Page 53 of Bullied Mate

The next day awakened me late in the morning, a bizarre occurrence for me considering my usual routine. Happy chatter roused my ears, pulling me from the warm cot with a low groan. The chatter didn’t stop on my behalf, and I was fortunate to find coffee waiting on a table nearby.

“We should go to the gym,” Leo suggested. “I want to see what it looks like now.”

Xavier chuckled. “It’s not ready yet.”

“But haven’t you been working on it?”

“We’ve all been working on it.”

Leo hummed. “Galanthia too?”

I looked up from my hefty serving of coffee and smiled. “Of course I’ve been working on it, Leo.”

“But you said I’m qualified. Can’t I visit?”

“Oh dear, I don’t believe I can argue with that. I did call you qualified.”

Xavier pressed his lips together sternly. Protests were on their way. Our nightly reprieve had been just that. The new dawn must have reminded him that we were at odds.

But the fit soon passed. He smiled at us both, and then said, “Actually, that’s true.”

A balmy glow shone through me. Coffee seemed to be doing the trick to get me out of my funk. Perhaps a walk to the gym would do the same.

“Don’t forget the bacon,” Leo said while pointing to the plate. “I asked Etta to make it extra crispy for you.”

“And he yelled at me when I tried to have some,” Xavier joked.

Leo growled. “I didnotyell.”

“You were pretty mad.”

“I wasn’t mad!”

I supposed I wasn’t the only one who bickered with Xavier. Something like comfort came to me, and then it faded when I realized that their arguing had led to Leo’s condition just yesterday. Perhaps it was too soon to speak of it being entertaining, yet I couldn’t help retaining a satisfied grin as I plucked a strip of bacon from the plate.

Salt and grease stained my fingertips. “I smell eggs and biscuits as well.”

“Etta has spoiled us,” Xavier stated. “I told her we’d be fine, but she was pretty sharp about it.”

“People ought to be sharp with your skull being so thick.”

His gaze sharpened—but not like a man about to lose his head over a comment. More like a predator ready to pounce on his prey. Butterflies surged in my stomach. I withstood his gaze, unflinching and unmoved by his threatening glare. It was nearly insidious in its lustful desire, a bloom so shockingly quick that I would have presumed it a mirage had we not been hydrated, well rested, and in air-controlled quarters.

Intensity faded into a sly grin. “I won’t argue with that.”

“I’m surprised you’re not arguing.”

“I figured I’d give it a rest for the day. How about you?”

Astonishment silenced me. The man was seriously being serious. Anyone else would have likely been as shocked as me, and might have said the same in this situation, and might have gone even further to ask if he had a fever or was feeling ill.

Yet he sat lounging in the chair as he typically did, with one ankle over the opposite knee. He casually raised a mug to his lips and slurped. The silence didn’t bother him in the least.

What had gotten into him?

“A temporary truce,” I offered, “and nothing more than that.”

Leo raised his arms in the air. “Yay! You won’t argue anymore!”

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