Page 48 of A Broody Mate for the Human

It should feel weird to visit him in another man’s house, but I know Marcel, and he is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met. If anything, I know he would be happy that Luca isn’t alone, and once he is back, I’ll make sure to tell him personally that I’m his mate.

“Hello.” Luca opens the door for me, blushing slightly when he looks at me, but then, much to my surprise leans forward to peck my lips.

I wrap my arms around his waist. “What a lovely greeting,” I whisper.

For a moment he smiles, but then his nerves get the better of him, and he starts shifting around again, making my heart ache. He is still nervous and insecure around me, but I guess his trauma is not going to magically go away.

“Something smells really nice,” I tell him, and for once I don’t mean his heavenly scent.

He beams. Apparently, my little distraction worked. “Oh, I cooked for you. Come in.”

I’m surprised to say the least. “You cooked?”

“Yes, Marcel taught me some basics, and now I can finally put them to good use.” I take off my jacket and shoes and follow him into the kitchen. “It’s nothing special, though.” He immediately starts to downplay his efforts, something he seems to be constantly doing. “It’s just risotto with—”

I wrap my arms around him and peek over his shoulder. “Looks and smells amazing.”

“Really?” He looks happy and relieved.

“Yes, when can we eat?” I’m not even joking. I can’t wait to eat the food my mate prepared for me.

“Immediately.” He beams.

I untangle my arms and allow him to get the plates for us, then I help him with putting food onto our plates—making sure he has plenty on his plate too—before we sit down on the sofa to eat. It tastes fantastic. Sure, it’s not the most refined taste, but the fact that he made it means so much to me. I would ditch any exquisite restaurant for it.

Afterwards, we settle in to watch a movie together. Luca hasn’t seen many movies yet due to his time being locked up, but he seems to be into action movies and comedies, so we watch one with The Rock in it.

Half an hour in, I can see Luca scratch at his neck. He is covering it with a scarf, and I wonder how to approach the situation.

You are mates,Akio says.Don’t beat around the bush.

He is right. I move closer to Luca, taking his hand to prevent him from scratching his neck and unwrap the scarf from him.

“Don’t…” Luca blushes. “It’s ugly.”

“It’s too warm to wear a scarf, and you might get an infection.” I allow my fingers to brush over the angry scar around his neck, wondering how long he was forced to wear a silver collar. “And it’s not ugly,” I say softly. “It’s part of you, as sad as it is. But now it’s a reminder that you survived your father and brother and that you came out as the winner. You’re a survivor.”

Luca looks at me through wide eyes. “I’m a survivor,” he mutters.

“You’re a survivor.”

“I like how it sounds,” he says and suddenly leans against me, allowing me to wrap him in my arms. In my mind, Akio almost purrs in joy to have our mate so close. We snuggle throughout the whole movie and eventually fall asleep.

It’s been so long since I slept so peacefully.

Chapter seventeen

Decisions

*DAVE*

Istareattheitem in front of me. This was not what I expected, not at all. Never in my wildest dreams…

“This is for you,” Matthew mutters, shoving it closer towards me. He has his head bent down, barely able to look at me.

I take the item into my hands, looking at it in awe. It’s a cheesy unicorn teacup with a pride flag painted on it, and my favorite coffee blend and marshmallows are put inside. It’s great, exactly what I would buy for myself. I swallow thickly. This is much more difficult than I thought it would be. “Thank you,” I say quietly.

The few times I met Matthew, he was all over the place, controlling, and never once cared for what I wanted, but this time he is so meek. It was me who ordered the coffee for us and who tried to get the conversation going.