Page 87 of Blade

Maybe I would with someone else but not Blaine.

He was my mate.

“I think that makes sense but I’m going to be weird about it.” His own idiosyncrasies seemed to frustrate him to no end because he walked away from the shirts and started glaring at dress pants.

Ones that looked way too fancy for everyday clothes even if they were everyday clothes.

I spent way too much time in pajamas.

“We’re going to run into this stuff.” We were literally from two different times, not to mention cultures and species. “We talk about it and we figure out what went wrong or where we need to compromise.”

A smile finally peeked out of my adorable mate. “You’re very logical. I appreciate that.”

“Just remember this feeling when my family shows up or I do something ridiculous because it’s a leftover issue from childhood.” I ran into weird shit about myself on a regular basis, so we’d find something else fun eventually. “That’s when you need to keep that appreciate-me-thing right at the front of your mind.”

His grin said he wasn’t surprised.

“I will. The fact that you’re my mate will help with that too.”

Yay for being mates.

It would hopefully save his sanity in the long run.

****

“My mate?” Blaine’s tone was carefully neutral but the way he was studying the side mirror on the truck was not.

“Ugh. What?” Had I cut someone off? That little red car had been a dick first. “I wasn’t the problem with that souped-up monstrosity.”

His cocked head said that didn’t make any sense.

“The little red car that was acting so aggressively because he has something to prove.” Like a small dick.

Everyone made truck jokes but more people needed to take a second look at the men driving those weirdly souped-up cars that were like five bucks to begin with.

“No.” Trying not to chuckle, he shook his head. “I was going to ask if you thought we were being followed.”

“Oh.” I’d been hoping he wouldn’t notice that. “It’s possible but I was hoping if I just drove around in circles a few times I’d realize I was being paranoid.”

Blaine was still trying to keep a straight face and failing badly. “I never realized being paranoid was something we were striving for.”

“Life is weird sometimes.” Weirder than people realized. “Thank you for noticing what was going on, though. It’s not a skill that most people learn.”

Most drivers weren’t paying enough attention to the things that really mattered…like being followed and the weird shit that peeked out of the trees on the side of the road on a regular basis.

That was so distracting.

“I’m not used to being the passenger all the time, so it’s given me something to do.” He held up a hand as I startedto apologize again. “I understand. The coven is working on my documentation, so we’ll get it handled eventually.”

I wasn’t going to try to explain to a regular cop why my partner wasn’t in any database but it was fine because he had a driver’s license seventy years ago.

Nope.

Not doing that.

“On trips we’ll set it up so you have more things to make this interesting…the tablet…the laptop…something.” Hmm. I was going to have to ask what he thought about audiobooks, but that would have to wait until after we’d decided what to do in our current situation. “I check the truck for tracking devices on a regular basis, so I think they’re following us by sight.”

Whoever it was must’ve seen us in the parking lot or driving back toward Bladenboro.