Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Duncan
I was many things at the moment. Nervous, horny, embarrassed, a little terrified.
I was all of those things and more that I couldn’t quite describe.
Why? Because I was so out of my league that it wasn’t even funny.
I knew from how Charlie had talked about Silver and his brothers that they all had their lives in order.
They were successful business owners, and all owned their own houses.
When Clay had pulled up in the massive truck that looked new, I couldn’t stop the comparison of the differences between us. We were very much in different places in our lives. He had his together, and I was still trying to figure things out and survive.
“I know we’re going to be at the diner soon enough, but I’d love to hear anything about you that you’re willing to share,” Clay said.
I tried to smile over at him, but my mind was just too stuck on things. “I’m not sure what to say. I don’t have an exciting life. I’m just trying to survive.”
Clay nodded slowly. “Have you always lived in Whispering Pines?”
“I think so. I’m not sure when I was a baby. Or even when I was little, I guess.”
Clay glanced over at me when he stopped at a red light. “Understood. Any siblings? Cousins? Things like that?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t have family. I don’t even know exactly when my birthday is, to be honest.”
Clay scowled. “We’re going to have to discuss that.” He looked forward and started moving with the rest of the traffic once the light changed.
“I can understand that,” I said. “I grew up in the system. I was never adopted. I was told that I was abandoned at a fire station when I was a baby. I didn’t have anything with me.
No note, documents, nothing. Babies are usually adopted, but for some reason, I never was.
Or if I was, I was returned because until my eighteenth birthday, or what was guessed to be around that time, I lived in a group foster home. ”
Clay sent me a quick glance and then looked back at where he was going. “I…that doesn’t mean anything negative for me. But I do need to ask if you’re certain there was no note?”
I shrugged because obviously I wasn’t nearly old enough to know for certain.
“I was always told there wasn’t one. It wasn’t really the greatest place, and the people who ran it weren’t exactly the nicest. We mostly just stayed quiet and did as we were told so we didn’t get into trouble.
” I did not have fond memories of that place.
I knew there were worse places, and we weren’t beaten or anything, but if we got into trouble, we wouldn’t get extra food or get to have weekends free. It just was what it was.
“I can help,” Clay said as he turned onto a side road.
“Help how?”
“Our company is security, but we also work in cybersecurity. I can have Mica look into your records, or even hospital records around the time you would have been born.” Clay parked on the side of the road and put the truck in park before looking over at me.
“I’m just saying I can, not that I have to.
It’s completely up to you if that’s something you would want done. If not, I’ll leave it alone.”
“I wouldn’t know what to say. Where to even start,” I told him.
“I’ve been Duncan Smith my entire life, but I’m not sure if that was the name I was given when I was born or not.
I don’t know anything about my parents. If they were a couple or not.
If they were mated or not. I couldn’t tell you my actual name, date of birth, anything.
I have documents because the agency that took me in from the hospital applied for them. ”
“Someone there named you?”
I shrugged. “I think one of the nurses at the hospital. I honestly don’t know.” I had always thought that maybe there was a note or something and they just didn’t tell me, and maybe it was better that they didn’t. I had no way of knowing.
“I have some thoughts, but I’d really like to go in and have a meal with you. Get to know you better, something that doesn’t involve talking about this particular subject just yet. Maybe we can talk about that later?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I get it. It’s a shitty subject.
And maybe my parents are around somewhere, and they just didn’t want me.
I couldn’t really say and have no way of knowing.
” I looked at Clay. “I would like to get to know you, if you’re willing.
I don’t really have anything to offer though.
Just keep that in mind. I’m broke, can barely make my bills, and I have shitty jobs that don’t pay nearly enough.
I barely graduated high school while trying to work, and college was definitely out of the question. ”
I wasn’t a catch, and I knew that. I was a tiny shifter that wasn’t top of the chain, and I worked two jobs just to pay the bills while having three roommates.
