Page 8 of Eddie

“I’d call it a date,” Valentine declared, looking at Les, probably for confirmation.

Les was older than both of them—not quite old enough to be their father, but he was their boss, and they were close. He had an almost fatherly relationship with most of the crew, including Eddie. It was the reason Eddie had told him he’d be late. He wouldn’t have dared to do something like that with anyone else, but this was Les. Eddie had known he’d understand, and he had.

“Do you want it to be a date?” Les asked.

Eddie flopped into the only empty chair in the room. It was the second one in front of Les’s desk, and Valentine was sitting right next to him. He leaned forward, and Eddie wouldn’t have been surprised to find him scrambling into his lap if it would help him get answers faster.

It would probably be good for Eddie to talk to someone. These two were as human as he was, but they were both mated. They might be able to help him put words to what he was feeling, even though he was afraid to.

“I do want it to be a date,” he admitted. “To be honest, I wanted to go with him to get his sister. I didn’t want him to leave. And if he did, I wanted to go with him. I didn’t because I realized it would’ve been ridiculous, and I had work, but it’s how I felt.”

Valentine whistled. “That’s intense.”

“Everything about how I feel about Matthias is intense. I’ve never felt like this before for anyone.” Eddie was glad he hadn’t. He wasn’t sure how he would have dealt with it. Hell, he wasn’t even sure how he should deal with it now.

Valentine frowned. “You think he might be your mate? Is he a shifter?”

“I have no idea. We mostly talked about his family and why he was in Green Hill. It wasn’t a long conversation, just around ten minutes.”

“It was enough for you to decide you want to spend the rest of your life with him.”

Eddie wasn’t sure how to answer that. Was that how he felt? The rational part of him wanted to say no, but was any of this rational? If he was Matthias’s mate, everything he was feeling made sense. If he wasn’t, well, that meant he was an idiot, but that wasn’t something he needed to deal with right now. Besides, he knew he was an idiot sometimes. It didn’t bother him.

What did bother him was that Matthias had left.

“I really do think he’s my mate,” he said, fighting off a shiver. The words made him feel some kind of way. He wasn’t sure what that way was, but he felt hot and cold at the same time, and he desperately wanted to grab his phone and call Matthias. The only reason he didn’t was that Matthias was driving and Eddie needed him to be safe.

“So we’re assuming he’s a shifter,” Les said. He was leaning forward, too, and both he and Valentine were obviously eager to know more. Unfortunately for them, Eddie didn’t have a lot to say.

“I’m definitely not, so if he’s my mate, it has to be him,” Eddie pointed out. “Of course, there’s also the possibility that he’s not a shifter and not my mate and that I’m imagining all of this.”

Valentine snorted. “Come on. We both know that’s not the case. Meeting your mate is a very specific emotion. Les and I know. We recognize it in you. You’re not the kind of guy who gets obsessive over anyone just passing by. As soon as you saw him, you felt drawn to him, right? You felt like you needed to go to him.”

“Yeah.” That was exactly how Eddie had felt. It was why he’d told Les he would be late for work.

“It’s what I felt for my mate, too,” Valentine continued. “I knew he was going to be a huge part of my life before we even talked. One look at him was enough, and it took me more time to understand what was going on than it did you.”

“I guess that means I’m smarter than you,” Eddie teased.

“I’m sure you are. If you feel drawn to him and desperately want to see him again, though, you’re probably right. You’re probably his mate, which makes him a shifter.”

Eddie looked down at his hands. “But he didn’t say anything. If he’s a shifter and I’m his mate, wouldn’t he have? Wouldn’t he have wanted me to know?”

“You said that you exchanged numbers, right?” Les asked. Eddie nodded. “Then I wouldn’t lose hope. You said that he was kind of in a rush, which is why you didn’t spend a lot of time together.”

“He’s going to pick up his sister. She broke up with her boyfriend and he’s taking her home.”

“So maybe he didn’t have time to sit you down and tell you about the bond. Hell, he might not have even realized it. There’s a chance he didn’t smell you.”

“Yeah, but if I know he’s my mate just by how I’m feeling, shouldn’t the same go for him?”

“I can’t speak for shifters, but considering what you just told me about his family and what’s going on, maybe he’s more focused on that right now. It’s not a bad thing. I’m sure that as soon as he has his sister back, his attention will move to you, and he’ll understand, if he doesn’t know already. And if he does know, well, maybe it’s not wrong for him to be focused on his sister right now and not want to tell you when he knew the two of you wouldn’t have time to really sit down and talk.”

Eddie felt the need to pout, even though he knew Les was right. Matthias had needed to focus on his sister. Eddie would have been the first to tell him to. If they were mates, whether Matthias knew about it or not, they would have time to deal with it. Right now, Jenna was more important, and that was how things should be.

WHEN MATTHIAS REACHED the address Jenna had given him, he knew he’d found the right place instantly. His sister was standing on the grass in the front yard, wearing shorts and a tank top, feet bare, screaming at a tall guy, who was screaming back just as loudly. Matthias could see a few neighbors watching from their windows, clearly unashamed. They wanted to gossip, and how could Matthias blame them when Jenna and her ex were making things so easy for them?

Jenna’s face was red, and tears were running down her cheeks. It didn’t touch Matthias. His sister could cry on command, and she’d always been very emotional. Just their mother snapping at her had been enough to send her crying when they were children. She hadn’t lost the habit as she grew up.