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Chapter Fourteen

Charlie

I absolutely wasn’t nervous about having dinner with Silver’s brothers.

I’d met all of them already, and they had all been so nice to me.

No, I was nervous about meeting his parents.

Specifically, his mom. I couldn’t even tell you why exactly.

Silver had talked about his mom on more than one occasion, and even his brothers had all told me she was nice.

She loved all of her boys and wanted them all to be happy.

Well, I was hopefully doing that for Silver, so I should be okay, right? So why was I terrified to meet her?

“Is this enough?” I asked Silver as I held up the largest bowl I’d ever seen. Inside were several pounds of macaroni salad.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Silver said as he rushed over to me to take the bowl. I rolled my eyes at my mate.

“You really think that me holding a bowl of macaroni up would hurt me? Seriously? Do you not realize what all my job entails?”

Silver pressed his lips together tightly, then took the salad and set it on the other side of the counter. “It’s fine. We aren’t the only ones bringing something. Everyone pitches in and brings something. Trust me when I say there is going to be plenty of food.”

“I’m not worried about there not being enough food.

Although maybe I should with how much I’ve seen you eat this week.

” I had never before seen anyone down four burgers, a large fry, and one and a half orders of onion rings.

But then there was my mate, and he could seriously put away the food.

“I’m concerned about them not liking what I made. ”

“Cutie, trust me when I say my brothers absolutely are going to love the macaroni salad. I can’t make it, so it’s something they usually get from a store.”

I narrowed my eyes at my mate. He wasn’t being truthful, and we both knew it.

“You got me. I can make it, but you added some things that I wouldn’t have ever thought about adding. And I’ve tasted it. Yours is by far better than mine or any that we’ve gotten from the store.”

I shook my head at my mate before I went over to the counter and grabbed the bowl that was full of cookies. “Okay, I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be.” I took a deep breath and nodded several times at Silver.

“You’re nervous.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I want your parents to like me.”

“Cutie, they’re going to love you. There is nothing for you to worry about. Dad has promised to keep Ma in line, and she’s promised to be on her best behavior. If at any time it all becomes too much, just reach out through our mate bond and let me know.”

Silver reached down and cupped the side of my face. I could only look up at him, still wondering how it was that I had been given Silver for my mate. Why me?

“Why not you?”

I felt my face turn red and looked down, which put my eyes on par with Silver’s chest. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt, which left nothing to the imagination. Not that I didn’t know exactly what he looked like without his shirt. I did. Every inch of him, to be exact.

“Okay, we need to go because my thoughts are going places they shouldn’t be going with us being expected at your brother’s house anytime now.” I knew we were arriving last, and I understood why. That didn’t mean I was any less anxious about it.

Silver chuckled. “When we get home, and I promise we won’t stay too late, I’ll make it worth the stress to you.”

I looked over at my mate. “That’s not necessary. I want to spend time with your family, and you shouldn‘t have to provide sexual favors as compensation.”

Silver stopped me, then glared. “Not what I was doing. I was hoping to give you something to look forward to? I know I’m excited about the prospect of getting home and getting you naked.

It’s quickly become one of my favorite ways to spend the evenings.

But if you’d rather stay late and spend the evening with my family, okay. ”

Silver started walking, and I glared at his back. “You’re frustrating at times, Silver,” I called out to his very impressive back. My eyes, of course, made their way down to his ass, and it just wasn’t fair that his looked so good in those jeans.

“You, my mate, are not the first person and certainly won’t be the last to say those words to me.”

I had no doubt. I followed Silver to the door, where he opened it and allowed me to exit first. I waited just outside while he closed and locked the house, then walked beside him as we made our way out to his massive truck.

“Have you ever thought about either getting a smaller truck or a bigger garage?” I asked.

Silver took the cookies from me and placed them in the back seat with the salad.

“No to the smaller truck. But I have looked into expanding the garage, but with the amount of paperwork between permits and everything else, I decided I was more than happy to have my truck parked outside. But we can certainly make it to where you park your car in the garage.” Silver helped me up into his truck, then handed me my seat belt.

“Especially after kids start coming. It might be easier for us to get them in and out of the vehicle if it’s in the garage. Especially if it’s raining.”

