Page 13

Chapter Seven

Silver

I had only been inside for two minutes. Maybe it was a few more, but it hadn’t even been five minutes that Charlie had been in my space, and already, my gorilla was much more at ease than he’d ever been.

What would it be like when he finally moved in?

Yes, I was presuming, but the truth of the matter was if he lived in one of the cottages on the other side of the neighborhood, then that meant his house was super tiny, and I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable there.

They were good for someone who was on the smaller side and who didn’t have a lot of things, but I had four brothers.

They were all large like I was. They all liked to have family gatherings, and we rotated weekly.

I’d been so wrapped up in just having him here that I hadn’t even thought to ask Charlie what he wanted to drink.

At the restaurant, he had ordered iced tea.

I didn’t have tea of any kind. I had water, beer, and it was possible that Mica had left wine here, but I didn’t know if it was the kind that Charlie drank or if he drank alcohol at all.

I opened my fridge and decided to grab a few things.

A pair of water bottles and a couple of cans of soft drinks.

Maybe Charlie would want one of those. If not, I could make coffee.

Most people drank coffee, didn’t they? There was definitely a whole lot I needed to learn about my little mate.

“I realize I forgot to ask what you wanted to drink. Do you drink coffee?” I asked as I came out the sliding door.

I closed it behind me, walked over to the table, and set the drinks down.

Thankfully, I had large hands and could hold all four of them.

“That is, if you don’t like water or soft drinks,” I added.

“Oh, and I have beer, and there is a bottle of white wine that one of my brothers left.”

Charlie just smiled up at me. “The water is fine, actually. I had two teas with supper, and I should probably drink some water at this point.”

I nodded and sat down in the other chair and then quickly got back up when I realized I’d forgotten to turn on the fire pit. It was propane fueled and turned on easily with a switch on the side. I loved to be in my backyard and had spent a good deal of money on things to make it cozy.

“Oh, that’s convenient. I’ve only ever been around ones that you had to put wood in. Yours seems much easier to use and clean up as well.”

I chuckled while nodding. “Yes. It’s quite easy to use and clean.

Are you chilly? I can get blankets and light the heaters if you’d like,” I asked.

It was in the upper thirties or low forties, but we were both shifters and wearing blazers over our shirts.

I knew it would take a lot colder temperature for me to be cold, but I didn’t know about Charlie. He was a much smaller shifter.

“Honestly, if you lit the heaters, I should be fine. But I’m not really cold yet. That’s not to say I won’t chill off if we’re out here for a while. I guess it all depends on how long you want to talk.”

I nodded and quickly moved to turn on the four heaters that were at the corners of the gathering area that my deck furniture made.

They made it a perfect temperature in the rare occurrence of us getting snow in the area, so it should be nice and warm with it being above freezing.

Usually, I spent time out here in my gorilla form and didn’t really have to worry about it too much.

Sure, I could become cold in that form, but it took a lot longer for that to happen.

I sat back down and looked over to my mate.

I was still trying to get used to that phrase.

I had a mate. An adorable little one at that.

I had no doubt that he was going to fit in perfectly in my life.

My family was going to love him, and I could see my brothers being protective of him as well.

But the big question was, would he feel comfortable in our family?

Mine was loud and quite involved. From what I’d learned, Charlie’s family was only his sister, and I couldn’t imagine her being even a fraction of the chaos that was the Thompson clan.

“We were going to talk. What was it we were going to discuss? I think we covered the basics already, haven’t we?” Charlie asked.

“Mates. We were going to talk about me being protective and things like that. How you have a job.” I nodded at Charlie.

“I have no issues with you continuing to work. None whatsoever, and any mate shouldn’t have an issue with that.

I work. I’m not planning on stopping. For me to expect that of you wouldn’t be fair.

Mates, or even partners, should be supportive of one another.

