Page 7 of The Dragon’s Surprise (Tahoe Dragon Mates #7)

His dragon spoke up. Rio probably told everyone to make Ethan feel at home and don’t upset him.

There’s one clan member who wouldn’t care. Thankfully, he’s not here.

One of the oldest clan members didn’t like change of any sort, and had been the loudest complainer about the other half-dragon child who had come to live on MirrorPeak a few years ago.

Since becoming clan leader, Rio had done his best to listen to the old male’s concerns and smooth things over.

But while Rio knew things were changing—especially given how much a book published originally in the UK about dragon-shifters had revealed to the human world—some of his kind would never change.

Before Kyle could worry too much about how the closed-minded male might treat Ethan, the boy finally spotted the big, open-aired oven in the back. “Look! They put the pizza in there with fire in the back!”

Kyle smiled. “I loved cooking over open fires in the summer, with my aunt, on the Fourth of July.”

Ethan was too engrossed in watching the person making pizzas behind the glass to hear him, but Lexi said, “I’ve never really thought about dragon-shifters celebrating the Fourth of July.”

He gestured toward the table, and Lexi sat, keeping an eye on Ethan.

Kyle replied, “Some cities partner with local dragon clans and put on airshows, or so I hear. Maybe because Vegas and Reno are so close and full of drunk people who might forget the day and freak out, we don’t do that here.

But it’s just a holiday to celebrate with the clan. ”

“I guess. My grandma never let us have fireworks, but we’d watch the big displays sometimes. But flying dragons would’ve been better.”

As she smiled at him, Kyle’s heart thumped harder. Even though he barely knew her, he didn’t hold back like he usually did and said, “I can give you a private show.” He realized how that sounded and added, “For you and Ethan. In the air.”

“Are you a secret daredevil, then?”

“I used to be.”

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. Why was he sharing so much with this female?

His dragon spoke up. You know why. The sooner you accept it, the better.

Lexi looked about to ask him more details, so he said, “Ethan, come sit down at the table. Makayla’s heading this way, and we need to order.”

And so he managed to keep things light as they discussed pizza and listened to Ethan’s enthusiastic words about the special oven.

If he was lucky, maybe Lexi would forget he’d mentioned anything about his past.

Lexi was fond of Ethan, but for a split-second, she wished he’d not heard Kyle calling him so she could ask what he meant about being a daredevil in the past. It was hard to imagine the mostly serious dragonman sneaking off to cause trouble with his friends.

But it was probably good Ethan had heard and sat down. After all, she needed to ensure Kyle would be a good parent, if he chose that route. However, she didn’t need to know every little thing about him and his antics when he was younger.

Distance meant she could keep her job.

Dinner flew by, with mostly Ethan asking questions and Kyle answering. He was patient with the boy, always making sure he understood the answers. The dragonman also tried to bolster the boy’s confidence when Ethan worried about him being raised a human up until a few weeks ago.

They had nearly finished dinner when a little boy of about six or seven walked up to the table.

He had black hair and blue eyes, and looked a little like Makayla, but not quite.

After raising his hand, the boy peeled back his fingers and revealed three little dragon figurines in various flight positions.

He said, “My Aunt Makayla said you were new and had never lived with a dragon clan before. I thought these might help. We use them in class, sometimes. We can’t fly yet, but they help us learn flight skill names and how not to crash. ”

As the boy moved his hand closer, Ethan gingerly picked one up. The small blue dragon had its wings out, as if it were gliding. Ethan traced the wings. “This is amazing.”

“Yeah, I have lots of them, in all different colors and poses. We can share in school, if you want, until you get some of your own.”

Ethan hesitated, and then smiled. “That would be fun. I’m behind, though. I was in a human school before.”

“Then you can help me with human studies stuff. After school, you can come over, if you want to. My name’s Jackson North. My dad is a Protector, and he knows a lot, so I know a lot.”

“I’m Ethan.”

Lexi noticed how he didn’t share his full name, and she didn’t blame him, considering his parents had given him away.

As the two boys continued to talk about the toy dragons, she glanced at Kyle and asked quietly, “Who’s his father?”

“Chris North, one of the Protectors.” He leaned closer, so no one could hear his next words, and it took everything Lexi had not to notice his heat or scent as he said, “His mate died in childbirth.”

She wanted to ask how, but didn’t want to risk Jackson hearing. However, a tall, somewhat fierce dragonman approached the table and grunted. “Jackson, you know better than to run off.”

“Sorry, Dad. I just wanted to say hi to Ethan and help him. You always say to help people, and he needs a lot of help to learn everything.”

Chris’s face softened. “I know, son.” He glanced up, nodded at Kyle, and then Lexi before looking back at his boy. “I have to drop you off at Grandma’s so I can visit my friend in the clinic, remember?”

“Oh, I forgot. But Mr. Eli is okay, right?”

She studied Kyle, wondering if his expression would reveal Eli’s prognosis. However, he merely said, “Eli is recovering from surgery.”

Kyle shared a glance with Chris, as if neither of them liked what had happened. She burned to ask how the dragonman had been injured. Especially since if it was related to the League, her sister could probably help MirrorPeak, given her connections at ADDA.

However, Chris spoke to his son again before she could say a word. “Eli is stubborn, like me, and probably hates lying in bed all day. He’ll be up before you know it, Jackson. But for right now, we need to go. Maybe Grandma will take you to the playground, but only if we hurry.”

Ethan chimed in. “Lexi is taking me to the playground, too! Maybe we can play together?”

Jackson nodded and went to stand with his dad. “Sounds fun. And since Grandma likes to watch the skies change colors before it gets dark, we should have time to play a game. I’ll see you soon!”

He waved goodbye, they all did the same, and the table fell silent for a beat before Ethan asked, “Do you want to come to the playground, Kyle?”

“I wish I could, but I need to check on some patients.”

Ethan’s face fell. “Oh, okay.”

Her heart ached, but Lexi had dealt with more than one disappointed dragon orphan before, and quickly said, “You’ll be so busy with Jackson that it’ll be bedtime before you know it. We should go now, so you have time to play.”

She stood, and Kyle avoided her eyes to focus on Ethan.

“Have fun with Jackson, Ethan. I’ll try to see you tomorrow, if I can.

But you know I’m a doctor, right?” The boy nodded.

“Well, sometimes things happen and I have to stay at the clinic for a really long time. But I promise to see you again soon.”

“Promise?”

Kyle bobbed his head. “I vow it. I’ll see you soon. Good night to you both.”

He picked up the bill, headed to pay, and Lexi resisted frowning. Why was Kyle ignoring her?

She didn’t have time to read his hot and cold moods, so she took Ethan’s hand and guided him out, toward the playground they’d passed earlier. She needed to stop thinking and wondering about Kyle, and solely focus on her charge. If she did that, she might even learn some more about dragon-shifters.

Yes, learning more to help with other cases was more important. Even if she was curious about Kyle’s supposed daredevil past.