She laughed and wrapped her arms around me, kissing me on the side of the neck. “Looks like it.”
I pulled back, making sure my face read anger, though it was shallow at best. “You haven’t been answering my calls. I was so worried.”
She scoffed and pushed a lock of my long brown hair behind my ear. “So worried you can’t bring your sorry ass over to my house to check, huh? Some granddaughter you are. And now you’re making me stand here like a dumbass.”
Talking as if she lived down the street instead of many miles away, this was my grandmother. She wasn’t sugar and cinnamon and flowery dresses like everyone else’s grandma. No, she was ginger and cayenne, and flowers were for the blue-haired old women—not her.
“Come in, come in.” I took her hand. Her silken skin felt so good against mine. The feeling brought back a flood of memories in an instant. I knew everything was going to be okay if her hand was in mine.
“I smell a male”.” She waggled her eyebrows and rotated her hips in a way most women her age probably couldn’t. Those hot yoga classes had come in handy, it seemed.
“Yes, it’s my mate, Tris. Wanna meet him?”
She rolled her eyes and dropped her purse on the nearest chair. I put her suitcase right next to it on the floor and pulled her into the kitchen. Tris was there, in nothing but some low-slung pajama pants. His back was to us, and Gigi’s hand tightened around mine. “Heavens to Betsy.”
That was the tamest thing I’d heard her say in my entire life.
Tris whirled around, and his cheeks blazed red. I probably should’ve warned him, but this situation was too precious.
“Is this the mate?” she asked, getting her breath, fanning herself a little with a napkin she’d found nearby.
“Hi, um, I’m Tris.” He stepped forward, blush in place, and fidgeting, trying to cover up his nipples, which only sent her into a flurry of laughter. “And yes, I’m the mate.”
He was one of the mates, but okay.
“Well, I’m Gina, Christie’s grandma, but you can call me Gigi. None of that Gram or any shit like that for me.”
Hearing my grandmother say shit almost broke Tris.
“She’s one in a million.” I hugged my Gigi around her shoulders, and she put her hands on her hips.
“Give us a turn around, young man. No need to be shy.”
Tris’ eyes widened then ticked to me, as if he hoped I would save him. I would not be saving him. He’d put me through a lot. It was time for a little payback.
“Go on. Give Gigi a good look at you,” I encouraged, twirling my finger and smirking.
“As you wish.” He made a show of turning around then shrugged when he was done.
“Hot damn, you’ve got yourself one fine piece of ass. No wonder you were sleeping in. I bet you are all…worn…out.”
I snorted, but Tris looked like he might die right then and there from embarrassment. Gigi caught on right away.
“Oh, no need to be shy, Tris. My mates passed on from this life a long time ago, but I’ve still got eyes, and I don’t keep my opinion to myself.”
He chuckled and seemed to loosen up, leaning against the counter. “So, that’s where my mate got it from—the spunk.”
Gigi nodded. “Damned straight. Is the coffee ready or what? I stopped at a gas station outside of town, but that shit was like motor oil. Tasted like it, too. What’s for breakfast?” She clapped and started to fidget around the kitchen, looking in my cabinets.
“Oh, um, yeah, the coffee is ready. Why don’t I go grab us something to eat?”
Gigi turned and shook her head. “Yeah, you do that hot stuff. Because this kitchen is bare. Christie, did I teach you nothing?”
My cheeks heated. “You did. I’ve just been busy. Haven’t been to the grocery store in quite a bit.”
She looked Tris up and down as he retreated from the room. “I can see you’ve been very busy. I’m surprised you came up for air. But what about the other? Where is he?”
“What makes you think there’s another mate?”
She laughed and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Because you’re my granddaughter. One is not enough. Never will be. Where is he?”
I pulled down my meager offerings of creamer and sugar. “He’s being an ass about it all.”
Wrapping her arms around me, she hugged me tight. “One of them is always stubborn. But let me tell you, from my experience, the most stubborn one is a beast in bed. All that pent-up tension and desire. It’s got to come out sometime.”
“I hope so.”
She cupped my face, and I closed my eyes. There was nothing in the world like the comfort of my grandmother. “Now, where’s my room?”
I gasped. “You’re staying here?”
“Damned straight. I want to get to know my grandson-in-law, and we have some catching up to do.”
Chapter Six
Tris didn’t go home and hide under his bed. He got extra points for courage because my grandmother didn’t hold back. It seemed my relationship had thrown her memory banks wide open, and she was oversharing. However, he did remember some very important things to do at the office, and, late that first afternoon, I made up an excuse about needing to run an errand and fled to pack lands.
I wanted to let my wolf out to run, and I was going to.
Instead of parking up by the alpha house, where I usually did, I pulled off on the shoulder of the road and climbed out, tossing my clothes inside the car
