Page 34 of Brought By the Storm

“Do you think I’m going to out him to his mother? I’m not an ass.”

I glanced at him, biting my lip. “His mother knows.”

“His mother knows what? Did she walk in on you two?” he wondered.

“What? No! She doesn’t know we had sex…”

“I’m not even sure I would say you had sex,” he deadpanned.

“Fine, but she doesn’t know anything about that. He told her he’s attracted to me. I think he told Stefan too.”

Mateo looked astonished. “No shit. Wow. That’s big. This doesn’t sound like a guy who just wants to rub one out on the sly.”

I shrugged. “But they don’t know that he acted on it, and they won’t know if you keep your mouth shut.”

“You sure?” he challenged. “You reek of sex, dude.”

I sniffed my arm. I didn’t smell anything. “Well, it’s a good thing the others don’t have your coyote sense of smell when it comes to post-coital activities.”

“Hmm,” he muttered. “I wouldn’t be so sure. You smell pretty spunky. I heard your shower go off a few minutes ago. Go upstairs to bathe and put on some clothes. Those pajamas need to be bleached or something. I’ll finish making the breakfast.”

“Okay,” I surrendered. “Don’t forget Carrington doesn’t eat dairy. I laid out his stuff over there.”

Mateo grinned. “You have a love note for him you want me to put on his plate?”

“Shut up,” I demanded, starting to leave the kitchen, almost bumping into Carrington as he was entering. “Oh. Sorry. I was just heading up to shower.”

“Okay,” he replied, a solemn expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I, um, talked to Stefan and it looks like we can get a flight out of Newark a little sooner than expected. We’ll need to leave after breakfast.”

I felt my stomach drop. I should have known things would end this way. I was at least pleased that Carrington appeared to be disappointed. I nodded to him, then left the room.