We all burst into laughter at Jace’s offer. Eventually though, Finn grins and rolls his eyes dramatically. “Goddess, it feels like I’m traveling with a kindergarten group,” he chuckles. “But sure, Uncle Jace. We can take them with us. Bad attitude or not, they are strong lycans with alpha blood. We might need them.”
“You know,” Jace says after a while. “All this talk about the youngsters here missing their mates had me thinking about Janice.” He sighs dreamily. “How I love that noise she makes when I kiss her. Can’t get enough of her.”
“Mona just makes me drop all my reasoning too,” Cedric agrees. “I can’t keep my hands off her.”
“You know, it doesn’t matter how much time passes, but Rosalee… she still has a body to die for,” Brian beams. “And her laugh is the cutest.”
“I know what you mean,” Dad agrees. “Flora just recently bought a new lingerie set and—”
“Dad!” Liam exclaims in horror.
Finn and I grimace.
“Oh, I apologize deeply,” he deadpans, and we all know he doesn’t mean it.
“Alright, alright, we’ll stop talking about our mates,” I exclaim. “But Goddess, don’t talk about Mom’s lingerie anymore.”
“Stop mentioning it,” Finn huffs toward me.
Liam furrows his brows, while engaging in a scary glaring battle with dad. “I should have stayed at home.”
“One more round.” Jace hands us all a new set of cards. “Then Liam can go home. Only Liam though.”
“Pregnant mates are our top priority,” Cedric agrees and takes his cards, and smirks.
Goddess, he is going to win this round too. Is this some sort of gift he has? It’s truly scary.
True to his word, Liam leaves early to head home to Annie. He’s so in love, it’s unbelievable. Before, I thought that having a mate would make me weaker, that Annie made Liam weaker by bringing out his softer side, but the truth is, Liam has never been so strong, healthy, and happy as he is now.
I see things differently now.
After losing most of my money, I step outside, letting the old men battle it out. As I’m standing there, I feel a mind link from Celine coming through. It’s unexpected and a little surprising since she hasn’t mind-linked me before without reason, and only when she felt my nightmare that one time.
How is your evening?She asks.
Fantastic,I laugh.Your dad has bankrupted me for the night. He is basically winning one round after another.
She laughs too.That’s the power of love,she says.He has his Mona to think of.
If it’s the power of love, then I should have won,I say without thinking. I blush furiously when I realize what I just said.Or Liam,I breathe out, desperate to save this conversation.Oh shit, sorry, I wasn’t trying to make things awkward.
It’s alright,she says. She doesn’t sound angry or disgusted, she rather sounds pleased, and a little surprised.
And your evening?
Let’s just say Harmony and Garret’s competitive streak came through, and they suddenly battled each other during a game of billiards. Harmony won because… she’s Harmony, and then Garret got teary-eyed and told us about his newest relationship drama. He and Elias have so many issues. Believe me, we’re a dream pair in comparison.
I chuckle at her words.So, are you free now?
Yes, why? Do you want to meet up?
Do you?
She’s silent for a while.I wouldn’t mind,she says. Cyrus has fallen silent in shock, while I can’t believe my luck. It’s the freaking first time she’s kind of asked for a date. She doesn’t need to ask me twice!
Cool! How about we meet up for a walk? If you want a midnight snack, we could grab a few hot dogs and then just walk around and enjoy the night.
Sounds great,Celine agrees.