But single guys didn’t give off that married-and-trying-not-to-look vibe, so I had questions.
Lots of unanswered, slightly inappropriate questions.
I sent back a text apologizing for taking so long to respond and letting him know that I could meet tomorrow whenever it was convenient for him. As I hit send, I heard Dakota clomping down the stairs, so I stood and started heading for the door. “Your phone is in the kitchen. Let’s go.”
If I let him stop in the office, it would be another ten minutes before we could get out of the house. Just letting him detour to the kitchen was dangerous. Last week I’d found him making notes on napkins when he’d gone in there to grab a bottle of water before we left.
I used to feel bad about interrupting his work, but then I’d realized he’d talk to the people in his head all day if I let him, and no matter what he thought, he needed to hang out with real people too. Not that he always saw it that way. Dakota would end up one of those weird hermit people if he didn’t have friends.
He always refuted that argument with how much work he could get done if we left him alone, but I had firsthand knowledge about how well he was doing since I was the one paying his bills, so I knew he could afford to take a break once in a while. When there was too much silence in the kitchen, I called out, “Let’s go. You’re running late.”
Well, he would be if I didn’t keep him going, so it didn’t count as a lie.
Dakota started clomping through the house again and gave a dramatic sigh as he approached the front door. “They’ll understand if I—”
“Nope.” He’d been even more of a hermit lately now that Austin and Tanner had found their alphas. He kept saying he was fine, but it was clear he wasn’t. Not that I could blame him. We were all feeling a little jealous, which was why getting out of the house was important.
Hell, we’d never meet eligible alphas if we never left the house, because the kinky fun ones definitely weren’t online.
Opening the door, I kept moving him out of the house. As predicted, once we left his little lair of cozy mystery, he was more functional. “When did it get so late?”
Okay, so maybe not that functional.
He needed a keeper that was a lot bossier than I was. Someone had to rein in his tendency to overwork and they had to do it with more tempting things than dinner out a few times a week. Sex and some pain were going to be required to keep him in line.
Sighing, I handed him his keys and pushed him toward his car. “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”
I wasn’t going to answer stupid questions—at least, not when I wasn’t on the clock.
The drive over was thankfully quiet and uneventful. I didn’t even have the radio on. I loved helping Dakota and I appreciated the extra income, but he was more stressful than he realized. My natural inclination was to be just as distracted as he was, so it felt like I was constantly battling who I really was with who he needed me to be.
Two half-functional subs did not make a whole functional person, no matter what Dakota thought.
Dakota pulled up beside me as I parked, and I glanced over at the door to see Wade and Bradley waiting for us. Bradley was a little OCD about being on time, so more often than not he’d be waiting inside with a drink playing on his phone when we arrived. Wade must have guilted him into waiting for us, even though we weren’t late.
As we climbed out of our cars, Dakota looked at me and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “No.”
Work was done.
“Write it down in your notebook and you can play with it later.” That expression always meant he had a great idea, but he was taking a few hours off. I could see stubbornness setting in. “Behave or I’ll tell Wade how many hours you’ve been working lately.”
A little birdy had told me that somehow Wade thought Dakota had been getting out of the house on a regular basis. “Do you know that he’s somehow under the impression that you’re going to the gym?”
Dakota had some weights at the house that he used a few times a week when he needed a mental break from whatever he was working on, but he didn’t even have a gym membership anywhere, so I wasn’t sure where Wade had gotten that idea from.
Dakota shrugged but reached into his notebook to start jotting something down as we made our way across the parking lot. I’d always been impressed with his ability to make notes and walk at the same time. I hadn’t ever seen him walk into any walls or oncoming traffic, so I wasn’t too worried. His alpha could worry about that when he found him.
Keeping him alive wasn’t in my job description.
I’d looked.
“Finally.” Bradley didn’t hide the long look he gave his phone as he checked the time.
Wade smacked his arm, but I just rolled my eyes. “We’re not late, asshole.”
God, he needed someone to help him unwind before he just exploded. I turned to Wade, ignoring the asshole who was in desperate need of a spanking. “How are you doing?”
“Great.” Wade smiled, but there was something in his eyes that made him look tired. “The bathroom is finally finished and it looks wonderful.”
