Page 26 of Honorable Convictions
“Watch it at your place.”
“We’re not going to spend every night arguing over the merits of me being here, Blondie. It’s like I told you, we need to get to know another and make an honest effort to work on our matebond. If you’re bound to leave me, you still can’t skip this crucial step.”
His voice had grown hard, but Pierson couldn’t help that Mitchell had suddenly developed a fantasy of them living happily ever after. That was about as likely as Pierson shifting into a fabled unicorn. “I believe that one hundred and fifteen years of animosity is proof enough of how ill-suited we are.”
“I’m going to ignore that and not get dragged into pointless and predictable arguments. We’re going to do our best to work on a friendship. Speaking of which, you never did tell me what your favorite color is, yesterday.”
Pierson studied the annoying man for a moment, then restarted the movie. “I like blue.”
“Have you ever had a pet?”
“That’s a rather random question.”
“I found this long list of questions you can use to get to know one another. Not all of them are applicable, and some of them I can answer for you. I know what you do in your spare time. You work. So do I. I fucking love my job, but I also have moments when I wish I were a regular fallen knight.”
“I’ve never wanted to be a regular fallen knight. Juris appealed to me from day one.”
“That’s because it’s like I told you in training…you were resurrected to be Juris. I wasn’t. The reason I’m Juris is due to my competitiveness. I didn’t want you to be the only one making history and breaking barriers.”
“That’s not how it works. You were meant to be Juris.”
“No, if I was, I’d be hopeless in a gym and a terrible shot. I’m not. Those things come to me easier than studying law books.”
There was conviction in his voice, which left Pierson confused. Was it possible to exceed your resurrected purpose? “As stubborn as you are, I don’t know why I’m so surprised you’d do the impossible.”
“I’m Juris and only second best because no one compares to you.”
“I’m shocked that you’ll admit you’re not number one.”
“I don’t have your memory. I’m not able to read as fast as you, and my comprehension of the law isn’t as extensive. I have to look things up. I depend upon the precedents set by other Juris Knights to move forward with certain cases. I always turn to yours first because everything you do is unsurpassed. When I was younger, I thought I’d somehow exceed your spot at the top, but there’s never going to be anyone as good as you. I’m proud of you and your dedication.”
Unsure what to do with his compliments, Pierson frowned. Aware that he set more precedents than he followed, it was because in the last century his workload was so high. There was a wide variety of cases he oversaw, and he couldn’t wait around for a consensus to be found in like files. It was surreal to think of Mitchell being impressed by him—he wasn’t used to attributing positive things to his mate. “I’ll admit that my recall makes things easier for me.”
“You’re always fair, Blondie. That’s why so many JKs look to your cases before they file theirs to get the signature of the VKs.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that since you accused me of putting myself above everyone and judging accordingly.”
“That’s how you act around your coworkers. That’s not how you handle offenders.”
Refusing to tell Mitchell the truth of his time limit in DC, he simply said, “They aren’t my coworkers anymore.”
Mitchell propped his feet on the coffee table. “You’ll be back in Vegas. I don’t doubt it for a second.”
Choosing to ignore the truth of his words, Pierson gave his attention to the television and only snuck in glances of the handsome unwanted man in his apartment as he wondered what in the hell he was doing there.
Chapter 15
“You didn’t answer my question again,” Mitchell told Pierson once he got comfortable on Pierson’s horrible couch for the third evening in a row. Unbelievably tired, he should be working on his mounting pile of cases, but for too long he’d allowed those types of things to interfere with his matebond.Itwas difficult for Mitchell to accept that so much time had passed since he first met Pierson. What a fool he’d been to think everything would magically fall into place, and he’d unintentionally hurt Pierson, giving him room to convince himself that he’d prefer anyone over Mitchell. It stung and he had to fix it.
Pierson lifted a dark-blond brow. “What question?”
“Have you ever had a pet?”
“No, I’ve always devoted all of my attention to my career.”
“I had a fish,” Mitchell revealed. “Cuddles lived about a year.”
“You named a fish Cuddles?”
