Travis's Gift (Riley's Pride #3)- Sandra R Neeley Page 0,8

they’d laid on the roof like it weighed no more than a couple of pounds.

“I have never claimed to be a morning person. I get up and do what I have to do. Period. Nothing says I have to have sunshine shining out my ass before the damn sun is even up in the sky!” Lucas grumbled.

“See?” Lazarus said, looking over at Riley. “Libby stayed at her house last night. This is what it does to him every, single, time.”

“It’s alright. He knows the score,” Riley said, eyeing Lucas to see how he’d respond.

“Yes, the hell I do,” Lucas answered.

Riley glanced over toward Roman, who’d not said a single word all morning. He’d just kept working, following Lucas as Lucas spread the tar paper and he went along behind him nailing down shingles. “What do you think, Roman?” Riley asked.

Roman kept working.

“Roman!” Riley said sharply.

Roman glanced up at him. “What?” he asked, pausing in his nailing rhythm.

“What do you think?” Riley asked.

“About what?” Roman asked.

“Lazarus accused Lucas of being pissy in the mornings because Libby stayed at her own place the last few nights,” Riley explained.

Roman sat there for a moment before shrugging. “At least he knows where she is,” Roman answered and went back to nailing.

Riley gave a single nod while he pursed his lips. He’d meant to distract Roman and keep him interacting, not make him think of his mate again. It’d been a while now since he’d heard from her, and she wasn’t answering his calls. “I’m sure Talie’s fine, Roman. She’s just busy making ends meet and mothering. She’ll be in touch soon.”

Roman didn’t respond, he kept his head down and kept working.

Roman heard Riley tell him that Talie would be in touch soon. And he hoped Riley was right, but it was still all he could do to hang onto his control. Roman was a patient male, but finding the female meant for you, and then having to walk away when you knew she was struggling was a horrible thing. Especially when he knew he could make things so much easier on her if she’d only let him. It’d been more than a month since he’d heard from her, and she’d stopped answering his calls. In fact, when he called her number now, it went straight to voice mail, so either the phone was turned off, or she was out of minutes and couldn’t afford to put anymore on it.

Roman ground his teeth and began nailing shingles again. He hadn’t been able to let off any steam since he’d helped his nephew defend his mate and son a couple months back. It was getting to him. He needed to find an outlet for the frustration before it cost him everything he had here in the Pride. Roman looked up toward Riley and found Riley watching him. “I’m good,” Roman rumbled.

Riley inclined his head. “If you decide you’re not, you let me know,” Riley said firmly. “We can’t help you if you don’t let us know what you need.”

Roman nodded and went back to work.

~~~

Richie walked into the kitchen and came to a stop. He chuckled and stepped further into the room. “While I’m glad you’re feeling better, I don’t think eating whipped cream from the spray nozzle of the can constitutes getting your required dairy for the day,” he said.

Yvette turned around, surprised to be caught standing before the opened refrigerator and filling her mouth from the Redi-Whip can with her head turned face up, mouth opened, and her eyes closed. “You’re not supposed to sneak up on pregnant ladies. It’s not nice. And I can’t help it if your cub wants whipped cream — all the damn time.”

Richie laughed, reaching out to gently take the can of whipped cream away from her and put in back in the refrigerator. “At least let me make you some fresh whipped cream instead of this prepackaged stuff.”

Yvette looked up at him and finally decided he was sincere. “Okay. But I need it pretty soon. Milk just isn’t killing the craving.”

“What about something else? Maybe some creme brule’, or some pudding or something sweet and dairy. Something with a little more substance,” Richie offered.

Yvette looked up at him with a stunned look on her face. “Oh my god! Pudding! Yes! Why didn’t you suggest this before? I need vanilla pudding. Extra vanilla, extra creamy.”

“I’ll get right on it as soon as I get to work,” he said. “Speaking of, you coming in today or you want to take