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Chapter Twenty-One
“Ihaven’t been to an arcade since I was ten.” Luther pressed his lips together hastily, but not fast enough to stop what might be perceived as a snide comment from slipping out. Much to his relief, Espie merely giggled at his side, their arms looped together, and gave him a little nudge with her luscious hip.
“Then this will be good for you,” she remarked. “It’ll be a reminder to loosen up every once in a while.”
“Pretty sure I get enough of that from you.” His heart soared at the sound of her laughter once more, and he tugged her closer as they leisurely strolled up the street toward Angel Fire’s arcade. Situated at the edge of the suburbs, they had parked his truck in one of the public lots closer to downtown and walked the rest of the way.
Since they had agreed to set aside all their difficulties for the evening, Espie was much freer with her emotions. Luther could read her better. And if going to an arcade with a group of her Angel Fire friends, some bear shifters and some not, would make her feel better, Luther would do it.
He’d endure the headache all those awful machines were bound to bring and the money he knew he’d have to spend—money he had been so stingy with since moving. There was a lot of it in his bank account, but as a single parent, Luther had always been cautious with his funds. Espie, however, was his mate. She deserved to be treated, especially with something as trivial as an evening at the arcade.
Once he became more familiar with her than he was now, he would find better ways to spoil her. And very soon, he hoped to introduce his daughter to Espie so that the three of them could enjoy time together. Today, since it was a Saturday, Violet was spending time with Paul, Geniva, and little Leah, leaving Luther with plenty of time to mend fences with Espie.
Espie and Luther were the last to arrive for their little afternoon at the arcade. A group of her friends stood waiting by the entrance, some of whom Luther had seen before, though only in passing.
Having lived in Angel Fire for a few months now, the faces were starting to become more and more familiar. Unfortunately, he spent most of his time either out on job sites in the mountains, or at his rented mobile home with Violet, and he hadn’t been able to get acquainted with more of Espie’s friends.
Besides going out with Espie here and there, as well as the weekly runs to the grocery store, he hadn’t had much of an opportunity to meet the locals. However, with Espie hell-bent on having him accepted into the clan—something Luther was wary about, but wouldn’t voice his concerns just yet—he was sure there would be more social outings such this in the near future.
A chorus of female voices greeted them as they approached, and Espie left his side to hug the most familiar face of the bunch. He knew that Maria was the shifter matchmaker, but everyone else around them seemed to be human.
Maria had told him that she and Espie met occasionally at the arcade with a bunch of humans who had been friends from their years in high school. Most had gone away to colleges in New Mexico’s bigger cities, or even out of state, but some also stayed behind, working or attending the local community college nearby.
Although he didn’t tend to socialize much with humans outside of his coworkers, Luther actually liked that Espie had friends beyond her clan. It meant she got a break from all the drama every once and a while.
Being the alpha’s sister couldn’t be easy. From the way she talked about it, she hadn’t expected any rules or regulations to apply to her. The thought made Luther chuckle to himself. No one had explained the role she would play in the clan—not at all.
But Luther understood it well enough. His fated mate was destined to take a role of leadership, caring for and assisting the clan for the rest of her days—or, at the very least, while her brother was the alpha. She wasn’t the one running things, but she had an unspoken responsibility to help manage the clan as best she could.
And Luther planned to help, too. Once the clan decided to stop hating him over groundless accusations, he hoped they would finally sweep him into the fold.
After Espie had greeted her friend Maria, she returned to Luther’s side and took his hand. “I want you guys to meet my boyfriend,” she told them, and his chest swelled at the pride dripping off each word. “This is Luther.”
“Pleasure to meet you, ladies,” he rumbled back, quickly noting the rise in color on the girls’ cheeks. Maria smirked, amused how much human females could be affected by a male shifter’s pheromones. College girls. He was definitely too old for this crowd, but as long as Espie was happy, Luther was happy.
Moving around the circle of friends, Espie introduced Candace, Amy, Jen, Kelly, and Ashley. Luther very much doubted he would remember most of them, but he intended to try. If things were to continue with Espie, he’d be seeing these girls on a regular basis. And he could handle this arcade event for one afternoon, especially when he knew they planned to head back to Espie’s cabin tonight.
They all wandered inside and purchased tickets for the games. While the arcades of Luther’s youth were all seedy and attached to bars, this place had clearly been built sometime within the last five years with a much more family-oriented intention. It was a two-floor monstrosity lined with just about every game imaginable. There were classics like skee-ball and old Pacman machines, and more updated versions of games he somewhat recognized, as well as a whole bunch of new games that were a total mystery to him.
Luther even spied a small bowling alley with four lanes next to another room with six pool tables. He could have spent his whole afternoon shooting pool, but he knew Espie hadn’t come here for that. She gravitated toward the flashing lights and noisy games, just as he’d thought she would.
His fated mate was competitive. She also had a penchant for loud, athletic activities. Espie was always on the move. He supposed her role in the clan was well-suited to her.
Luther wasn’t her polar opposite, but he preferred a night in with Violet, watching movies or coloring together, rather than being in perpetual motion. He knew he and Espie would rub off on each other in the best way possible; that was what happened with fated mates. They were complementary in every way. Espie would embolden him to do silly stuff like this, and Luther would encourage her to settle down at least one night a week to spend some family time. Two halves, put together to make one whole.
That was bound to happen, once he ever got around to admitting to Espie that he had a daughter, and hopefully at that point, she would embrace the idea of becoming his little girl’s new mother. Luther had been so close to revealing Violet the other day in the store’s parking lot, but he just didn’t think it would have been the right time, considering the topic of conversation. And tonight? Well, tonight they were operating under a truce, weren’t they? It wasn’t time to bring out the heavy artillery.
An hour into their outing, Luther had thought he’d be ready to call it quits, but surprisingly, he was having way too much fun. The group broke off into natural pairs to try their hands at the games, and of course Luther had paired with Espie. They went for the racing games first, and while he let her win on the first motorcycle race track, he actually tried to win on his own merit afterwards – which Espie seemed to prefer.
“So, are you sure you’re not trying to lose again?” she demanded, shooting him a cheeky grin as she collected her winnings for some two-player game on which she’d just destroyed him.
Luther shoved his hands into his pockets, but then thought better of it when the gesture made him look like a petulant child. He assured her, “I really am trying.”
“So you just suck?”
He laughed, noting the way her cheeks warmed at the sound. “Yeah, I guess that’s it. I just suck.”
“Well, we all suck sometimes.” She made a show of folding her seemingly endless supply of tickets over and over and over again until there was a fat wad clutched in her hand. Espie arched an eyebrow slightly when their eyes met and Luther’s lips twitched into a smirk.
