8. Gideon

I still wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not. Maybe my bear fell into a deep slumber and all this was my imagination and wish fulfillment. What were the odds that I’d find Kai where he was first seen in the city after his show was canceled? They couldn’t be good. Statistically impossible? I might not go that far, but close.

And then to have him agree not only to eat dinner with me, but to bring his mate as well… that was everything. When I discovered he was human and that he didn’t just play one on TV, I was worried. He felt the pull, the draw between us, that was clear. But feeling a mating call and being willing to do anything about it were two different things. What if it was too much for him and he tucked away his feelings instead of allowing himself to explore what we had?

Hearing him say that his mate knew about me sent a wave of comfort through me. I wasn’t his little secret. He might not know what to do with his feelings, but he wasn’t worried about how his mate would react. He was willing to face those feelings head-on, and that meant a ton.

And now they were both coming to my place. We were going to eat, talk, and if all went well, figure out where to go from here. Ideally, it would mean the three of us becoming one mating group, but if that wasn’t to be, we’d figure it out.

I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and picked up some basics. I was far from a great cook, but I was pretty good at a few dishes. I opted for something simple yet delicious. I was too nervous not to mess up something complicated.

When I got home and opened the door, the stale smell of no one having been there for the past few days hit me. Other than stopping for a quick shower and change, the place had been closed up, and there was no hiding it. I opened the windows to air it out and put the groceries away. I didn’t have a lot of time, and my list of things to do was quickly growing.

Groceries away, I did a quick cleaning of the bathroom, vacuumed, and dusted. I also changed my bedding. I wanted the place to be more welcoming than it was. But aside from making it clean, there was no time for much else.

I looked around and wondered what my mate would think. Was it too big? Too small? Too dark? Too light? Was the couch firm enough for him? Did it sit too low for him to easily get in and out of as his belly grew? There were so many things to consider when it came to Kai. And on top of that, there was his mate. What did he think about all this? He was a shifter, so he was probably fine with it. Maybe. Gods, I hoped so.

Once that was all done, I took a shower and got changed. I opted not to dress up. I didn’t want it to feel like I was trying too hard. But I did put on my best jeans. It never hurt to have your ass looking great. Everything was going beautifully, until it wasn’t.

I’d made this meal a bunch of times. It wasn’t hard. Cut things up, saute them, make a simple sauce… But today, my nerves were getting the better of me. One thing after another went wrong. I had the heat a little too high. I left it on the flame a tad too long. The veggies were cut up unevenly and were both over and undercooked in the same bite. The sauce was too salty. I even messed up the oven-baked fries. Who did that? If it could be messed up, it was messed up. I wanted to redo it all, but I didn’t have either the time or the ingredients on hand to do so.

They knocked on the door just as everything finished cooking. It was so embarrassing. The first meal I ever provided for my mate was a complete and utter disaster, the place smelled like burnt everything, and I had no choice but to serve up the subpar food. There wasn’t anything I could do to fix it other than offering to take us out, and today really needed to be about the three of us talking in private.

“It’s not that bad.” Was I lying to myself? Most likely, but it was what I had to do. There was the very off chance that I was being a perfectionist and it really wasn’t as awful as I was sensing it to be. I was going with that.

I opened the door, and I was hit with his scent. Just being surrounded by it comforted me and made me feel like everything would be okay. Kai was here. His mate was here. The three of us were at the same place at the same time—it was all upward from here.

“Hi, I’m Gideon.” I held up my hand to his mate.

“Dante.” He shook my hand, all formal like. He didn’t squeeze it too hard, and there was no sense of anger or hostility coming from him. I was considering that a positive sign.

There was, however, a nervous awkwardness surrounding all three of us. It made sense. This was a life-changing meal. Or it had the potential to be. Maybe food would take some of the awkwardness away. At least, we would all have something to focus on—even if it was just the mediocre food I was about to serve them.

“You have perfect timing. I just finished cooking dinner. Come in, and I’ll show you around real quick. Then we can sit down and eat.”

“Yeah, okay.” It was the first that Kai had spoken since he came in, and the slight hesitation in his voice told me he was as nervous about this as I was.

Here goes everything.