thought it might have been Roger’s mate Reckless, maybe annoyed at being dragged back to town like a two-year-old.
But thankfully, Reckless had already seen the error of his ways. Although, he apparently raised a ruckus when Pierce demanded he get his ass back to Arrowtown, Ronald was busy telling the pub crowd the next day that Roger and Reckless hadn’t come up for air since they claimed each other. Roger was now a confirmed truck bunny, going out with Reckless anytime he had a run to do. The two were so sweet on each other when they called into the bar, although, Reckless preferred Roger didn’t hustle people over the pool table anymore.
I’m going to have to do something. Kee felt bad enough hiding the calls from his parents from his mate. Admittedly, he hadn’t been in touch with them much since he’d left home, but they’d always been free spirits and weren’t hung up on him visiting or calling. But Kee wanted his parents to know he’d found a home, and his fated mate. Originally, he’d had the idea that his father would give him some tips and advice on handling his pixie dust, and how to initiate a shift into his pixie form.
But the moment he’d mentioned he’d been claimed by his fated mate to his mom, she’d had a fit at him, screaming at him that he was going to die. When his dad took the phone off her, and wanted to know what was going on, Kee explained about being true mated. All his dad would say is, “I’ve got to look after your mom,” and hung up on him. Since then, his mom would call, cry, and then hang up, or his dad would call and lecture him on why pixies didn’t take fated mates. When Kee asked why his dad hadn’t explained about the perils of being a mated pixie before he and Dian had claimed each other, he was hung up on again.
And I can’t tell Dian about any of this either, or he’ll never care about my parents. It was important to Kee that his mate like his parents – when they stopped acting like the world was ending and it was all his fault.
“Hey, are you all right?” Kee looked up to see Cam watching him.
It’s not like I can say yes and be honest about it. “I will be.” Kee pasted on his smile. “Are you heading off now? Is Darwin going to lock up? Did you want me to stay and help? I’ve done the trash.”
“I only came to tell you Dian’s in the bar and he’s getting edgy because the trash run took you over half an hour and the dumpster’s only out the back.”
“Sorry, wool gathering,” Kee said quickly. “I’ll go show my face and let him know I haven’t been spirited off somewhere.”
Cam came closer. “Look, I don’t do feelings except for my mate and kid, and if you try and tell anyone otherwise, I’ll deny it. But, if you’re having trouble with Dian – I do know how stubborn gargoyles can be – there are plenty of people you can talk to, including me if you need to.”
“Dian’s amazing to me,” Kee said, happy he could tell the truth about that. “Just other people, sometimes, you know…” he trailed off, hoping he’d said enough, and it seemed he had.
“Fair enough.” Cam nodded. “But if anyone at the bar gives you any hassle, you let me know.”
“Will do. Thanks.” Kee slipped past Cam and hurried into the bar area. Sure enough, Dian was sitting at the counter. Just the sight of his mate’s strong features calmed Kee instantly. “Hi, mate of mine,” he said with a grin, leaning up over the counter to give Dian a kiss. “Sorry I took so long. How was your day? Did you want a drink?” He glanced up at the clock. “I’ve got about twenty minutes left on my shift.”
“You can go now if you like,” Darwin said. He was cleaning glasses at the other end of the counter. “We haven’t got a lot going on,” he waved his towel in the direction of the six or so people still lingering over their drinks. “There’s not a lot left to do, and as Simon’s babysitting Seth’s kids tonight, I’m not in a huge rush to get home, if you get my drift.”
Kee laughed. He’d heard a lot about the large household Darwin and his snake mate Simon was a part