Page 12 of Kendrick

“I don’t, but I’ll stop renovating the house. I’m not putting in all that work only for Caroline to enjoy it.”

Kendrick chuckled. “I could move in with you.”

“But then Caroline would have to move out, and I don’t want to force her to do that. I’m fine moving in with you, Kendrick. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Kendrick was silent for a moment, trying to get his thoughts in order. It was harder than he expected, but then, his mate was involved. It was a massive change, especially for someone who, just a few months ago, didn’t have anything steady in his life except for his friends.

“But we don’t have to start thinking about who’s moving where right away,” Jonas said. “I understand that your situation is complicated.”

“It’s not, or rather, it shouldn’t be. There’s nothing between Devon and me, and there never will be.”

“I wasn’t saying there was. You don’t strike me as the kind of person who would take advantage of a child like that. It is a complicated situation, though.”

“I think I’m going to have to talk to Clay, at the very least. Rowan might be a bit more intimidating, so I’d rather have Devon deal with Clay.”

“As long as he understands that he has to obey their orders, I don’t see why that shouldn’t be the best thing to do.”

It was the last thing Kendrickwantedto do, but things were getting out of hand, and it was clear that the crush Devon had on him wasn’t fading. Kendrick knew he had to nip it in the bud. “I’m really sorry about what happened tonight. I thought that, as my mate, you’d react differently to Devon.”

“I can see he’s a kid. I’m not going to beat him up just because he has a crush on you, even though he did force himself on you.”

“He doesn’t understand.”

Jonas hummed. “I think you should give him more credit. He’s young, but not that young.”

“He just turned eighteen.”

“So he’s not three. He understands right from wrong, and he has to know that kissing someone against their will is wrong. He’s been ignoring it, but it’s not right, and you shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“I’ll talk to Clay.” Kendrick just wanted this to be over. He didn’t want to hurt Devon, but he felt that Devon would get hurt if nothing was done.

“This is me,” Jonas said as he gestured toward one of the houses. All the windows were dark, but then, Jonas had said that both he and Caroline had been invited to the family dinner.

Kendrick felt awkward again. How was he supposed to say goodbye? He couldn’t see them shaking hands, but maybe a hug?

Jonas stopped in front of the door and looked up at Kendrick. “Will you kiss me goodbye?”

Kendrick blinked. He liked that Jonas knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. It took the guessing out of the situation, which had always been the worst part of any relationship as far as Kendrick was concerned. He hated wondering what the person he was dating thought or how they felt. He hated feeling like it would only take him acting like an idiot once for them to run.

He had no doubt that Jonas would tell him if he was being an idiot—in fact, he already had.

Jonas was still smiling when Kendrick pressed their lips together. He could feel it against his, but then Jonas opened his mouth, and Kendrick dove in.

He’d never felt as close to someone as he did with Jonas, which was ridiculous because they’d just met. The kiss felt like coming home, though. It was warm and familiar, even though it was the first time they had done this.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Jonas asked when he stepped back.

“If you want to.”

“I do.”

“Then we can arrange something.”

Jonas stared for a moment longer before nodding. “Goodnight.”

Kendrick waited until Jonas was inside the house to leave. He couldn’t stop smiling, and there was a bounce in his steps that hadn’t been there before. Jonas was already making him happy, which was hard to believe, but it was true.

He’d just arrived home when there was a knock on his door. He was careful when he went to open, afraid that Devon would be there, but it was Boyd and Chris.

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