Page 25 of Love in Unexpected Places

Sullivan didn’t doubt him or insist that he could help.He nodded and turned toward the car.

“Is there anything you want to say to them?”Matty asked Sabrina, tilting his chin toward their parents.“Dad won’t be able to answer, but Mom can.”

Sabrina’s expression hardened.She stared at their parents for a moment before shaking her head.“I have nothing to say to these people.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Matty remembered the day he’d been kicked out.He’d waited on the sidewalk for an hour, hoping his parents would allow him back in.He hadn’t known anything else.He hadn’t had other family or adults he could reach out to, and he had no idea where to go.

But Sabrina did, and maybe she was stronger than Matty.She never looked back, not even when Sullivan opened the back door, and she slid into the car.Matty moved toward the driver’s door, but Sullivan beat him there.“I’ll drive if you’re okay with that.I’m sure you and your sister have plenty of things to focus on that aren’t the road.”

“I lucked out when it comes to boyfriends,” Matty said with a smile.

Sullivan’s answering smile was everything.“So did I.”

Chapter Five

Sullivan had enjoyedthe road trip.He wanted to spend more time with Matty, but he hadn’t gone back to pack territory yet.Someone was bound to notice if he was gone too often, especially for that long.The leaders wouldn’t care as long as he was there when they needed him, but one of their followers might think it was strange and start looking for him.Going on this road trip had been a gamble—one Sullivan didn’t regret—but he’d have to be careful in the future.

Especially now that he had Matty to think of.

Becoming boyfriends the way they had was odd, but Sullivan found it charming.When he’d told Matty’s father that he was Matty’s boyfriend, he’d only meant to annoy the man.He’d already been able to see what kind of person the guy was, and he hadn’t liked anything about him.He hadn’t expected Matty to go along with it, and he especially hadn’t expected Matty to reintroduce him as his boyfriend to his sister.That made it official as far as Sullivan was concerned, although he supposed that he and Matty really needed to talk.

Which was why they had a date tonight.Sullivan had wanted to see Matty sooner, but he’d decided to wait almost a week, just in case.No one had said anything about him not being in the house before, but that didn’t mean people hadn’t noticed, and he wanted to be sure they wouldn’t be too intrigued by his comings and goings.The last thing he needed was for someone to follow him when he drove to pack territory to pick up Matty.

Luckily, he and Matty had exchanged numbers.They’d talked every day, and they kept texting.Most of the time, it wasn’t anything important, just funny pictures or videos, but Sullivan felt that he was getting to know Matty better through them.He wanted to know even more, but there was only so much they could do through their phones.He couldn’t call this a long-distance relationship because they didn’t live that far away, but they couldn’t see each other, so in a way, it was.

But not tonight.Tonight, Sullivan was picking up Matty and spending time with him.He couldn’t wait, but he was also worried, like always when he did something forbidden.The coven leaders would kill him if they ever found out he was fraternizing with a shifter who belonged to Chance’s pack.

That was why he snuck down hallways and staircases that were seldom used.People were afraid of getting the attention of the leaders, so they were spending a lot of time in their rooms, which was lucky for Sullivan, even though he hated it.He wanted his people to be free, but instead, they were even scared to go to the kitchen and get food.

They needed to get rid of the coven leaders, and fast.

The last step creaked, so he skipped it and landed on his feet in the mud room next to the back door.He glanced into the kitchen through the glass of the inner door.The cooks were working hard, which meant they probably wouldn’t notice him sneaking out.He’d have to make sure to be quiet, but everyone in the coven knew how to do that.

The door creaked just a bit as it opened, but Sullivan didn’t stop to check if anyone had heard it.He stepped outside and closed it as quietly as possible, then turned to head to his car.

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