Page 9 of Daddy's Mail Order Mate

Paige brightens, practically glowing with delight.

“I promise I won’t let you down!”

To which I grumble and shove a bite of egg and bacon into my mouth.

I just hope I don’t regret letting her do this.

Chapter 2 - Gwen

I’m jerked out of a dead sleep by a chorus of knocking at my door and my phone blaring right by my ear.

“Goddamn,” I wheeze out, sitting up with my phone in hand. A blind swipe of the thumb answers the call without even checking who it is. “Hello?”

“You home?”

I start to slide out of bed, my sweatpants bunching up around my lanky legs. My voice is raspy with sleep and a touch of dehydration.

“Yeah. G’morning Lucas.”

“I’ve been hammering on your door for damn near five minutes. I was starting to get worried.”

“Sorry. Just… Long night.”

There’s my nest of curly red hair all tangled from sleep in the mirror when I pass by, but I can’t be bothered to get myself tidy. Especially since it was just my little brother at the door.

“Gonna let me in, or did I drive all this way for nothing?”

“You can wait a couple more seconds.”

I hang up and shove the phone away in my pant’s pocket just in time to make it to the front door. Doesn’t take long to get around a studio apartment; one of the perks of such cramped accommodations. But since it’s just me here, I don’t need much room to get by.

He’s made to wait a bit more as I get the series of locks undone and the door swung open. And just as expected, my brother looms on the other side. I’m pretty tall myself, standing at a good six feet. But my brother's six foot eight and twice aswide with muscle; he was one of the few people that could ever make me feel small.

And he just steps right in and pulls me into a big, rib-breaking hug.

Though I grunt and wince for the first second, I do hug him back. The warm air from beneath his big leather jacket is a comfort to my body freshly stolen from toasty blankets.

“I’m here for you, Gwen,” he assures.

“Yeah. Obviously.”

He pulls back and fixes me with a harmlessly cross look.

“Gonna start off with the smartass remarks first thing, huh?”

My shoulders move in a lazy shrug as I pad over to the little kitchenette in the corner.

“You’d be worried if I didn’t.”

“... True.”

I spare a glance over my shoulder as he welcomes himself in.

“Coffee?”

“Got some on the way in.”

“Cool,” I reply while pouring myself a cup from the old automatic coffee pot fighting for space on the cramped single countertop.

---