Page 78 of My Broken Mate

Remy looks confused for the whole walk backstage. Even when he puts his arm around my shoulders, making my stomach do backflips again, he still looks confused. “It’s surprisingly easy,” he mutters to me.

“What do you mean?” I look at him curiously.

“Talking to you and your friends,” he admits. He still has this pondering expression on his face, his eyes zooming in and out on Fi and Ayden, who are walking ahead of us. Remy never struck me as the type of person who was socially awkward. That’s more Eve’s or Ayden’s thing. Ayden, despite coming off as a sarcastic prick sometimes and as a hilariously funny guy other times, actually hates social gatherings. His prickly attitudeisreal. He isthe type of person who only likes his friends and is happy with his personal circle of people. As for Eve, he admits it himself that he lives and breathes awkwardness. His only reason for taking the beta position was that there currently is no one better, and he made it clear it’s only until Joel has found his real second in command. Other than that, he lives for his art, dozes off during gatherings and just has a sleepy face all around. Yet, he knows the weirdest people like that scary-looking beta we saw during the gala, or KiZ.

But Remy? Despite being distanced, he always is polite to everyone around him. Our peers love him and secretly admire him.

“Do you normally have trouble talking to people?” I ask him, deciding to voice my questions out loud.

Remy looks at me again, surprise in his eyes. “How are you doing that? Asking so honestly, and not even sounding like you are being pushy. I’ve never met someone so genuine.”

“That’s a compliment, isn’t it?”

“Of course,” he says. “I admired that about you on the first day we met, although it pissed me off, too, because it showed my own shortcomings.”

“So?”

“I wouldn’t say I have trouble talking to people, I just don’t like it, and it doesn’t come naturally to me,” he admits. “I prefer to keep to myself or talk to the people I know.”

He is probably talking about his two friends. Fi said they are childhood friends.

Something about the way he voiced it makes me feel sad. I don’t know why, but it’s his eyes again. Those large, beautiful eyes that always carry a hint of sadness. Now that he has me, though, I will make sure to chase the demons away! I have a new mission now that Mission: Get-Remy was successful!

It’s time for Mission: Make Remy Become Happy!

“Are you two coming?” Fi calls out to us.

“I really appreciate that she is not scared of me,” Remy admits to me. “Most pack members are still wary around my brothers and me. Not that I can blame them.”

“She grew up in a different pack,” I whisper towards him. “I don’t think she experienced your father’s reign.”

He nods. “It makes sense.”

With that, we both follow my two friends into the backstage area. It’s small but cozy, and KiZ’s manager tells us this is KiZ’s private area, and we can just hang out here. If we want to listen to her music and watch the show, there is a corridor leading us to the side of the stage where we can watch without being seen by the audience.

The first thing Ayden does once we are on our own is drop onto the couch and take out his handheld console. “You brought it along?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yes, just in case.” He looks at Remy. “Are you playing, too?”

“Not really,” he says. “I wasn’t allowed to as a kid, and then never thought about it.”

“We need to set up a gaming evening,” Ayden tells me.

“Oh, we could do that,” I agree. “It could be fun. Right, Fi?”

“Yes,” she says, giving us the thumbs up.

When I look at Remy, he nods. “I don’t see a reason not to try it.”

“How about we also invite your friends?” Ayden says while dabbling on his console. It’s his special ability to just not care to tread carefully around people. What others don’t dare to ask or offer, he definitely will. Just like how he set us up with this concert evening.

“Lyle and Kiki?” Remy blinks.

“Kiki is so nice!” Fi exclaims. “I would love to get to know her better. Did you know she is a model?” she asks Ayden.

“She is?” Ayden blinks.

“You really live behind the moon,” I sigh.