Page 49 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them
“Why?” She sounded genuinely curious.
“Oh, well, I guess because I’d never do that?” Ian sat on the answer for a full second before nodding at his own conclusion. “I take longer to warm up to people. I need to know someone for at least a few months before I’d even contemplate asking them out. The way he just looked at me and decided he wanted me was confusing. I think that’s why it took so long for me to understand he was serious.”
“Did him regularly coming to the group home help? He said it did.”
“He’s right; it did. I saw more of him. He’s so genuine with the kids, so comfortable with them, and every single one of them adores him. I softened just watching him interact with them all, seeing his desire to help. To me, every child there is a sibling. I grew up with most of them. I love how he treats them.”
“Ahh,” she murmured in understanding. “You do give off the same vibe as Benedict to me. The big brother vibe. That’s why.”
“Yeah. Which is why it’s strange to me sometimes that it’s André taking care of me.” Ian scratched his cheek, still bemused at how things turned out. Warmed by the attention, no question, just confused. “I’ve never had anyone take care of me except my father and caretakers.”
“You do have a father, then?”
“Did.” Sadness swept through him, and he had to pause for a second, push the grief down enough to answer. Sometimes, the emotions cropped up so hard and fast he ended up crying, even a year after burying the man. But grief apparently didn’t have a time limit. Ian wasn’t comfortable crying in front of her, so did his best to rein it in while he spoke. “He adopted me when I was thirteen. I lost him last year. His health was quite poor the last few years of his life. It wasn’t a surprise, but…I do miss him.”
Her hand reached out across the console to take his, gently squeezing. “You poor child. I do understand what you mean. I lost my grandmother that way. This was centuries ago, of course. Our medicine wasn’t as advanced back then. Her health was bad too. I knew it was coming. Still, to have her go onthatday was a shock. You always think you have a little more time.”
Ian had to look away for a second, his eyes burning. Yes, that was what it felt like precisely. To think you have a few more days, weeks, months with a person you loved dearly, only to have that future be a lie. Ian still missed his father keenly some days.
She let go of his hand so she could take the sharp curve in the road. They were on country roads now. “What was he like, your father?”
“The kindest of souls. He was a social worker. That’s how we initially met. He came in and out of the group home a lot, so I saw him often. He took a liking to me and asked one day if I’d be his son. I’d always been fond of him, so I was beyond happy when he asked. It’s partially why I chose to follow in his footsteps and be a social worker too.”
“Now that I didn’t know. That’s your major?”
“Yes. I’m close to graduating. Another semester.”
“So you’re a year older than André,” she mused. “Good. He needs an older boyfriend as a steadying influence.”
That didn’t sound quite right to Ian. “André’s responsible, though.”
“Oh, he is. I’m not suggesting otherwise. He’s just also impulsive. As you should know by now.”
“Ah. Yeah, I can’t disagree, but his impulses so far have panned out well for him.”
“They usually do, but sometimes he gets himself into trouble. A certain drinking party at your bar is a good example.”
Ian had almost forgotten about that night. Yikes, okay, she had a point there.
“How did that turn out? I hadn’t thought to ask recently.”
“Well, the girl’s parents begged to settle, to not ruin her future. I felt reluctant to do so, all things considered. We ended up agreeing to one hundred hours of community service, and she has to receive counseling for a year. Anyone who thinks it’s okay to do what she attempted needs counseling, in my opinion. She also has a one-mile restraining order against her. I still feel like she got off lightly, to tell you the truth, but she has no prior offenses. Our lawyer said we couldn’t push it any further than that.”
A deep frown pulled at his face. “I agree, she did get off lightly, but we can only hope she learned from the mistake.”
Mrs. Castor shrugged, still looking unhappy about her baby being hurt. “I’ve made sure this went on her record, though. If she does something like this again, the law won’t be so kind to her.”
There was that.
“Now, I do have a question for you. You obviously know André is a vampire, but did he explain about our family?”
“Ah, no. Not yet.”
“My husband and I are generation zero.” The way she said this was likeOh, it’ll be a sunny day today. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Ian’s brain automatically did the math even as he gaped at her. Wait, didn’t that mean André was generation zero too?! “Hang on…what?!”
“To clarify, my parents were true generation zero, ones spontaneously turned into vampires. I was born shortly afterward, when most generation zeroes were starting to immigrate to America. This was before we understood that generations were a thing, mind you. Or that humans could be turned. My parents, once they did figure it out, offered to turn their parents—both sides refused. I don’t blame them, as being a vampire was so uncertain and risky in those early days, not to mention the fear of religious zealots. I’d stopped aging once I’d hit my midtwenties, making it necessary to move about every ten years or so, which made things challenging and tedious as well.”
