Page 19 of Gladiator's Bite

“You don’t know him, though.”

“I trust you,” I said pushing myself upright. If Teddy stopped by even for a minute, I was putting on some damn pants. My mere proximity to Sunny left me in a constant state of arousal. Normal for the situation but things between the friends were awkward enough without my hard dick hanging out. “You’ve been friends a long time. I trust your judgement. Would you be best friends with someone who judged people by what position they like to romp in?”

“No,” he groaned and flopped back on the blankets.

“Even now you’re not in a rush to put pants on with him coming over. You’re the only one judging yourself. So, cut yourself some slack and realize you’re not the most special vers guy out there. You’re not the first nor the last to come to this conclusion. I love you – I can say that because I know I do. I love you and you’re one of a kind to me but as far as this hangup goes, it’s nothing special. What if it had been me instead of Teddy? If that happens, are you gonna avoid me?”

“No,” Sunny said quickly. “We’re mates. We’re supposed to keep each other’s secrets.”

“So he’s a gossip? And why is that a secret?”

“I don’t know,” he rubbed circles on his forehead. “We should probably focus on the ritual thing, huh?”

“We don’t have to. We just met, mate. We can run away on our matingmoon. We can video call your parents. We could go to the purple district and fuck in the middle of the street. You need to remember that during these next few weeks people expect us to act out of sorts. So, if you need to do something crazy, now’s the time, mate.”

“Did you have something in mind?” Sunny asked.

“Well, for starters, maybe put your pants on. I’m not usually bossy but I know they’re having open call again today and if we see Selt, I’d rather not have to remove his head from his body. He’s going to be an extra pain in the ass for a while.”

“Why? Are you guys exes or something?”

“No,” I laughed. “No. Fuck no. He’s Selt. He thinks he’s hot shit. His feelings are hurt. Though,” I paused and almost didn’t say what I said next, “he’s also a prime example of why the flight needs more opportunities to meet their mates. Not that it would make him less of a jackass, but I think it’s a growing problem on 2. It’s not so bad on 3. They’re mostly retirees who have their mates, star or chosen. 1 has the purple district. 2. Huh. I don’t know how to explain it.”

A knock sounded on the door. I opened my mouth to ask who it was, but Sunny headed straight for it. Teddy stood on the other side wearing a shirt. It wasn’t the most common thing to see. So, it stuck out. He also had several boxes of donuts and a metal jug of hot coffee.

“Planning to stay awhile?” Sunny laughed.

“This might take awhile. Also, we’re celebrating.”

“What?” Sunny blinked.

“More news from Liam but let’s not talk about it. I don’t want to overshadow you all.”

“He knows who your mate is?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah but he’s not telling me who. He does know that he doesn’t live here, and we’ll meet here. So, the Starscales are going to be connected.”

“Unless the future changes,” I cut in as Teddy set the boxes of doughnuts down on the desk.

“It’s not gonna,” he shook his head, still grinning.

Sunny grinned back at him, they shared a look I couldn’t quite read, but it didn’t seem tense or romantic. They were bothbeginning the next chapters of their lives. I wondered if Teddy would stick around if his mate wasn’t from here.

“We’ll try to make that bridge fireproof when we get there,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts.

“What’s this ritual about?” Sunny asked, filling up three of the compostable mugs with coffee.

I grabbed mine before he could load it down with sugar like he did his own.

“Liam wants to video call, but I told him you might not be up to it today,” Teddy said. “Not everyone is like him and Bobby.”

“They put off their vows for a while,” Sunny glanced at me. “Everyone still talks about it. They tried to keep their true-mate response a secret because they were solving a murder at the time.”

“A murder?” I nearly choked on my coffee.

“Long story,” Sunny grinned at me. “Bobby and Liam have done a bit of everything over the years. Heartville is mostly peaceful, but they’ve had their issues. Liam is a Moonscale/Hemlock seer and that comes with volumes of problems.”

“His omega sight is a double-edged sword,” Teddy nodded. “He’s nice though.”

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