Page 133 of Secret Shifters Next Door

“Oh, God. Miles, I’m not going to give you a play-by-play. All you need to know is that April and I have now sharedeverything. That should be enough explanation.”

“Fair enough. I’m glad things worked out for you, brother. I trust your judgment on telling Kellan, too. That’s not the only reason I called, though. This Ryland guy is a problem.”

I growled at the sound of his name. “Yeah, he’s a solid piece of shit, isn’t he?”

“He’s dangerous. It was one thing when he was being subversive and trying to stay hidden. Last night was different. He threatened you and April, in public. There were dozens of witnesses. I think he’s going to be more aggressive. He may call in the other hunters or something.”

“I’ll be damned if I let that scrawny little punk hurt April.”

Miles sighed. “It’s okay. I’ve already got a team on him; he won’t be able to take a shit without me knowing what brand of toilet paper he wiped with. We’re going to have someone sit onApril’s house too. We’ll run it like we did last year with Tate and Harley.”

“Thank you, Miles. It means a lot that you’ve got my back.”

“No need to thank me. This is about all of us. Future mates included. I guess it’ll be me or Blayne next. Honestly, it’s terrifying, but a little exciting too. Seeing how you and Tate are with your ladies, maybe things won’t be so bad for us.”

“Well, you need to get ready. It’s intense. I can’t even explain how intense it is,” I laughed.

“That’s just great,” Miles muttered.

The sound of creaking bed springs told me April was getting up. “Hey, I’ll touch base later, okay?”

“Talk to you soon.”

I hung up just as April came down the stairs, smiling shyly at me. She’d put on one of my T-shirts, and even though she was almost six feet tall, my shirt engulfed her like a nightgown.

Yawning, she wiped at her eyes. “Good morning.”

I set my cup down and pulled her to me, kissing her deeply. “I made coffee. How do you like it?”

“A ton of sugar and two tons of cream.”

“Ah, dessert for breakfast. I like it. Hang on.” I put three teaspoons of sugar into a cup and poured the coffee on top, then poured a heavy amount of cream on top and stirred it.

April took the cup and sipped at what I’d created. “Oh, Lord. This is perfect, though sometimes I go for four sugars. You really know everything I like.”

The look she gave me told me she wasn’t just talking about the coffee. My cock stiffened, and I tried my damnedest to get my mind off that—at least for a while. I took a sip and willed my mind not to fixate on everything I wanted to do to her.

“I’m going to take you out for breakfast. I was going to make you breakfast in bed, but my fridge is a wasteland.”

“I’ll need to go home and change.”

The idea of letting her out of my sight made me ache. I didn’t want to come on too strong, though. Not when we were just starting to rekindle our relationship. I nodded and reached behind her to squeeze her ass. “Go get ready. I’ll be over at nine.”

While she was gone, I took a quick shower and got dressed. Being away from her for even this short amount of time was awful. I couldn’t get her out of my head. All I thought about was April. In the shower, while I brushed my teeth, while I tied my shoes. Her smile, her scent, the sound of her laugh. By the time I was ready, I had to force myself not to sprint next door.

There was a classic pancake house on the outskirts of town—a real hidden gem. Didn’t look like much from outside, but the food was amazing.

We walked in and waited a few minutes for a table. The restaurant was full of locals. Most of them had known me and April since we were kids, so we got a lot of looks and smiles. Happy smiles. But once we got to our table, things got a little strange.

An older lady who I remembered as the lunchroom attendant back in high school came up to our table. “So good to see you two together. You always were such a cute couple.”

After she left, April frowned. “I didn’t realize so many people were invested in a high-school romance.”

“It seems we were pretty famous. But honestly, we are both pretty hot. They’re probably rooting for us to see how beautiful our kids are gonna be.”

April blushed and laughed. I reached across the table and laced my fingers into hers. “Wanna know what I really think?” I asked. “Even though we may not have really known it, everyone else did. They could see we were soulmates.”

April’s eyes softened, and she slid a thumb across the back of my hand. “That word means a lot more now.”

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