Page 88 of My Broken Mate

Eve shrugs. “I am always weird. Also, Gabe ditched our lunch date today because he is meeting Ayden.”

I try not to voice my surprise too openly. When did those two befriend each other? My mind goes back to our very early breakfast in the coffee shop, where we met Gabriel. I wonder what Ayden is plotting now. I trust him, though. He’s always had my back, so I will have his.

“Maybe it’s for a job,” Joel speculates. “Gabriel is leading the family’s main business after all.”

“Oh, I hadn’t considered that. Good idea.”

They are distracted enough, so I decide to try sneaking away. I make it to the door when Joel turns to look at me again. It’s times like these, that I notice how perceptive he truly is. A lot about his silly attitude is a pretense, sometimes even in front of us. “Katalina,” he says seriously. “If Eve is right and you are keeping secrets, it’s fine, as long as it’s nothing dangerous. I won’t force you to tell us anything, but keep in mind that you can always talk to us.”

I nod, because I don’t know what to tell him. Then, I finally make it out of the Alpha Suite and the packhouse, and take a ride to the college with some of the warriors who have business in the city, and happily offer to take me along. It’s way too early for my date with Remy, but I didn’t expect to be questioned by both my brothers and have to flee the situation. However, to my surprise, I see a well-known figure leaning against the wall of our meeting point when I arrive

He is here already!

“Did you have to flee, too?” I ask with a grin.

“Yeah, I decided I don’t want to have my day ruined by meeting Sean or Gabriel,” he admits. “I know it’s mean, but I just wanted a peaceful start to the day, with you.”

The coffee shop is still closed, so Remy looks around before grabbing my hand and tugging me into a side alley. I feel silly, but in a good way, letting him tug me along, until he presses me against the wall and claims my lips.

Yes, totally, I am sixteen again and happily snogging my boyfriend in secret. I should feel silly, but instead I just feel happy.

I never thought Remy and I would ever reach this point.

Remus…

He shared his name with me last night, and I try to think more and more of him as Remus. I want to be ready in case he wants to be called by his actual full name. Oddly, it doesn’t feel foreign to me to call him that, unusual, but not weird. Maybe it’s because I see a side of him no one else does. Deep inside, it begins to settle in that maybe, just maybe, I am seeing both Remus and Remy. Remy, as the quiet and distanced young man, and Remus, as the man who is not scared of tugging me into a secluded alley to snog me.

And I might just be in love with both.

Chapter twenty-six

Baby Steps

*GABRIEL*

It’s my third meeting with Ayden this week, and the brat made me go through all my talks with Remy over the last two weeks, even having me act them out! Unfortunately for me, I have a very good memory and sadly, remember everything I said. I have no idea what Ayden is getting at, but he promised to help, and he instantly saw through me. He isn’t scared of me either.

Beggars can’t be choosers.

“No surprise he avoids you like the plague,” he says at our third meeting before biting into his burger. I just told him in detail about my last talk with my younger brother.

“Excuse me?”

“I thought you, at the coffee shop, were being a bit too much, but now—” He takes another bite. “It’s like you are a teacher, warden and parent at the same time.”

“But I am his brother!”

“Exactly,” Ayden says.

I sink back into my chair, rethinking every word exchanged with Remy. “I guess, I can come off as a bit too much sometimes,” I mutter. “That’s why I’ve tried not to talk to him at all during the last few days.”

Ayden stares at me. “Can you only go from one extreme to another? That’s a serious question. What’s wrong with you? And how is your older brother handling this?”

“Sean?” I frown. “Remy admires Sean. He doesn’t ever question him.”

“And Sean?”

“Sean loves Remy,” I say.