Page 47 of The Fated Mate Bandit

“It does not!” she argues.

“The tickle monster only attacks people who consent, remember?” Quin says pointedly.

Link flops back down into his chair. “Okay, okay. But Lucas needs to have his pups already, so I’ll have more kids to tickle.”

Lucas does that sweet, shy smile again. I want to kiss him. Would he let me right here in front of my brothers? They already know we’re sleeping together.

I better not. I don’t want to push him into anything he’s not ready for.

“If ya’ll want to stay here, then be my guest. But I need to get to work,” Coin says.

Slade bends down to kiss Quin’s cheek. “I’m sorry, but I have to get to work too.”

“So do I,” Tin agrees.

Quin sighs. “Okay, fine. When do we get to see you again, Lucas? Could I get your number?”

Lucas hugs his chest nervously. I’m not sure he has a phone. I haven’t seen him use one since he got here.

“You can contact him through me,” I suggest.

Quin presses his lips together. “Um, I was hoping to be able to contact him directly. Do you have a phone number, Lucas?”

“My phone is kind of dead, so…” Lucas shrugs.

“I could buy you a new one,” Coin says. “If you need it. Or a charger, if that would be easier.”

Lucas glances at me. He’s overwhelmed. I don’t know if it’s because he’s planning to leave us all behind soon, and he wants to make a clean break, or because this is triggering some kind of trauma in his brain. The strangest things used to scare him, and sometimes it didn’t make sense, even when he tried to explain it to me afterward.

“Tell you what, I’ll make sure you get Lucas’s phone number as soon as we figure out if his phone is working.” I step in front of him, putting a physical barrier between him and my brothers.

Quin steps back, the concern still etched on his face. I understand. We all missed Lucas when he ran off with Daryll. I thought he’d at least stay in contact with my family. They were extremely close.

“I just think he should know that he’s family, no matter what,” Quin says.

He means no matter what happens with me.

“Yeah,” Coin agrees. “Lucas is family, even if the two of you don’t get together. We don’t want to lose him again.”

I turn around slowly, not wanting to spook Lucas. His shoulders are rounded, his head ducked down. I wish I knew what was going on his head.

“I’m tired. I should go take a nap,” he says softly. He retreats down the hall and into the guest bedroom at the far end. The door clicks shut behind him.

The silence that follows is thick and unnatural. We’re not a quiet family. The only time our home was silent growing up was when everyone was asleep.

“Didn’t he just get up?” Link asks.

Tin walks over to the fridge and pulls off a sheet of paper from the post-it pad where I write my grocery lists. He jots his name and a phone number on the paper and sets it on the counter.

“We can write our phone numbers on here, and Silver can pass it on to Lucas.” He holds out the pen to Quin. He reluctantly takes it and writes his phone number on the paper.

“He had our phone numbers before, and he didn’t message us,” Quin says.

“Why not?” Chime asks.

Quin gives her a gentle side-hug. “I don’t know. Sometimes people have a hard time accepting love.”

“Why?” she repeats.

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