Page 43 of Grin and Bear It

“I’ll tell him,” Mum said primly, sitting tall on Dad’s lap, even as he began to chuckle. “Human men tend to think of themselves. Their dick, their needs, their heart. If you manage to look past self-interest, you’ll always be the front runner.” She winked then. “That, and you take after my side of the family.”

I could still hear their chuckles inside my head for just a moment as Ellie breathed slowly. She’d fallen asleep and, as far as I was concerned, I would be her pillow for as long as she wanted me to be.

But fate had other ideas.

My phone buzzed rhythmicallyand I fished it out with a frown, answering the call when I saw who it was.

“What’s up, Mads—”

“Knox is drunk,” he told me, the words coming out in one big rush. “Like… really, really drunk. He and Declan and the others got into Dec’s dads’ Scotch.”

“Fuck…” I hissed in a low voice. “Have you rung Nash?”

“Nuh.” And he didn’t want to, that was clear. “We’re grounded, remember. I know Cole will kick our arses, but you—”

“I’m on my way,” I said. “Get the alcohol away from them and let Daisy know—”

“I’m not a snitch.” The belligerence there in his voice faltered when he realised he’d told me. “I’m not.”

“Got it, mate. Just hold tight. I’ll be there in a second.”

I eased myself out from under Ellie, every fibre of my being hating that, but my bear was in two minds. One part wanted to claim her as soon as fucking possible, make her ours and never let her go. But at the same time the beast recognised the boys as part of our sleuth. They were family and they needed us, so I got up and got ready to go. I put all the pizza into one box, stashing it in her fridge, and then wrote a note on the other one, leaving it on the table.

Teenage boy emergency, I wrote.This was amazing and I want to do it again, soon. Let me know when you’re ready for me to take you out on a real date. Then I wrote my number down on the box, so she didn’t have to go looking for it in her phone.

Looking down at Ellie as I draped a blanket over her, I finally understood all the mystique around finding your mate. I felt a sense of deep, endless peace inside me, cut through with a bittersweet longing that just got more intense as I watched her. I pulled myself away, locking the front door behind me, double-checking it to make sure it was secure, before heading over to Daisy’s.

I skipped goinginto the house entirely. Instead, I walked around the side and through the gate to the back yard, and that’s where I found them. Dec and his mates were weaving around the yard, off their faces. But I couldn’t see Knox at first. Then I saw his bent back and Mads hovering over him. The familiar hacking sound of vomiting had me shaking my head as I walked over, and then Mads looked up.

“Uncle Lin…”

The desperation in his voice made me wonder just what sort of a load the quieter twin was carrying. He flung his arms around me and held onto me tight.

“Mads, it's alright.”

“They stole some of Dec’s dads’ Scotch: the really expensive stuff.”

“Oh fuck…”

“I told them that was a fucking dumb-arse idea, but they did it anyway.”

And I had to wonder how often Mads was forced to say those words.

“They were sculling it down like it was Coke or something. They were spluttering at first…”

And then their bodies adjusted to it. Seeing as Dec’s dad, Fred, had, like, fifty year old bottles of Scotch, it probably went down a whole lot smoother than a cheap bottle from the bottle-o.

“It’s alright.” I gave him a long hug and then held him at arm’s length. “You did the right thing.”

But he didn’t look like he thought he had. The guilty look he shot his brother said everything.

“Take my keys and get the car started. I’ll get him out of here and let Daisy know about the shit going on in the backyard. I’ll say Knox drunk-dialled me.”

He nodded, taking the keys and loping off into the darkness, leaving me to deal with his brother.

“So, what do we have here?” I said as I turned Knox around. “Happy drunk, sad drunk or bad drunk?”

Knox blinked, his mouth hanging open, vomit-stained drool dripping from his lips. He mashed the back of his hand into his mouth to wipe it away, but the gesture went wild and missed the mark.

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