Page 77 of A Broody Mate for the Human

There is a smile curling his lips, making me eye him curiously. “I’m hoping it gets even longer,” he says casually.

I can feel butterflies in my stomach by the way he looks at me, and I need to remind myself once more that he is probably just joking around with me. “Good thing we still have quite the trip ahead of us.”

“So, what’s first?” he asks me.

“First, we fetch Sugar from the dog sitter, then breakfast, then I need to visit my IT friends, who will help me track my friend, and then we will tackle Stella and your memory.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Raffy nods. “Taxi, or do you want to go by foot to pick up Sugar?”

I stare at him. “Are you kidding me?”

“Taxi it is then.” Raffy chuckles. He indeed manages to wave a taxi towards us. Once we get inside, he tells the driver to take us to the hotel first.

“Why?” I ask him, surprised.

“We need to get changed,” he mutters, eyeing me over. “There is no way I’ll let anyone see you like that. Not outside the club.”

I can feel my cheeks warming in embarrassment again. Right, I’m still in my harness, and I was about to roam the city looking like a BDSM boy toy. Thank goodness Raffy’s brain worked for the both of us this time.

We make it to the hotel without drawing too much attention, which is mostly due to Raffy’s huge frame shielding me from prying eyes. I originally came with a jacket, but I lost it somewhere during the night.

In the hotel room, we take turns to shower and freshen up a bit before dressing more daylight-appropriate. When Raffy comes out of the bathroom, he is just in his pants, revealing his perfect upper body, muscular and strong. I just have to fight the urge to stare at him. He swiftly ties his hair back and dresses in one of his new shirts. “Done.” He smiles at me. “Now let’s hurry to pick up the drool monster and then have breakfast.”

I giggle at his words. These two won’t get along well anytime soon, but at least they are not growling at each other constantly. When we pick up Sugar, he is head over heels to see me, barking and drooling all over the place, and I make sure to tip the dog sitter, a young student, extra generously. Then Raffy, Sugar, and I make it to a small diner to have breakfast.

I’m having pancakes while Raffy orders a huge plate of ham and eggs with extra bacon, sausages, pancakes, and avocado toast. “To try one of your veggie dishes,” he explains.

I beam at him. “I hope you’ll like it. The texture of avocado can be weird at first, but it tastes so good.”

“I will make sure to like it,” he says.

I feel giddy for having him try a type of food I like, and I can hardly wait for him to dig his teeth into his avocado toast. When he does, he frowns, then takes a few more bites before he nods tentatively. “Needs some getting used to, but not bad,” he muses. “Would be great with an egg on top of it.”

“That would be pretty hipster,” I smile. “But it does taste great.”

Once we are done with breakfast, I decide it’s time to meet my IT friends. I would have visited them yesterday already, but Jonas and the other guys weren’t in town. I just hope it’s not too late for them to track Finn down.

This time we walk on foot as Sugar needs that walk, and we do too. I should feel exhausted after partying all night, but weirdly enough, I just feel so pumped and motivated to be on my way with Raffy that I completely forget to feel tired.

Jonas’s IT company is right behind a shady ally in an even shadier backyard.

Raffy eyes the ally and then me. “You normally come there on your own?”

I shrug. “Yes,” I admit.

“That’s dangerous,” he grumbles.

“I know.”

He furrows his brows. “Definitely writing that down,” he mutters under his breath.

I’m not sure if I should glare at him or spur him on further. This time I settle for the first. “It’s not like I had any other options,” I point out.

“You have now,” Raffy says shortly. “I’m your bodyguard, remember?”

I wanted to be pissed at him, but the way he looks at me now makes my skin all tingly again… and sends those fucking butterflies through my stomach. “Sugar will protect me too,” I mutter.

Right at this moment, my backstabbing dog throws itself on the ground and rolls around, grunting a bit. He shows me his belly for me to pet it.