Page 36 of Fur-Ever Home

"Tell me about him, about all of them. I want to know the tea before I meet them."

In the past, I'd always avoided talking about my family with dates. Nine times out of ten, we'd been set up by some well-meaning family member, anyway, so they already knew part of the story. Connor was a blank slate, so I filled him in on my silver-spooned nephew, his quiet little brother, and Alex's sweet baby twins. Once I'd tackled the kids, I moved on to their parents, my sister and wife expecting their first child, and finally my parents.

The more I talked, the more interested Connor seemed. He laughed in all the right places and asked thought-provoking questions about aspects of my brothers' personalities that annoyed the shit out of me but seemed commonplace to him. He gave me a different perspective, one I both appreciated and kinda dreaded. I needed to have heart-to-heart conversations with my alpha brothers to clear the air, but it wouldn't be easy.

"Your family sounds really cool," Connor said once I'd exhausted my aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

"They're a lot," I said.

"Sounds like they care about you." Connor's wistful tone made me want to wrap him in a hug and hunt down whoever hurt him.

"They will love you." I grinned at him while my brain caught up to the words. My family would love Connor. They would meet him this afternoon, and I was not going to freak out about introducing an alpha I liked to my family.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"If they say anything out of line, come get me and I'll knock some sense into them. Unless it's my nephew. He can do no wrong in their eyes."

"Little alphas need to be disciplined," Connor said. "I might be able to help."

"If it's something that involves you shredding another pair of pants, you might want to wait until we pick up your luggage."

His gaze held pure sunshine as he leaned his head against the seat and stared at me. "I can't wait to meet him and the rest of your family."

The thought of introducing them excited me, too. It felt wrong, but so right.

14

CONNOR

We stoppedfor gas and a bathroom break in Barstow around ten. We had another three hours to go. Instead of being bored, or worse, frustrated with me, Ben seemed to like having me around, especially when I introduced myself to an aggressive alpha as his boyfriend.

"Sorry," I whispered as the alpha walked past us, off the bus, and out into the parking lot. The only sign of the previous night's storms was the wet pavement.

"For what? I hate pushy alphas." Ben sighed and leaned closer in his seat, which was still too far away. "I get so tired of it all. Look at us. I can't take my eyes off you. We've been talking the entire time we've been on this bus. Why would anyone think I'm available after seeing us together?"

I blinked at him a couple of times while my mind tried to register his words. "Wait. Does that mean we're boyfriends?"

"I practically asked you to move in with me." He sank into his seat with his coat hunched up around his shoulders. "I think we're dating, or mating, or whatever you call it."

I laughed at that. "We are not mating right this moment, or this would be a very different bus ride." I reached for his hand.

"When we're bonded, mated, whatever, will people leave me alone?" he asked. "I'm tired of alphas hitting on me."

"Shifters will know you're my mate." I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles in an attempt to soothe him. "Humans aren't as perceptive, but I can scare them away."

"You scared that guy away," he teased. "I'll be right back."

"Want me to come with you?" I asked. The alpha was still lurking in the parking lot.

"Do you mind staying with our bags this time?" he asked. "I don't want to take them with us."

"Not a problem."

I remembered the poor ruined sweater he still had in a zipped plastic bag inside his suitcase. Once I found another job, I would buy him sweaters just like it, one in every color.

I would buy him one of everything, simply because he was my mate. Not only that, but he wanted to be my boyfriend!

We had a long way to go before we would know and trust each other, but we'd made a lot of progress. Ben still hated alphas, but he was starting to like me. Well enough to be my boyfriend, anyway.

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