Page 123 of As The Shifter World Turns

“Always.” Martin was such a good father.

“Open up,” Seb was pounding on the door. Great. Just what we all needed.

Daire went to the door with a sigh and let him in. “We were waiting for you,” he lied.

“I didn’t even know about this meeting,” Seb scowled.

“I sent a group text.” I jumped in to save Daire. “Did you not get it?” Of course he didn’t. I hadn’t added his number. But pissing him off more sounded like a shitastic plan.

He took out his phone and snapped, “Nothing.”

“Well, you’re here now,” I said and he came into the room where we were all sitting.

Neil had yet to say a word, but he visibly recoiled at the interactions with Seb so far and that spoke volumes.

“What’s this meeting about? Is rent going up already?” Seb sat on the arm of the chair and I could practically see Daire biting his tongue. He didn’t have many rules about his place, but sitting on the arm of the chair was one of them.

“We were discussing banning Kellan from the property,” Ivor spoke slowly and clearly.

“Because he’s pregnant? That’s a shitty thing to do.”

“No. Not because of that,” Daire said.

“There are so many reasons, let me tell you a few.” I spent a solid ten minutes telling Seb everything. What started as anger on his face turned to confusion turned to something else I couldn’t quite place. Nothing about his posture or facial features shouted being team Kellan anymore. And that felt like a good thing. Maybe we wouldn’t need to ban him. Maybe Seb would just tell him to piss off.

“I had no idea. He told me—not that.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I hit you.”

“You did. You have a good right hook. It gave me a black eye.” And whether Kellan had lied to him or not, that was a dick thing to do.

“He… I’m not sure I even know him. Nothing you said fits, but also you all agree that it happened that way, right? I’m not imagining it?” I almost felt bad for the guy.

“I’m new here,” Martin clarified. “But I have no reason not to trust the men in this room.”

“Shit. This changes everything, doesn’t it?” Seb muttered.

47

A WEEKEND AWAY

Ivor

“Ready?” I asked Neil as he came down the stairs, two largish suitcases bumping behind him and a pack on his back. I should be used to all the paraphernalia Neil took with him on a weekend away, even when he wasn’t working. But he’d mentioned that he had a work session tonight, so I forgave him.

Me, I had a small overnight bag. Today being Saturday, we were only going away for one night. Micah and Daire had an event last night and Archer hadn’t been able to find a sitter he trusted.

I grabbed one of my friend’s cases and we headed along the sidewalk. “Have fun,” Martin waved and blew a kiss from his window on the third floor.

“Bye.” Neil returned his kiss.

We turned the corner, lugging our stuff past the back alley and to the next street. Micah’s car was parked out front of his and Archer’s house, and he was placing a bag in the trunk while Archer stood beside him holding Elune.

“Do you think he’ll actually leave Elune for one whole night?” I asked Neil.

“Hope so. I’m looking forward to a weekend by the beach and not having to cook.”

Daire’s parents had given us the use of their beach house—more of an estate than a house—and while I was looking forward to it, the place brought back memories. Ryder and I had shared a room there, had sex in the shower, swum together, walked on the beach, and held each other as we fell asleep.

No way was I taking the same room as when Ryder was with me.

---