I trudged up the walkway to my front porch, but before I could lift my keys, the door swung open.
At the sight of my mate, the one who looked exactly like the one who had brought on the crying storm, my hastily gathered calm shredded and I dropped my bags and flung myself into his arms, weeping as if my heart would break. I don’t know what he thought, but instead of asking me a lot of questions, he just scooped me up and carried me inside, right to my bedroom. Holding me in one arm, he tugged the comforter and top sheet back and laid me on the cool smooth sheets.
“Let’s get your shoes off, mate,” he murmured. “Then I’ll get you something to drink and maybe a snack. We can snuggle up in bed and watch a movie.”
“I-I can’t watch a movie,” I sniffled. “I have all this work to do, or I’ll be in big trouble at school.”
“Did you eat lunch?” His stern tone caught my attention, and I swiped a hand across my eyes. “I bet you need to eat.”
“I-I had lunch at the diner with Wendi, and I ate almost as much as she did.”
“Wendi ate a lot?” Oh crap. Trust him to pick up on that. “Brandon said she wasn’t eating much.”
“When did you see Brandon?” My attempt to distract had better work. I’d only left her a few hours ago after swearing to keep her secret. “Did he stop by?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Wendi asked him to fix the leaky faucet in the bathroom, and he came over and had a sandwich with me after. Why didn’t you tell me the faucet leaked?”
“I’d forgotten.” Honestly. It was in the guest bathroom, where I almost never went, but Wendi must have noticed when she was over last time. She was always trying to make sure the house I rented from her was in great shape. Best landlady ever!
“Brandon will be glad Wendi is eating again,” he mused.
Sometimes, I almost didn’t remember Brandon was Tris’ brother. Or Samson’s. How did they get such a mellow relative? He got along with both and never let himself be drawn into their disagreement.
“He will,” I agreed, worried he was still on the Wendi topic. “But it’s not hard to gobble the best cheeseburgers in town. I also had onion rings.”
“And saved none for me?”
Okay, I had him now. The onion rings were his weakness. “Sorry! You weren’t there. Anyway, I’m still full from lunch. And I need to get started on my homework.”
“Okay. How about this?” He tugged the covers up over me. “Half-hour nap. When you wake up, you’ll be refreshed and can get your homework done.”
“And what will you be up to while I work?” It just occurred to me how early he was home, too. I hoped everything was okay at work.
“I’ll be making you an amazing dinner for when you’ve finished all your work.”
I wanted to tell him no on the nap, but my eyes were weighted and it wasn’t going to happen. I did need the break. “Okay, maybe I’ll be hungry by midnight.”
“Ha-ha. I’m sure you can finish sooner.” He stroked my hair back from my face. “And after you eat, you can tell me all about what my brother did to upset you so much.”
I blinked at him. “Is it so obvious?”
“Pretty much. Now, rest.” He tucked me in tight and kissed me on the lips. “I’d better get out of here, or I won’t be letting you sleep.”
Slinging an arm around his neck, I tried to keep him here, but he extricated himself. “Sleep. You’re entirely too tempting, but I know how important your education is to you.”
“And what if I don’t?” My sass was interrupted by a jaw-cracking yawn. “You gonna spank me?”
His grin melted me as always. “Nah, I think you’d like it too much. Let’s save that for kink night.”
“Is that a thing?” Sleep was getting farther away. “When does it start?”
His laughter trailed behind him as he left for the other room.
My dreams took me places I’d never been before. And not every dream was with the same brother.
Chapter Five
A knock on the door had my heart all aflutter. Could it be Samson? Coming here to tell me he’d been an ass and everything was okay and then take me to bed? Probably not, but as I tied the belt on my robe, I couldn’t think of who else would have the nerve to knock on my door so early.
“What the hell? Do you regularly get visitors at…?” Tris grumbled then fumbled around on the nightstand for his phone. “Six in the damned morning. Hell, I bet even the birds aren’t awake yet.”
I made my way to the front door, but before I could get there, he stopped me, one hand on my biceps. “Wait, we don’t know who it could be, and those people who were behind the Kelli and Laney’s kidnapping are still out there. We can’t be too careful.”
He was cute when his overprotective hackles were raised.
“I’m sure they wouldn’t knock if they wanted to snatch me, Tris. Gods, you are jumpy in the morning.”
“Fine, fine. I’m going to make coffee”.” He planted his feet on the floor.
Still, he’d put the thought in my mind, and so I looked through the peephole then snorted.
Of course, it was her.
She was nothing if not unpredictable and full of chaos. I flung the door open, and her hand flew over her heart. “You little shit! You about scared the crap out of me.”
I lunged forward, forgetting her age, since, in my eyes, she was still the spry woman who used to
