Page 4 of Untamed Instincts

“That you’re old enough to be my father? I’m not sure just yet,” Noah answered honestly. “Right now, I’m just enjoying our game.”

So was Quinton. Whose turn was it? He flipped back through their conversation to remember. “When was your last relationship?”

Are you screwing around with your best friend? He didn’t outright ask but was dying to.

“I’ve never been in one.” The pretzel froze halfway to Noah’s mouth, as if he hadn’t meant to reveal the fact.

There were so many ways to interpret his answer. It was possible Noah was afraid of commitments. He could’ve also been flat-out lying, but his expression said otherwise. Maybe he’d just recently come out of the closet—a phrase Quinton wasn’t particularly fond of.

“Care to elaborate?” He held up his hand then ordered two beers before turning his attention back to his mate, who still appeared stunned.

“I guess I’m buying.” Noah cleared his throat. Damn, his blush had grown a darker shade of red.

“Nonsense.” He tested the waters by resting his hand on his mate’s knee. “You answered my question. We already said nothing personal, so you’re not penalized for refusing to answer.”

Jake set the bottles on the counter, refilled the bowl with fresh pretzels, then asked the guy standing behind Quinton what he wanted to drink. The bar was getting crowded, and now Quinton was dying to finish their game in a cozier setting.

“Do you want to continue our little game outside?” He leaned in close, his chest almost touching Noah as he reached for some napkins.

He had done that on purpose to allow his scent to invade Noah’s lungs, hopefully enticing his mate to join him.

“Dad, are you coming back to play?” Ryker hollered from the entrance to the pool room.

Would it be considered illegal to kill a firstborn if they’d just ruined an intimate moment? Quinton saw the moment realization dawned on Noah who Ryker had been shouting at.

“Dad?” His mate’s gaze flickered between father and soon-to-be-dead son. “You have a son my age?”

If Noah had guessed Quinton to be in his forties, would it have been too far a stretch to consider he had adult children?

Apparently, that hadn’t crossed his mate’s mind.

Until now.

“We’re just talking,” he reminded Noah, hoping like hell his mate didn’t end their fun. “Just having a good time, right?”

Note to self. Stop on the way home for milk, get laundry done, strangle Ryker.

Quinton would have expected Killian to kill the moment. His second oldest son had a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment.

The guy was too much like his mother. Quinton slammed a lid on that thought so fast it was as if it hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Pick up a pretzel.” Noah nodded at the bowl. Quinton wasn’t fond of the look in his mate’s cat-green eyes.

The pint-sized human’s hand trembled as he did what Quinton demanded.

“How many children do you have, and how old are they? Do they still live at home, or do they have their own places?”

“That’s four questions, cub. That means I also get four, and since you just got personal, I can do the same.” He grabbed a handful of pretzels. “I have three sons, they’re grown, and, yes, they live at home, which means they don’t have their own places.”

There had been plenty of times over the centuries Quinton had seriously contemplated suggesting that to them. But as much as they drove him crazy at times, he loved them deeply and couldn’t imagine his boys not living under the same roof.

Quinton ate the pretzels then washed them down with a long swig of beer. He couldn’t get drunk off of human alcohol, but he liked the taste.

And since Noah had gotten personal, that allowed Quinton to ask the burning questions at the forefront of his mind.

“Why was your friend pressuring you into having sex with him? Was your brother seriously going to be a part of it, and do you need me to shut that shit down? Because I heard you arguing against the idea. No means no, but it seems your friend has boundary issues.”

That was only three questions, but he really wanted his mate to answer them.

---