Page 16 of Her Fake Mate

“Yes,” I say without any shame. “This is the closest I’ve ever been to one.”

The baby in question, AJ, burps.

“Definitely dishes,” I say as I rise. I gather the dishes, and Mia works on putting the rest of the items away.

She follows me into the kitchen. “So. What are you here to fix now?”

“You had some dry rot where the hornets’ nest was.”

“Ah. What if I told you that one of the sinks was leaking?”

I pull back, my hands soapy. “Let me look.”

Mia laughs. “Relax. It’s not this one. But the kids have been hell on the bathroom.”

“Bathroom?”

She nods. “I share this cabin with the kids. The elders each got their own.”

“We did not build you adequate room,” I rumble.

“It was kind of a last-minute thing,” she shrugs. “Any roof is fine.”

“No. You are welcomed as part of the pack,” I say firmly. “You need what the pack has.”

“Zander, really. I don’t expect that.”

“It’s just fair,” I argue. The dishes splash as I somewhat aggressively scrub them. “You have so many kits to look out for. Our largest families are given large homes. It’s just how things are done.”

“I wouldn’t want to take more resources from the pack,” she says. The bitterness in her voice makes me look up.

“What?”

“You said that to me,” Mia says in a thick voice. “Remember?”

I blink. I might have.

“I… I didn’t know…” I stammer.

“Didn’t know that we would need more space?”

I didn’t know how much you needed help.

“I didn’t think about the words I was saying. I’m sorry, Mia,” I grunt.

I turn back to the dishes.

For a minute, the only sounds are the sloshing of water. The baby makes a delighted gurgle before Mia puts it down, and it crawls away.

“Thank you,” Mia finally says quietly.

“You shouldn’t thank me when I was being a jerk,” I respond.

“Still. It’s nice to know that you can apologize.”

I don’t respond to that.

We manage to clean up the kitchen and dining room, then head back out to the porch. I resume my work on the dry rot while Mia watches.

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