The position at the zoo was safe, and it was a lot more fun than the other, but the one at the bar…
yeah, I knew I needed to quit it. I hadn’t, though, because it was what paid my rent.
The one at the zoo barely made enough to put a little into savings every month after paying my other bills.
“I very much want that,” Clay said. “Let’s go inside. We can order and then talk some more. But please don’t feel as if you don’t have anything to offer. You do, even if you don’t realize it.”
Clay was out of the truck before I could respond. I was surprised when he rounded the front and opened the door for me. I was still sitting there with my seat belt on, taking in what he’d said to me. How was it that he thought I had something to offer?
“Did you change your mind?” Clay asked. “We can go somewhere else if that’s what you’d prefer.”
I shook my head and silently undid the seat belt and turned to slide out of the truck. “I was thinking,” I told him.
Clay smiled down at me, and I felt my stomach do a flip.
I was about two inches from him, and this close, my little panda was telling me that this man and his gorilla were ours.
That the app had somehow made a perfect match again.
Clay was my mate. I knew very little about shifter things, but I knew what my body was telling me.
“Thinking might be good,” Clay said. He gave me a smile and then took my hand.
He took a step away and closed the door.
“But if you’re thinking negative things, then it’s not good.
We have lots to discuss, but right now, I want to feed you a proper meal since you mentioned something about two burgers.
I know their two-burger meal deal, and that’s not a meal. ”
I shrugged again. I’d splurged and had gotten a drink as well, and although I could certainly eat again, I would have been fine until morning. I had some granola bars in the car, and if I got too hungry later, I could always go into the apartment and deal with my roommates.
I let Clay lead me into the diner, and immediately, I liked the place once we entered.
He stopped for a moment, then pointed over to the side.
I nodded. I didn’t care where we sat; this was a completely new experience for me.
I’d never been on a date before. Nobody had ever asked.
Well, that wasn’t true. I did get asked at Sticky Floors, but I knew they weren’t looking for a date.
That was a completely different thing altogether.
Clay gestured to one side of the booth, and after I slid in, he sat across from me. Before either of us could say anything, someone was standing next to us.
“Don’t usually see you here this late. And hardly ever on Sundays.”
“Hi, Sally,” Clay said. “This is Duncan. You’ll see a lot more of him with me, or with me and my brothers.”
Sally’s eyebrows rose. “So it’s like that, huh? Just like with your brother?”
I looked back at Clay in time to see him nodding.
“Well, congratulations, then. What can I get for you, sweetie,” she said. It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me.
“Oh. Umm…” I quickly reached for the menu.
“We have coffee, tea—sweet or unsweet—juices, and your standard cola products.”
“Umm…can I get a sweet tea?” I looked at Clay. “Is that all right?”
He grinned at me. “If you want sweet tea, you can have it.”
Sally nodded. “I’ll be back in just a few. Special tonight is meatloaf with potatoes, corn, a roll, and a salad.”
“Thanks, Sally,” Clay said. She walked away, and I looked over at Clay.
“She didn’t ask what you wanted to drink.”
Clay shook his head. “She knows I’m going to want a water and a coffee.”
“Oh.” Immediately, I looked down at the menu.
I knew that Clay had said it was his treat, but I was going to make sure I could cover what I was getting just in case.
I knew not to depend on others for my way in life, and even though he had asked me out to eat, I knew I needed to make sure I could afford what I was going to have.
“Is the grilled cheese any good here?” I asked.
A quick scan showed it was the cheapest thing on the menu, and it came with fries, and I could really go for some at the moment.
Clay’s brow furrowed. “I’d say everything here is really good,” he told me. “But the grilled cheese is a bit on the smaller side. Are you not hungry?”
I shrugged. “I already had two burgers.”
Clay’s furrow turned into an outright frown. “You had a snack, and we both know it. I understand that you’re a smaller shifter, but you are still a shifter, and even Charlie eats more than two tiny child-sized burgers for a meal.” Clay tilted his head to the side. “Unless you ate earlier at work?”