Page 93 of My Broken Mate

“Same,” Cora agrees.

Ayden nods. “I like them, too. I am a sucker for the old classics like Snow White and Cinderella.”

They look expectantly at Remy, who simply smiles. It’s the smile he puts on when he wants to put distance between himself and others or between himself and a topic he doesn’t want to talk about. “I am sorry, I haven’t watched many of them.”

“Don’t worry, not everyone is into animated movies,” I assure him.

“Yeah, some people in this room haven’t even seen Harry Potter,” Ayden says, glaring at me.

“I did! I watched the first three movies, but the books are better, so I stuck with them.”

Ayden eyes Remy. “Can you believe that woman? The movies are so good. Have you watched Harry Potter?”

“No,” he says. “I… I haven’t watched many movies at all.”

It’s a split second, a moment so fleeting I could have missed it easily if my attention wasn’t so much on alert. Kiki and Lyle exchange the quickest of all glances, Kiki gives the slightest nod to him and then speaks up. “You know, talking about movies. They offered me to play in a porn movie once.”

She successfully distracted everyone. “What?”

“My old manager was a sleazeball and wanted to force me into pinup modelling and the like. I told him to fuck off,” she says, and explains in detail how the story went down. Next to me, I can feel Remy relax slightly. I intertwine our fingers, not giving a shit about who sees us. They can think whatever they want to. He is not the only one relaxing, though. Lyle’s tensed shoulders ease up, too, and relief fills him. I notice Cora looking at him curiously. He puts an arm around her shoulder and whispers something into her ear.

I wonder how often Lyle and Kiki have done that. It looked so effortless, the way they distracted everyone from Remy. It’s obvious that they are used to doing it. Something about this makes me incredibly sad.

Well, I mentally give myself a kick to the butt to take me out of that gloomy mindset. Even more reason to make sure he has some fun from now on!

Chapter twenty-eight

Family Friends

*REMY*

Kata and I spend almost every day with each other. Whether it be, just in between classes or hanging out at her place or mine. We even started going on proper dates. Most of the time we meet at her place, however. It’s just the coziest.

Sometimes our friends join, too. Kiki has hung out several times with us, so have Lyle and Ayden. I have also gotten to know Fi a bit better by now, and I am glad to hear that she has become really good friends with Cora.

Today, I am meeting both Kata and Ayden. Ayden is stretching on the carpet in Kata’s bedroom while playing something on his handheld console, as I sit comfortably on her bed. It smells like her, such a comforting scent. The realization hits me out of theblue. Her scent is becoming stronger to me. I am sure I am not imagining things. Another proof that my wolf is still there!

“And you really don’t mind?” Ayden asks for the nth time. In a long and dramatic speech, he has just told me that he has somewhat befriended Gabriel.

“I don’t care.” I shrug. “As long as you keep my secrets, I don’t mind.” I pause, curiosity getting the better of me. “And he is really fun to hang out with?”

“You would be surprised,” Ayden snorts. “He can be such an idiot.”

“I know that,” I say.

“I don’t mean it like that,” he grins. “Someone can be an idiot or anidiot.And he is the latter.”

“I am not sure I follow.”

“He is clumsy and silly,” Ayden says. “But he means well.”

I stare at him. Clumsy and silly? Gabriel? Is he truly describing my brother? He is nothing but dignified when I talk to him. Granted that, recently, it seems that he has toned down his intense questioning and judging a little. His presence is much less suffocating, and he hasn’t asked me any of his controlling questions in forever. I don’t trust the situation, though, and am just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Ayden looks like he wants to say more but then turns back to his console. I don’t want to push him either. If it’s true that he is befriending Gabriel, I don’t want him to feel forced to tell me details. It’s not my business, although curiosity gnaws on me.

Fortunately, Kata interrupts us by bringing us something to eat. “You should have said something,” I tell her. “We could have helped.”

“Speak for yourself,” Ayden mutters. “I am too tired from training to do anything.”