.

He sighed and sat at the table. He didn’t start eating, though. Instead, he stared at his mate until he knew he was making Matthias uncomfortable. Matthias wriggled in his chair, then put down his fork without eating anything. “Jenna texted me,” he said.

Eddie had to work hard not to sigh. “Oh?” He didn’t want to sound judgmental, even though he definitely was. The little he knew about Jenna was enough for him to want to be cautious.

“She didn’t want anything,” Matthias quickly said. “Well, she wanted to warn me.”

“Warn you? That doesn’t sound good.”

“It probably isn’t. Apparently, Noah took our mother’s car and crashed it. Luckily, he wasn’t arrested, although I think that at this point, he should be. Maybe that would stop him from doing something this stupid again. But the problem in this case isn’t Noah—it’s our mother. She doesn’t have a car now, and our father doesn’t, either. Jenna needs her car, and our mother isn’t going to ask her for it, which leaves no one.”

“It leaves you, I guess.”

“That’s why Jenna texted. She wanted me to know that our mother was probably going to call.”

Matthias hadn’t blocked his family on his phone, and Eddie hadn’t asked him to. Matthias wanted to know if something happened to them, which made sense, and Eddie had hoped he’d be strong enough not to intervene. He supposed it was about to be put to the test. Eddie would do what he could, but he couldn’t handle Matthias’s family himself. He’d never even talked to any of them.

And he hoped things would continue that way.

Matthias had put his phone on the table when he’d first come in, and now, Eddie understood why. When it started vibrating, they both turned to look at it. Eddie was tempted to grab it and chuck it out the window, but he kept his hands in his lap and waited.

“Part of me doesn’t want to answer because I already know what she wants, but another part of me thinks that I need to so that she’ll understand how serious I was when I told her not to contact me until things changed,” Matthias murmured.

“You can do whatever you want.”

With a sigh, Matthias swiped up his phone and put the call on speaker. For a second, no one said anything, and Eddie wondered if Matthias’s mother was surprised that he’d answered. She should be. If it was up to Eddie, Matthias would still be no-contact. Hell, they’d all be blocked.

“Matthias?” she asked.

“Mom,” Matthias answered. “Did something happen?”

“Well, yes. My car broke down, and obviously, I can’t take Jenna’s because she needs it to go to work, and you know that Noah’s car isn’t working. I have to go to work, too, though. I really need your help.”

“Your car broke down?”

“It did. I’m not sure what the problem is, and you know I don’t have enough money to take it to the mechanic. Maybe you could look at it with your father? In the meantime, it would be great if you could lend me your truck.”

“The truck I use to go to work?”

“I’m sure you can work from home for a little bit. Didn’t you do that last year?”

“When I broke my leg, Mom.”

“I’m sure you can make it work somehow.”

“Can you stop and tell me the truth for once in your life?” Matthias sounded tired.

Eddie wasn’t surprised. He was tired for his mate, and they’d only been listening to Matthias’s mother for a few minutes.