Page 26 of Grin and Bear It

“So you’re gonna what?” Knox asked, “Fix our teacher’s house for her and use us as free labour, so you can get into her pants?”

I heard the steering wheel creak and it was only when I looked down that I saw the prickle of golden brown fur across my knuckles, alerting me to the fact my bear was close. Too close, because I hadn’t let him out since… I grit my teeth and then took another slow breath.

“I don’t want to get into your teacher’s pants.” A rude snort from the back seat. “I want to mate her, love her, for the rest of my fucking life.”

The boys knew this. They were a product of that kind of love, growing up safe and secure and adored by my brother, Sharney, and the rest of his sleuthmates. The boys had seen men find their mates, heard the stories of the lengths blokes needed to go to get their girl, so this couldn’t have been a surprise for them. So why did their faces get that same fucking stubborn look? Fuck, that look was all Adam.

“And you two need to make up for the bullshit you’ve been pulling.” I wanted, needed a reaction from them, and that was what was riding me right now, not good sense. The world felt too bright, the streets too busy, the sounds too intrusive as we drove towards Ellie’s place, the months I’d spent off the road removing all of my tolerance for this concrete jungle. “What would your parents think about this?”

Wrong way, go back.

I could almost see the red warning sign in my mind as I stared at the two of them. Closely enough to see those stiff masks crack for just a minute, and then pain flare bright in their eyes. It felt like a win for just a second, but then they closed right down again so abruptly it felt like something was being locked down forever.

“Fine,” Knox snapped, arms crossed and Maddox just stared at the two of us.

“Fine,” I replied, returning my focus to the road.

Chapter14

Nash

My dads had told me all about the rush that came from finding your mate, but when I’d been the same age as the twins, I’d just rolled my eyes, sure it was all just overblown bullshit. But as I jumped out of the car and forced myself to stroll towards Ellie’s house, I felt it. My blood was pumping, my muscles flexing with every step, ready to propel my body a whole lot faster. The dull thuds of my car doors behind me let me know the twins were following along, even at a distance, but I didn’t wait for them.

I couldn’t.

My mate was living in a fucking dump. She hadn’t exaggerated when she’d wailed about how terrible this place was, but I saw it differently. My eyes raked over the roofline, the desolate garden and the cracked concrete driveway. We could fix this. With a bit of time, some elbow grease and if we called in a few favours from some of the other sleuths we worked with, this house could be amazing. That belief burned inside me right up until I walked in the front door.

“I don’t have the time, money or skills to complete them. I thought I would, but…” Ellie told the others. “I bit off more than I could chew with this place and…”

And there she was. Fuck, Ellie was luscious. She had these old, well broken in jeans on, that hugged her every curve, and a Nirvana t-shirt, who were now my new favourite band. And somehow she made the outfit look sexier than if she’d greeted me at the door in red lace lingerie and thigh high stockings.

Shit… I felt my cock jump in my pants. Don't think about that. That became a whole lot easier to achieve when I heard the pain, the hopelessness in her voice. I saw a problem, a big one, but I knew I could fix it and that energised me.

“But we do.” I said that with every confidence, loving it when her eyes swung my way, when they widened as a result.Yeah, look at me, I thought.I can fix this for you. I’ll fix everything.“We have all three and we can get this job done for you, Ellie,”

Ellie’s eyes shone for just a moment and it felt like my heart stopped beating for just a second. But then a small frown formed as she looked past me and at the twins.

“That’s a little more than is required to make amends for what happened,” she said. “I seriously appreciate the offer but…” I watched her shoulders square, her spine straighten. “But it’s not a good idea.”

The earth opened up beneath me then, didn’t it? It had to as it felt like my stomach dropped.

“Ah…”Say something, dickhead, I thought furiously.You have to win the girl, so make your move. “What’s not such a good idea? Because, me personally? I think functioning plumbing is pretty awesome, although, seeing as that’s my trade, I might be a little biased.”

She giggled at that. Fuck me, she had no idea what kind of emotional rollercoaster she had me on right now, that warm feeling in my chest flaring brighter again.Keep her laughing, the bear told me.Make her happy.

I wanted to with every breath. She didn’t know that now, but I would move heaven and earth to eradicate every one of her problems. Especially that dickhead, Derek. The bear growled in approval at that.

“Plumbing, yes,” she replied, then looked over my shoulder. “Forced labour? Not so much. Boys, right now you look like you’d rather do twenty hours straight of maths homework than work with your uncles. Is that right?”

I turned to stare at them, willing them to make the right fucking choice. I’d been up early this morning, getting the two of them out of bed and then hitting them with what I’d found out they’d been up to, before they’d even started on their Weet-bix. They knew how fucking pissed I was with them. Not just because Ellie was mine but because… fuck. That kind of shit? I wasn’t a teacher, but I knew people were fucking paranoid about adults preying on their kids and the prank they’d pulled could’ve fucking ruined someone’s career. But Knox straightened up under my steady gaze, a familiar light in his eyes. Adam, my little brother, was the fucking same, that pig headed bloody streak—

“We’d literally rather do anything else but this.” He turned to his brother. “Right, Mads?”

Don’t do it, I begged the quieter twin.Don’t do it, kid.But the little fucker saw the desperation in my eyes and then nodded definitely.

“Right.” I heard Ellie’s sigh and I closed my eyes for a second, feeling like all hope was bleeding out of me before I forced myself to turn around. “So that’s not cool. What the boys did? It wasn’t OK, but compounding that with labour as punishment is not going to resolve that.”

She turned to the boys.

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