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Chapter Five
“Please tell me we’re stopping for coffee,” Creed groaned, rubbing the back of his head with one hand and his right temple with the other. “I’m pretty sure I drank a case of scotch all by myself.”
“Si, Jefe,” Max snickered, the sound, no matter how smooth, beating at the Paladin’s head like a jackhammer. “You did drink quite a bit after returning from outside. What happened? Did you not meet the woman of your dreams?”
“Meet her?” Kayne laughed out loud. “He lost her before he found her.”
“Can you two please keep it down up there?” Creed grumbled, pushing his sunglasses tighter to his eyes and letting his head fall back. “I haven’t been drunk in…” Pausing to try to think through the hangover, he snorted, “…ever. I seriously have never been drunk before. Not in all the years I’ve been alive.”
“I didn’t know you knew how to get drunk,” Kayne frankly admitted. “You’ve always had a stick so far up your ass, it didn’t seem like a possibility.”
“Well, thanks, it’s always good to know what your friends think of you.”
“No, no, no, you’re takin’ that wrong.”
“And exactly how am I supposed to take it when one of my oldest friends says I’ve always had a stick up my ass? Please explain, because I’m pretty sure there’s only one way to take that statement.”
“If you’d have let me finish,” the Demi-God stressed. “I was about to add that you’ve always been the responsible one, the one who made your bed every morning and helped with the dishes.”
“Mowed the lawn and picked the weeds from the garden,” Max chimed in. “It’s true, Creed. You are the one all others look up to. The Dragon your men model themselves after.”
“Yeah, you’re the one my dad always tells me to be more like,” Kayne quickly agreed. “That’s all I meant when I said you had a stick up your ass.”
“Seriously,” Creed marveled. “Lugh, the Celtic God of the Sun really toldyouto be more likeme?”
“Every frikkin’ time your name comes up,” Kayne grumbled. “It’s disgusting if you ask me.” Eyes flying to the rearview mirror, the Demi-God added with a grin, “But since I like ya’ so much, I put up with it. Even agree with him when push comes to shove.”
“Well, thanks. That warms my heart,” Creed joked, his head still pounding but his mood infinitely better than it was a few seconds before.
“Speaking of the beautiful woman you followed out of the bar last night,” Max insinuated. “Could she be your Mate?”
“No doubt about it.”
“Then why did you not follow her?”
“I thought about it. Believe me, I thought about it real hard.”
“I just bet you did,” Kayne snickered.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Old Man,” Creed groaned, thinking no truer words had ever been spoken but refusing to admit any of it - even to his closest friends. Then he gave in and went on, “Ididactually think about following her, but when she took off like a shot and I thought about us having to leave for Dallas at the asscrack of dawn, well, I just came back in the bar.”
“And drank yourself silly,” Max added.
“And that was after I came out to get you and you acted like nothing had happened,” Kayne chimed in.
“Yes, and yes,” Creed begrudgingly agreed. “And now that you’ve called me out for all my sins and pointed out how stupid I was not to follow the most beautiful woman in the world…” Inhaling deeply with the hopes of stopping the spinning in his head, he gave up and continued. “Oh and add in the fact that you haven’t stopped to get my coffee yet, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when we get to Dallas.”
Closing his eyes, something Kayne said suddenly ran back through his mind. Eyes flying open, he asked, “Do my men really use me as a role model? I’m pretty sure they think I’m a hard ass and curse my name every chance they get. I never imagined any of them would think of me as a role model.”
“Yes, you’re their role model,” Kayne reiterated. “They all want to be the Leader of their own Force one day and they all say they would run it just like you run the Paladins.”
“Wow, that’s nice to hear.”
“They also think you’re a hard ass and pretty much curse your name whenever you’re not around,” Kayne admitted with a shrug.
“And that’s a good thing,” Max interjected. “I know my Cats all talk about me the very same way. They appreciate my leadership, my loyalty, my fight to keep them safe and rid our world of evil, but there are times they would love to kick my ass. I have heard the words ‘taskmaster’ and ‘asshole’ tossed around more than once and I could not be happier. I wear those names as badges of honor.”
“Yeah, what Max said,” Kayne nodded. “Think about it this way. Maddox is the grumpiest Dragon ever put on this earth. He’d rather yell at somebody than drink cold ale straight from the keg, and we all know it. But there’s not a soul alive who doesn’t respect him. Everybody goes to him for help with everything from battle strategy to weapons. Hell, the younger guys have even started asking for his counsel about Mating, since Calysta whipped him into shape.”
