Page 27 of The Fated Mate Bandit

Lucas stirs. “Is that your phone?”

I reach behind me for the offending noise. Luckily, it takes me a while to find it, and during the process I finally wake up enough to remember why I need to get up.

Ugh. The military’s obsession with early mornings is the worst.

I press a kiss to Lucas’s cheek and creep out of bed. It’s a little tricky to find my clothes in the dark, but I manage to piece together a T-shirt and shorts before retreating to the bathroom to get ready for the gym. I literally get paid to work out, which is nice. I like that part of it. I just don’t appreciate doing it at five-thirty in the morning.

My brothers are still sleeping when I sneak past them and out into the garage. Or at least it seems that way until Coin wanders into the garage, bleary-eyed, just as I start the car.

I lower my window. “I’ll be back in an hour. I’m going to the gym.”

Coin crosses his arms across his chest. “Seriously? You just fucked Lucas while he’s six months pregnant with another guy’s kids, and you’re leaving him at the crack of dawn to go to the gym?”

I knew we weren’t quiet, but I’d hoped that my brothers slept through all Lucas’s screaming. I guess not.

“I really have to go to the gym. It’s for my job. But you can come along if you want to lecture me,” I say.

Coin glares at me for a full beat before slumping over to the passenger’s side of the car and opening the door. “Fine, but I’m not exercising.”

“Of course not,” I mutter under my breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, you look like shit most of the time. Are you eating?”

He rolls his eyes. “This conversation isn’t about me.”

I put the car in reverse and back out of the garage. It’s still dark outside and my neighborhood is completely quiet.

“What do you want from me, Coin?” I ask. “Lucas is in a tough spot right now. You saw the bruise on his cheek. Do you expect him to go back to his abusive mate?”

Coin scoffs. “Of course not.”

“Then why can’t he have sex with someone else? He’s not with Daryl anymore. He shouldn’t have to stay celibate for the rest of his life.”

Coin clenches his jaw and looks out the window, despite the darkness. “I wasn’t judging him, I was judging you.”

“For having sex with a pregnant guy? Newsflash, Coin. Pregnant guys are people too, and people have sex. It’s not a big deal.”

He turns to me with anger flashing in his eyes. “Not a big deal? Are you fucking kidding me? Lucas is being abused by his alpha. He comes to you for help, and instead of saving him from Daryl, you fuck him? How is that not a big deal?”

“How am I supposed to save him?” I ask.

“By putting your fucking paws on him!” Coin screams in my face.

“You don’t know what’s been going on between us. I offered?—”

Coin sits back and looks out the window again. “Sure.”

“I did!”

“If you really offered, Lucas would have accepted. He’s still in love with you. It’s so fucking obvious. He always has been. He never even noticed anyone else.”

There’s a bitterness to his voice that confuses me a little bit.

“He bonded to Daryl,” I remind Coin.

“Yeah. Because you didn’t ask him to bond to you instead. He would have if you’d bothered to ask. I’m sure of it. And now you’re messing around with his heart again, only this time he’s six months pregnant and in trouble. If you aren’t going to commit to him, then back off, so someone else can.”

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