Page 13 of F Is for Honey Bee

“I’m still not sold on that nickname.” Jonah opened the refrigerator and began to pull out random things. A jar of mayonnaise, a half-carton of eggs, a bag of red grapes, and a yellow box of baking soda. “I’m a decent cook.”

Kijani didn’t think even a chef on the reality show Chopped could make something edible out of those ingredients. “Then whip me up an explanation.”

“You’re relentless.”

“You’re dodging.”

With a deep sigh, Jonah put everything back and closed the refrigerator door. “Why is this so important to you? Does it really matter?”

Everything about his mate mattered to him. “Was it a bad experience?”

“This conversation is starting to feel like one.” Jonah pressed his palms against the counter and met Kijani’s gaze. “If you don’t stop interrogating me, I’m gonna ask you to leave.”

Kijani’s throat dried. There was something much more tragic hidden behind the barely veiled pain in Jonah’s pretty eyes, something Jonah was desperately trying to keep buried.

Whatever the dark truth was, it clearly held enough weight to overshadow the connection his mate surely felt between them.

Enough that Jonah threatened to kick him out.

It was time to back off before Kijani found his naked ass out on the front porch. After Kijani gave Jonah a nod that he’d made his point, Jonah leaned back. “Now, I can either feed you or drive you home since you don’t have any clothes here.”

It was hard to miss the way his eyes slid over Kijani’s body. The pain in them was fading, interest taking its place. Kijani would be lying if he said he didn’t want to drop the blanket, to spread Jonah over the table, and make love to his mate until the pain inside of the human faded into obscurity.

The only reason his wolf wasn’t howling for Kijani to take Jonah was because, right now, it only wanted to comfort the human. To protect him, to kill anyone who wanted to bring their mate harm.

It had been a struggle to keep his wolf from attacking and killing Flint. “If you take me home, you have to agree to stay.”

His mate’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

Because you shouldn’t be alone tonight after what happened to you, and I’m still reeling from nearly getting blown to pieces. “I don’t want you driving back home by yourself in the wee hours of the morning. Exhaustion causes as many accidents as drunk driving.”

Kijani wasn’t sure about those statistics without looking them up, but it sounded probable enough.

“I can’t deny how tired I am.” Just then Jonah stifled a yawn as he dragged his hand through his hair, which was dark brown with hints of red and gold highlights. “I’ve been up nearly twenty-four hours. I hope you have a soft couch.”

He had an even softer bed but doubted his mate would join him in it. “I’ll drive since you look like you’ll fall over at any second.”

“At least it’s late enough that my neighbors won’t see a buff, naked man in my yard.”

Kijani chuckled and couldn’t resist flexing. “How would you explain that to them?”

Jonah folded his arms over his chest. “With as much drama that’s gone on at my house over the past few weeks, they’ll probably chalk it up as me pollinating another flower.”

With a wince, Kijani said, “I really didn’t mean it that way. Besides, you can’t hold that against me when you said you’d give me one more chance to come up with something better.”

“Until you do, it’s held more firmly against you than that towel.”

“You’re evil,” Kijani muttered.

After Jonah retrieved his keys, they walked to the attached garage. Kijani walked in behind his mate and saw a dark blue Fiat. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What?” Jonah stared quizzically at him.

Kijani looked skeptically at his mate. “You neglected to tell me you drove a car the size of a toaster.”

“You’ll be surprised how roomy it is inside.” He waved away Kijani’s concern.

Said the guy who couldn’t weigh more than one hundred and twenty pounds. I’m going to be embarrassed as hell if I need the fire department to pull me out of it.

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