Page 28 of Riding the Tide

“No, I didn’t, but I talked to Brett about possibly buying land and building something for us. It’s not right for me to ask Blair to give up the land since he comes from it.”

“You’re right, it’s not. And those are the actions of someone who cares,” Nisha said. “Of someone who’s beginning to fall a little bit in love.”

“Well, in case Brett didn’t add this, I will. You might want to wait on buying anything until you talk to your mate,” Kannon added. “I wouldn’t advise springing such a major purchase on him.”

“It was also pointed out to me Blair is a very capable individual and that some of my actions, if I wasn’t careful, could come across as being slightly, um—”

“Cavemanish?”

Marcus raised an eyebrow. “Humans are the ones who lived in caves, not us. But we’ll go with that word for the sake of argument.”

“See?” Kannon waved his hand at Marcus. “He knows to agree with me.”

“More like I’m trying to avoid an argument.” Marcus fluffed his hair. He couldn’t get over how different it felt without the salt from the ocean in it. “Besides, I’m not your mate. I don’t have to appease you.”

Kannon picked up the hairbrush Marcus had thrown on the dresser. “Nisha doesn’t either.”

Nisha picked up the towel Marcus had left lying on the floor and popped Kannon on the rear end with it. “Excuse me? I don’t try to appease you?”

Kannon yelped, jumped, and grabbed his ass. “Hey now!”

Nisha twirled the towel again, getting ready to strike. “Let’s try this again. Are you saying I don’t try to appease you?”

Kannon ducked behind Marcus. “This is your idea of appeasing me?”

Marcus moved out of the way.

The towel lashed out.

Kannon yelped again.

Nisha stopped twirling the towel, threw it over his shoulder, and grabbed Kannon. He pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “We’ll discuss matters after Marcus leaves.”

“Good grief.” Marcus rolled his eyes, but it was more for show.

He looked forward to being able to joke around as they did with his own mate. Nisha and Kannon were so connected, they moved smoothly together instead of against each other. That wasn’t to say sometimes they didn’t rub each other the wrong way and sparks didn’t fly. He wanted that too with Blair.

Kannon discreetly rearranged himself. “What are you going to do after dinner?”

“I thought maybe we could walk around. There’s plenty to do at the resort and surrounding areas. We could maybe even go into town.”

Nisha picked up his billfold off the dresser. He flipped it open and pulled several bills out. “Here. If you’re going to do other things beside eat, you’re going to need cash.”

Marcus scowled. “I hate taking money from you.”

“Do you have any of your own?” Kannon asked.

“Not this paper money, no. But I talked to Brett, and he’s going to take care of that for me along with that endless paperwork humans seem to require for getting things done.”

“The gold coins?” Nisha asked, laying his billfold back down on the dresser.

“Yes.”

“Ahh. About time.” Nisha nodded. “I guess the paperwork you’re referring to is stuff you need to be legal?”

“Yes. Shortly I’ll have a human identity.” Marcus moved his hands down his chest. Okay, he was ready to go.

“Good. I’ve been telling you for a while now you needed to do that.”

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