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“How long were you listening, Ruth?” Nox asked.
Mom ignored him and turned to Corbin, holding out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Razor. I’m Ruth, the mother. Please ignore the other two idiots I raised and stay for dinner.”
Corbin smirked. “Sure. I’d like that as long as Riker wants to.”
Oh my God. He wanted to check with me. We were a partnering pair. An amazing fated mate bond. I couldn’t wait for us to connect.
“I’d like to,” I told him. He nodded.
“No knife throwing or shooting at dinner,” Rio announced.
“After dinner?” Deacon asked with a grin.
“No. Besides, I doubt Riker will get as bored as usual. Which always led him to look for a fight to begin with.”
Corbin turned back to me. “You stirred up trouble because you were bored?”
“Didn’t I say that before? I’m pretty sure I mentioned something like that. And you were like, ‘Oh, Riker, I don’t mind as long as you keep staying as cute as you are.’”
Corbin scoffed. “Yeah, that sounds like me.”
I nodded. “It really was.”
“What else do you know, Razor?” Mom asked as we went to the table to sit down.
Corbin sat at the other end of the table with Mom and me on each side of him. “Only that Riker and his brothers are shifters. I’m Riker’s fated mate like Rio is for Deacon, and Kieran for Nox.”
“Sweetheart, do you mind if I tell Corbin a little more?” Mom asked.
“Go for it. He’s accepted everything else really well. We haven’t completed the bond yet, but I’m sure we will soon. He wants me for as long as we live.”
“I can’t say enough how happy I am for you.” Mom smiled.
“Riker, why don’t you go and pack some of your things,” Deacon suggested. “Not everything. You’ll want to come back here to live eventually.”
“Of course….” I slouched. “Well, that’s if it’s okay with Corbin.” I shifted my attention to him. “I know we haven’t spoken about living arrangements, and I can understand why you wouldn’t want to with Deacon and Nox here. But things will get better. I won’t annoy them as much now that I have you.” I frowned. “I could annoy you, though.” I didn’t like the thought of being annoying to the one person I’d love with my whole heart and soul.
“Riker, come here,” Corbin ordered. As I got up, he scooted his chair back and pulled me onto his lap. I didn’t straddle him or my dick would get ready for some action. Only now that I was thinking of action with my mate, my prick jerked under my jeans.
Corbin cupped the side of my neck. “We’re a team, which means we’re in this together, and the key is communication. I know there’ll be times I annoy you. When I do, I want you to come to me to talk about it. Vice versa. Now, I ain’t sayin’ you will get on my nerves. But there’ll be times when tension is high, and shit can happen. No matter what it is, we can work around anything that comes our way as long as we’re honest. I never want you to change, though. Being you and stayin’ you is important to me. If I do or say anything that hurts you in here”—he pressed a hand against my rapid heart—“tell me. Honesty, yeah?”
It made sense. I’d heard my brothers with their mates have heated conversations when they didn’t agree on something. I’d just have to try my best not to take things to heart if we did get into an argument and he said something that upset me. I already knew he wouldn’t mean it, and if something did happen, it’d be in the spur of the moment when things could get crazy.
I leaned my chest into his. “I promise to always be honest.”
He smiled, running a hand through my hair. “Thank you, sunshine.”
My body tingled at his petting, and I wanted to relax into him more, but I also had to talk about where home would be for us. I didn’t mind if he wanted to stay at his house. I would miss my family like crazy, and sometimes it was easier to leave for work with them or on missions. But I didn’t have to be here if my mate didn’t want to be. “Um, what about the living arrangements?”
“I like where I am, but you work closely with your brothers, so I get why it’s convenient. Plus, this place is big enough that I won’t have to see them all the time. I’m happy with wherever you want to live.”
“Really?”
He grunted with a nod. “Really.”
So many emotions slammed into my chest, and I buried my face into Corbin’s chest with a sniffle. I wouldn’t cry. I didn’t cry. The last time was after….
Yet my face felt wet.
