Page 270 of Bride of Choice

Kirch paused and glanced over his shoulder, before continuing towards me.

My gaze followed his to the small but long structure he’d been standing next to. The wooden targets across the way, hanging from trees, told me it was a makeshift archery range.

“I only want a quick minute of your time,” I assured him. My hand lifted and I wiggled my fingers in the direction of his warrior fun times stuff. “Then you can get back to practicing shooting things or whatever beast man bull pucky you’ve got going on out here.”

The look Kirch gave me not only made me think of Rek, but screamed, What do you know of beast man bull bucky, female.

Geez. These guys took their warrior training so seriously. Not that I could really blame them, but the way he kept glancing over his shoulder at that structure had me glancing towards it worriedly.

“Rek being stupid?” he asked with a smirking smile.

“I’m assuming any and all stupidity, he learned with the help of his wild maned caretaker,” I shot back with a sniff.

Kirch’s yellow eyes glimmered as he paused a few feet from me, crossed his arms over his chest, and lifted his chin. “Kirch has Mina now. Mina won’t put up with Kirch’s shit,” he proudly informed me. He sounded like he was reciting something his mate had told him. The guy was adorably stupid, gone over his head, for his mate.

“A fact I’m sure she appreciates,” I murmured dryly.

“What Rek Jojo-hims want?” Kirch grunted out, nodding at me jerkily.

Alright. Enough stalling. Just come out with it.

“Has Rek been… acting different to you lately?”

Kirch’s eyebrows winged upward.

Starting to wonder how I thought this might be helpful, I tried to purse my lips but ended up biting at the inside of my cheek worriedly instead. “He’s been acting funny with me,” I admitted.

It all started after that morning after with Celuk. It was like he was shaken up.

He’d actually asked me if I wanted to go hang out with Odix while he took care of something, like Odix and I were cool and chummy and not on the outs. I’d looked at him like he was crazy and would have commented about his odd suggestion but then he’d given me this weird look that bordered on guilty and I’d let it go.

I was worried.

Gopher showing up to take me to market this morning, claiming it was at Rek’s suggestion, was freaking me the fuck out. He’d also informed me that if I wanted to stop off at Celuk’s to see Baby, Celuk had told him he’d be home.

What was this, the babysitting Joanie club? Why was Rek orchestrating it?

He’d been so gung-ho about nobody getting dibs on the goods for so long, especially now that we were trying for a baby, it was like he was pawning me off on the others, to the point it had me freaked the hell out.

It all kept circling back to that argument with Celuk. I’d asked him about it but he refused to say a word about it

Celuk was as tightlipped about it as Rek.

The nausea I’d been experiencing of late had nothing to do with a bun in the oven.

“Rek act different how?” His brows dragged down as he eyed me.

“Something’s off,” I admitted. Throwing my arms up to let them fall and slap to my sides loudly, I let out a frustrated breath. “I mean, you know him, right? Has he said anything to you about what’s bugging him?” Picking at my lip, a horrible habit I tried to refrain from, I muttered, “Was it because of me and Celuk?”

Kirch stared at me with a look that told me he had no idea what I was talking about.

“Rek wanted to make a baby with me, our, my, first baby. Bum-bum thwarted him. I admit I didn’t exactly protest, but Rek didn’t seem upset about it. Celuk met me outside when I was grabbing snow-”

“What Jo need snow for? Why Rek not get snow for his Jojo-hims?” he butt in curiously.

“Bum-bum marked me… and his bite has certain properties.” I wanted to tread lightly here.

At his blank stare, I blurted, face redder than a baboon’s butt, “Bum-bum bit both of us and it has funny side effects… Did Rek tell you none of this?”

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