They shouldn’t bring you down, and if they do, you’re with the wrong person. ”

“So, I don’t have to quit? You’re not going to try and start dictating my life? What I can and can’t do? Then completely ignore me when we finally go out for a rare outing? I’ve had past partners that tried to do that. Others that did.”

I looked at my mate, baffled. “What type of assholes have you been dating?” I didn’t really care beyond the fact that they’d obviously mistreated Charlie.

How though? From the little bit that I’d gotten to know him already, he was incredibly sweet and caring.

Why would anyone want to treat him like that?

Charlie sighed. “Terrible ones. The kind who were always ashamed to be seen with me. The kind that only wanted to be with me when it involved something that they benefited from. Sex or me cooking or cleaning for them. When we were out and happened to see someone they knew, I was often demoted to friend only and not someone they were in a relationship with. And that was if they even wanted to go out with me.” Charlie sighed again and looked off to the left.

That was probably a good thing because I was upset for my mate.

Not that I was disappointed that he was single and was willing to come on the blind date and meet someone.

Me specifically. No, I was pissed because of how he’d been treated in the past. A small plan of revenge started to form, but it could wait.

For now, my focus was my mate and making sure he knew that I was all in.

“Well, I’m not going to ask that you hide from my friends or family.

The hope is that going forward, we’re a team, in all things.

I want you to go to family dinners, take you out and have a nice meal with you.

Have you join me and my brothers at our favorite bar.

I even wish to go out and meet your friends.

I’m hoping I can swing by your work and take you to the Under the Sea restaurant for a fine-dining experience again.

” I planned on showing him off every chance I got.

Charlie looked at me for a moment and then shook his head. “Not even three hours ago, you didn’t even want to go on the blind date. What changed?”

I sighed. He had every right to ask that question, and he wasn’t wrong.

I’d grumbled about it the entire way home from work and again on my way to the zoo.

“I still have every intention of dealing with Ma later. Her signing me up didn’t just involve me.

You have been impacted by it as well. But to answer your question, things changed because I met you.

There is no denying that you’re my mate now that I’ve been able to scent you and only you.

Mates are supposed to be sacred. We get only one.

Why would I want to do anything to keep from being with you?

You’re supposed to be my other half. I’m a bit on the cranky side, so I hope that means you’re a bit of sunshine that I need in my life. ”

Charlie smiled. “I appreciate that. But do you really need to say anything to your mom? It happened to work out for us since we both agree that we’re mates. Hasn’t it?”

I snorted. “Yes to both questions. If I don’t say something to her, she’ll continue on thinking she’s done nothing wrong.

” I thought about it for a moment and shook my head.

“No. She can’t continue on thinking she’s in the right.

Sure, it’s worked out for us. But if I had refused to go, that could have and would have led to being unfair to you.

That’s not right, and she needs to understand that. ”

Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded.

“You’re right. Same with my sister. Although she didn’t just sign me up like your ma did for you.

Sam did pester me until I caved and decided that I would go just to get her to leave me alone.

I didn’t have any expectations except maybe getting a free meal, to be honest.”

“Well, there we go. Now, how about we talk about us and what we see as a future for the two of us?”

Charlie smiled. “I don’t guess you’ll want to eventually move in with me, huh?”

I winced and shook my head. “I’m sorry, Charlie.

I’ve seen those little cottages. Little being the thing that stands out the most. Just the thought of banging my elbows on what I would assume was a tiny shower stall makes me wince.

I absolutely want to live with you. Do you think you’d be willing to come live here with me?

Why don’t you come inside? I asked as I stood up and held out my hand.

“I’ll give you a tour, and you can see my place?

If you don’t want to live here with me, we can look for somewhere else in the very near future.

” I would do it but wouldn’t really be happy about it.

Charlie didn’t realize it yet, but two of my brothers had houses here in the same neighborhood.

The other two lived in houses closer to our parents.

It wasn’t that they didn’t like this neighborhood; they just hadn’t found anything available and had decided to go ahead and move elsewhere.