Kick Back - Susi Hawke Page 0,17

the room, seeking out Kevin and Andy. I knew it wasn't Sonia, because Peter had said he, as in his mate was male. Andy looked as intrigued as everyone else in the room but Kevin was standing there with his eyes glazed over and his jaw hanging wide open.

Well, damn. That wasn't hard to narrow down at all.

And since I'd had the luxury of looking at the logbook, I was in the unique position of knowing that Kevin was the one who had nearly been sold to Saul Everly. Nathaniel and Kevin probably knew, but nobody else did yet.

Before I had a chance to ask him how he felt about it, Kevin was already heading toward the door. Nathaniel walked over and stopped him. "Kevin? Is this what you want? I won't stop you if your true mate is really standing on the front porch. I promised to protect you and I will do it. Just tell me what you want."

A beautiful smile lit Kevin's face as he clutched his chest. "Him. I want Peter. It's the truth, he’s my true mate. I smelled him just now. He must have been downwind last night or I would have scented him then. I wish everyone could smell something so happy. The fragrance is like freshly cut grass early on a spring morning. You know, when it's still sparkly with dew and practically reeks of the magic of the night? I just want to go and roll in it and cover myself with his scent. And he was made just for me, right? The other half of my soul? My one true mate who will always love me and never want to see me cry? Gee, Father Clarence. Think about that. Why wouldn't I want to go to him?"

Sacha looked concerned. He walked over and tapped Kevin on the shoulder, speaking as solemnly as an eight-year-old could. "Be careful, Kevin. Those guys really are ninjas. They made my dad pee his pants once, but I'm not supposed to talk about that. Plus they have really big balls whenever they shift. Like creepy tennis balls that jiggle with every move. I don't know about their wieners, though. I didn't see them. I was too busy freaking out about their balls and wondering if they could give themselves a black eye if they made one of those spinning kicks wrong and got hit by one of them."

My brothers looked like they were about to die, they were trying so hard not to laugh. Gib and Clay had tears, actual tears. All it took was Darius muttering something about cocktail wieners for them to completely lose it. I snorted and bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing right along with them.

Kevin bent and whispered in Sacha's ear. Thankfully, it was loud enough for all of us to overhear and enjoy. "That's okay, Sacha. I'll make sure they know to be careful so no eyes get hurt by a poorly timed ball slap, okay? And I don't mind if they have big balls. Did you hear my mate? I'm a guinea pig shifter. You can't even see my balls when I'm shifted, that's how small they are. Tinier than marbles, believe it or not. That's why they say that opposites attract. Besides, it's not the size of the balls that matter." I held my breath, afraid to hear where he was going with that. I was almost disappointed by what he said next. "It's the size of your mate's heart that you need to worry about, little one. Remember that when you grow up."

Nathaniel gave Kevin a hug while I shrugged at my brothers. "Maybe this will keep Gil and his brood from blabbing about what they know. They won't want anyone finding Kevin either."

With that decided, I felt much better as I opened the door again. Peter was smiling from ear to ear, obviously having overheard everything we'd said. I didn't doubt it. I figured those long-ass rabbit ears probably had a triple dose of enhanced shifter hearing. Kevin rushed out and Peter lifted him by the waist, spinning him around and looking at Kevin like he was the most amazing thing in the history of ever.

I smiled as I watched Peter carry Kevin down the stairs and knew in my heart that they were going to be blissfully happy together. That sappy shit made me smile so hard that I almost wanted to punch something to get my groove back.

Gil watched