Silver kissed me and then stepped back and closed the door.

I watched as he walked around the front of the truck.

That’s right. Kids. We both wanted them, but we weren’t going to try for them right away.

We wanted some time to get to know each other better, and having children right away wouldn’t really fit into everything we wanted to do.

Of course, if it happened, we’d welcome a child with open arms, but I was certainly with Silver when it came to waiting for a bit.

Not too long, since he was already forty-two, but soonish.

“Cutie, if you keep thinking about children, we’re definitely not going to make it to Clay’s. I’m going to take you back inside and practice some more.”

I chuckled. “I can’t help it. You’re really sexy, and the thought of seeing you with a baby on your shoulder is appealing.

But I am happy to wait a bit before we try.

” I thought about it again for a moment.

“Yeah, definitely. I want to be greedy and keep you to myself for a bit longer. I just got you, and I’m not ready to share just yet.

Not that I think you’d be a terrible father, because you wouldn’t.

But yeah, I’m still enjoying all of the sexy times that we’re having. ”

Silver was laughing as he backed out of the driveway. Clay didn’t live far, and it only took a few minutes to drive from our place to his. When we arrived, it suddenly became more real. There were several trucks, one SUV, and a sport bike parked at Clay’s house.

“Whose bike?”

“Slate’s. He rides it rain or shine. He doesn’t own anything else.”

“Seriously?”

Silver nodded. “Yep. He bums rides off of the rest of us when he needs to go somewhere. And he gets his groceries delivered, so he doesn’t even have to worry about that.”

Well, I guess there was that. “I’ll wait for you,” I said as I glanced at the front of the house. “I have a feeling that although they aren’t out here, we’re being watched, and the last thing I need is for today to be the day that I fall getting out of your truck.”

Silver chuckled again. “I’ll be right there.”

Silver slid from the truck, and in seconds, he was opening the door for me. I smiled at him, reached for his shoulders, and suppressed a moan as I slid down Silver’s body. He was giving me a playful grin when my feet touched the ground. “That was mean.”

“Probably, but I’m trying to get you to relax.

It’s just my brothers. My parents are here too, and they’re the only new ones you haven’t met.

You already know my brothers. Dad is just an older version of us.

Ma is an older version of Sam. You’re a pro at dealing with her, so don’t worry about it.

And I’m going to be right here with you. ”

I looked up at Silver and nodded. He leaned down and gave me a lingering kiss before he moved away and opened the back door of the truck.

I shook my head at myself, wondering just how I was going to tell him that I’d already fallen for him.

We’d been together for all of five days, and I wasn’t sure I’d call it love just yet, but I was well on my way.

He was by far the most amazing man I’d ever been involved with, and it was going to be so easy to fall completely in love with him. But was it too soon?

“We’ll stay a couple hours at most. Sound good?” Silver handed me the bowl of cookies.

“We can stay as long as you want. But I will say that meeting Justin and Sam tomorrow at the restaurant was a better idea than meeting them at their place. Seriously, ‘the pregnancy’ has become such an excuse for her. It’s ridiculous.”

Silver gave me a serious look. “Now that I’ll agree to. But I’m just saying that if it’s too much, we can leave early.”

I shook my head. “I like your brothers,” I told him. The door opened, and Clay came out with a huge smile on his face.

“Hey, Charlie. It’s so good to see you again.”

“Hi, Clay,” I said in reply. “I hope we’re not too late.”

“Naw. You’re fine. I will warn you that Ma is anxious though. She’s super excited about meeting you, but Dad has told her if she doesn’t behave, he’s going to take her home.”

I looked from Clay to Silver. “That’s not necessary. I’m excited to meet her too. Nervous about it since it’s been a while since I’ve been around a mom, but you guys aren’t being fair to her.”

“She’s claiming that she’s the reason you two are mated. Not the fact that you both showed up or that you two decided to take things the direction you did.”

Silver groaned. I looked up at my mate and shook my head. “You weren’t even going to look for me if she hadn’t signed you up. I don’t blame her for saying she is responsible for us being mated. We wouldn’t even have met if not for her.”