Page 29 of Kennedy

Before he hurt Lewis.

Lewis was the only one of them who couldn’t defend himself. Kennedy had a hard time imagining Wallace Senior attacking him or anyone else, but the man had been a soldier. He had the physical capacity to hurt people, and there was nothing that would hurt Jimmy more than something happening to his mate. Wallace Senior might not realize that Lewis wasn’t Seymour, even if he cornered him. He might not believe Lewis if he told him, either.

“I thought we were supposed to have a good time today?” Seymour asked as he bumped his shoulder against Kennedy’s.

Kennedy plastered a smile on his lips. “I am.”

“You’re still thinking about Wallace Senior. It’s all right, I am too, but I don’t want him to ruin our morning together. Do you know how hard it is to get Lewis out of that shop?”

Kennedy snickered and looked at where his mate stood in front of the pond. He was surrounded by ducks, to which he was feeding peas. Kennedy had asked why not bread since he felt it would’ve been easier, and Lewis had been offended by the fact that, apparently, Kennedy wanted to kill those ducks.

“I just want him to be safe,” he murmured.

“I do, too, but for now, he is. I know we’ll have to find a way to deal with Jimmy’s father, but I won’t allow him to ruin my life.”

A massive tiger appeared from behind the wooden partition that had been built for shifters. Most of them didn’t mind getting naked in front of people, but the town was home to humans, too, and no one wanted to be made uncomfortable by having naked people walking around. The partition was a good compromise, and Kennedy had used it himself a few times. He also made sure to stick to the areas dedicated to shifting and playing. It was the only way things could work between humans and shifters. They needed to respect each other and their spaces.

Seymour patted Kennedy’s shoulder and moved toward his mate. Kennedy briefly considered shifting, then decided he’d rather talk to Lewis.

The ducks weren’t happy about that.

They scattered when Kennedy reached them, but a couple of them continued trying to get closer as if they couldn’t stand to be away from Lewis—or rather, from the peas. Kennedy rolled his eyes when one pecked at his shoes. “You have friends,” he gently teased his mate.

Lewis shrugged. “I think they recognize me.”

“You come here often?”

“Yeah. I like being outside, and I like the ducks.”

“Well, the ducks like you back, and I can understand why.”

Lewis’s cheeks flushed. He didn’t say anything, but then, he never did when Kennedy complimented him. It was as if he didn’t know how to react, which, if Kennedy had to guess, was exactly the case. He didn’t know what Lewis’s exes had been doing, but none of them seemed to have treated Lewis the way he should be treated.

Thankfully, that was over now. Kennedy would make Lewis see how perfect he was. He’d be the perfect mate for him.

“How long until we have to go?” Kennedy asked as he wrapped his arms around Lewis’s waist from behind. Lewis was short, so Kennedy had to stoop down a bit to hook his chin over his mate’s shoulder.

“We can go whenever you want. I just have to grab something from the apartment.”

“How soon do you think we can ditch your brother and Jimmy?”

Lewis peeked into the bag from which he was taking the peas. “Well, I’m almost done here, and I suspect they want to spend time just the two of them, too. We can go whenever you want.”

Kennedy squeezed him one last time before stepping away and turning toward Jimmy and Seymour. Jimmy had stretched out on a patch of grass, and Seymour was on top of him, probably so he wouldn’t get cold or get his clothes dirty. Jimmy didn’t seem to mind. His tiger form was big enough to hold Seymour’s weight. “I’m going to go tell them. Something tells me they’re going to spend a bit of time stretched out in the sun, so they’ll be fine.”

He did just that, and by the time he was back with Lewis, the peas were gone, and the ducks looked disappointed. “Seymour said he’d call you tomorrow,” Kennedy told Lewis.

“Good.” He held out a hand. “Ready to go?”

Considering Kennedy would follow Lewis to the end of the earth if he asked, it was a stupid question, but he nodded anyway. He wasn’t sure Lewis understood how important he was to Kennedy yet, but he would.

Kennedy would make sure of it.

Lewis shimmered them to his apartment first. He told Kennedy to stay outside as he scurried inside to grab a backpack. Kennedy had no idea what was inside, and he knew that Lewis wouldn’t tell him until they reached their destination. He thought they’d go right away, but after Lewis closed the front door, he paused. “I know the sights won’t be the same as they would be in spring and summer, but I really like this place, even when the flowers aren’t blooming.”

Kennedy still had no idea where they were going, but he’d like anything if he went there with Lewis, even a desert. He knew how important plants and flowers were to his mate, though. He was trying to share something of his with Kennedy, and Kennedy was pleased. “That’s fine. As long as I spend time with you, I’ll be happy wherever.”

There was the blush again. Kennedy couldn’t resist, so he leaned closer and kissed his mate’s cheek. Lewis looked like he might explode, but instead, he squared his shoulders and took Kennedy’s hand. “Ready?”

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