Page 31 of Kendrick

Kendrick grinned sheepishly, and Ryan turned his way. He smiled back, and while it was a little sad, he looked better than he had yesterday.

“I’m sorry your mother hasn’t reached out,” Jonas said.

Ryan shrugged. “I’m sorry, too, but I’m not surprised. She doesn’t know how to live without my father. They’ve been together almost twenty years, and I’m pretty sure she thinks she can’t start again, even though she’s young enough to. Hell, even if she wasn’t young, she could still start again. She’s a shifter. She can live another hundred years for all we know.”

Jonas reached over the table to squeeze Ryan’s hand. “Exactly. She’s not coming with you now, but she has a long time. Hopefully, after she’s lived with your father on her own for a few weeks, she’ll realize what an asshole he is and decide to take a chance.”

Ryan nodded. “I hope so. We don’t have a great relationship, but I still want her to be safe and happy.”

Ryan was more gracious than his parents. If Jonas had been in his place, he would have sent everyone to hell and left without looking back. He’d always been a resentful person. When someone hurt him, he smiled and told them he forgave them, but in reality, he held grudges like a champion.

“I’ll be fine,” Ryan told Kendrick. “So you can stop hovering.”

“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. You’re my baby brother.”

“Can you stop with that baby thing? What’s your obsession with it? First, you tell Jonas you want to be his sugar baby, and now, I’m the baby. What’s up with you? Are you ready to have kids?”

Jonas had been taking a sip of his coffee, and it went the wrong way. He coughed and grabbed his napkin, trying to cover his mouth. Ryan looked unrepentant and gave him a wide smile. If Jonas hadn’t been so happy to see him smiling, he would’vetold him to fuck off. As it was, he flipped him the bird before quickly looking around to check that no one had noticed.

Ryan laughed. “What? I want nieces and nephews.”

“We only met a few weeks ago,” Jonas said, his voice a little rough. “And you’re already saddling us with kids?”

“Think how cute they would be. You could have little Kendricks running around your house, or maybe you’d rather have little Jonases?”

“For now, you’re all the kids I can handle.”

Ryan scowled. “I’m not a child.”

“Then don’t act like one. Stop teasing your brother and finish your food.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Jonas rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He noticed Kendrick watching him, and when he turned to him, Kendrick beamed. It was startling but also pleasing. Jonas wasn’t sure what he’d done to make his mate happy, but he had to find out because he wanted to make it happen again. Maybe he had to make a fool of himself to make his mate smile. If that was the case, he’d buy clown makeup and a wig.

“If you’re almost done, I’ll go get the car,” Kendrick said as he got to his feet. “Finish your breakfast. Here, I’ll grab your bag.” He reached out for Ryan’s backpack, which was hanging at the back of Ryan’s chair. Ryan let him, and Kendrick left them alone.

Jonas sighed. He’d be glad they’d be home soon, even though he and Kendrick had only been gone since yesterday. It was supposed to be a quick back and forth, but instead, they’d ended up spending the night. Jonas didn’t regret it, but he wanted his home.

He wasn’t even sure where that was anymore. Was he more at home in the house he shared with Caroline or in the house where Kendrick lived? He hadn’t officially moved in yet, but he suspected he would soon. The house where he lived didn’tmatter, anyway. The village did, and even more so, the people who lived there and Jonas’s friends.Theywere where he belonged.

“I hadn’t realized that you and my brother haven’t been together long,” Ryan suddenly said. “When he talks about you, it’s like he’s known you forever.”

“It feels like it, thanks to our bond. We only met a few weeks ago, but it’s already everything, you know?”

Ryan shrugged. “Not really. I don’t have a mate.”

“I’m sure you do. I can’t guess when you’ll find them, but when you do, you’ll be happy.”

“It feels odd. I mean, I know my parents aren’t mates. My mother never found hers, so she settled for my father. It feels like something that might happen to me, you know? I can’t know for sure that there’s someone out there for me. I might have to settle for someone else, maybe even a human like my mother did.”

Jonas snickered. “I love how you say that. You make it sound like being human is the worst thing that could happen to you.”

“I don’t know about worst, but I’ve seen what it did to my mother.”

Jonas sighed. “Your father would be an asshole even if he were a shifter. You’re only eighteen, Ryan. Don’t start obsessing over this. There’s nothing you can do about it, and you won’t have to worry about dying alone for a long time.”

“I guess. I just want to be happy.”

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