Page 50 of Devil May Hunt
“I didn’t really have friends to hang out with anyway.”
“Because you weren’t given the chance to make them.” If Brennon was forced to spend that much time at the company, it hadn’t left much room for after-school activities or hobbies. No wonder his only plan after graduation was to piggyback on someone else’s dream. “You went through all of that, made all of those sacrifices to your social life, only to overhear them talking about how they didn’t believe in you?”
Gunho tightened his arms around him, clutching him close. If he’d known this sooner his talk with his parents would have gone much differently. “I’m sorry. That was cruel of them.”
“You’re right,” Brennon didn’t sound happy about it, “I should have confronted them instead of being a brat. I painted myself into a corner. I guess I sort of hoped after making themsuffer for a few years thinking their company would have to pass off to someone else, I’d just step in.”
“That is foolish,” he said. “They would have found someone else by then.”
“I know.” He dropped his head back against Gunho’s chest. “This is…nice. You’re not so bad when you’re not trying to dick me down or force me to be with you.”
“You already are with me.”
“Yeah.” Brennon grunted. “That’s true.”
“Are you sad?”
“Would it bother you if I was?”
“Yes.”
He thought it over. “I’m not sad, Be’tessi. I’m just…tired.”
“Let’s go to sleep then.” Gunho knew that’s not what he meant, but it was late, and they’d made progress. He didn’t want to risk furthering their discussion and doing something that could damage their relationship.
Brennon had other ideas, however.
He grabbed onto Gunho’s arms and leaned back when he went to move. “No, tell me about you. Tell me what it was like growing up on a foreign planet. Did you have friends?”
It wasn’t a topic he often shared, but found himself settling, slipping into conversation about how lonely it’d been at first, and how discarded by his family he’d felt. He spoke about the people he’d gotten close to, many of them taken in the war, and those who remained.
It was strange, having someone to confide in like this, someone who sat there quietly and listened without judgment or interruption. He could almost believe that Brennon actually cared.
But he knew better than to hope for that so soon. There was a lot he needed to make up for. And he would. From here onout, his focus would be on becoming the best partner his pretty lover could ask for.
Chapter 15:
The meeting with his parents had been scheduled at their favorite restaurant. The Night Bloom was the same as it always was. Brennon didn’t know why he’d expected it to be any different, as though he’d subconsciously hoped his parents would make a big deal out of his suddenly being mated. Maybe he’d taken Gunho’s comments exchanged with his mother too much to heart.
Even Rin had picked up on his anxiety, leaving him to stew for the most part as the week progressed, only teasing him when the quiet in their dorm room got to be too much for either of them to comfortably bear. There wasn’t much to talk about, not with Brennon only confiding so much, but at least the two of them seemed to be on better terms now that word had gotten around they held the same title.
It was almost laughable how much gossip about his crush there was on campus. He hadn’t really noticed it before, but it was hard to miss when Brennon heard the words Royal Consort and “wasn’t he into Rin Varun?” whispered behind his back more times than he could count in a day.
It felt like he was even getting unwanted attention here, despite the fact he’d visited this restaurant for all major events with his parents since he was eleven. They’d even reserved thesame table, one on the second level, tucked in the corner against the wall made of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Morning Glory Bay.
The only restaurant fancier than this one was Concealed, but his rigid parents wouldn’t be caught dead there, no matter how brilliant the food was said to be.
Not that they’d bothered to show up here either.
They were late.
“Are you nervous?” Gunho was seated next to him, dressed in another three-piece suit, this time with the Idris family crest pinned on his lapel.
Beneath it, another circular pin had been added, this one depicting the sylar, a feline creature with antlers and webbed wings. It was the universal sign for the Intergalactic Conference and worn to signify the wearer was an acknowledged dignitary from a planet that had signed the accords.
Somewhere in a drawer in the four-story home the Cree’s called their own, Brennon had an identical pin.
Should he fish it out? Would he need it? Probably, right? If there’d been call for it as a Royal, now that he was a Royal Consort he’d most likely—
