Chapter Fifteen
Laken
I opened my mouth to suggest that perhaps we should knock but Sunny was already unlocking the door.
“Teddy? I’m gonna be a daddy!” Sunny called out, his voice booming through the house.
“Shit!” Teddy swore further into the house and I barely kept myself from facepalming.
Selt was there. His scent was everywhere. I followed Sunny into the kitchen, close enough to keep him within arm’s reach. I didn’t need him fighting Selt because Teddy decided it was a good idea to shack up with him.
“What the?” A growl edged into Sunny’s voice as he turned away from the kitchen.
There was Selt on his knees with his mouth full of Teddy. I shooed Sunny out of the kitchen and told the two to wrap it up while I calmed my mate down.
“Why would he do that?”
“I’m trying very hard not to give a very technical answer here, mate,” I said, putting my hands on his shoulder. “I know that’s not what you’re looking for but it’s probably the truth. He’s sucking Teddy’s dick because sex feels good.”
“Out of all the dragons on world Teddy has to hook up with him? He’s a jackass! He’s not good—” I put my hand over his mouth.
“Maybe not but he’s a flight member and we don’t solve this by degrading each other. We do not sink to the level of others in search of justice and equity,” I reminded him.
“Fucking hell. Frost’s jizz on a biscuit. Don’t give me that crap right now. He’s---”
“Sucking on your friend. On the friend that up until a few weeks ago you thought maybe you were in love with?” I hit him with the tough question.
“But I’m not. I just--- I’m not,” Sunny sighed. “Laken, I’m not in love with him. If you want me to get all up in my feelings, yeah, I love him. He’s my best friend and he deserves better than---”
“Than what?” Teddy appeared behind Sunny.
Thankfully, he’d taken the time to put on his pants before joining us in the living room.
“You met him on a bad day. You met him when the universe played on every insecurity he had. He met me on a bad day too. He met me on the day you’d run away after we screwed around and I wasn’t sure we’d be friends again. After I heard you met Laken I was pretty sure, we wouldn’t. So we grated each other like sandpaper. Don’t get me wrong, Sunny. The fucker has an attitude problem. He needs more therapy than even Marcus could hand out. We’re not in this for the long haul. We’re in this because we’re both in limbo and it feels good. Life is hell. Living will rip you the fuck apart and we both know it. So sometimes – forgive the fuck out of me – I want something that feels good.”
Sunny crossed his arms and stared Teddy down. I moved out of the way. I was the one carrying eggs. I wouldn’t let Selt get involved but if those two wanted to beat the crap out of each other in their own shared living room, I wasn’t getting involved.
“Why him?” Sunny groaned and the tension left my shoulders.
“Why not? He was there.”
“Is he still here?” Sunny asked.
“Sit down and no, he’s not. I sent him home for a while. You’re mine to deal with, not his,” Teddy said. “And I figured there was a good chance he was carrying,” he nodded in my direction. “I wasn’t sure where either of you stood with him. If you called or texted first, I wouldn’t have been balls deep in his throat.”
“Can we not talk about that?” Sunny groaned.
“Sorry. You really pissed off my dragon by saying that. There’s so much I could say but it’s not mine to tell. He’s not horrible. He’s an asshole but so are a lot of people.”
“He called my mate a cock tease!”
“And I took care of that. I took care of it twice but I’m going to spare you the details of how I did so the second time. We’re not end game. We know that! His mate isn’t here and neither is mine. So, we’re fucking around and I found that altar by the way!”
“Was it at the club?” I asked him.
“Did you tell him about that?” Sunny asked me.
“I figure he must’ve picked it up over the flight link,” I shrugged, putting my hand on Sunny’s knee. “It’s going to be alright. We’re not fucking Selt. You and I aren’t fucking him.”
“I’d seen the altar once before but had forgotten about it. Tails Up, Scales Down is the name of the club,” Teddy said, ignoring my comments about not fucking Selt.
“Oh!” I grinned.
“We can talk about that in a minute,” Teddy shook his head. “What’s this about you being a daddy?” he turned his attention to Sunny. “I heard that right, huh?”
“Yes!” Sunny lit up. “I haven’t even told my parents or Cade yet. Came over here because I thought we’d have to track down Selt and convince him to help. Does he even know we need his help?”
“Yes, he does. We talked about it the same day the mental image of the altar arrived inside my head,” Teddy said.
“How did that happen? Not the altar. You and Selt? How in the pits did that happen? Did you hit your head?” Sunny groaned again.
“No, I didn’t. He offered. It’s complicated, I guess. It was either fight or fuck, Sunny. We were going to do one or the other and I didn’t want to fight him, not really. I didn’t want to be my dad about it. The tension was there and he just offered and I accepted. Then it just sorta kept happening. I’ve found some stuff out too. He has an elf somewhere in his family. He doesn’t know which clan or whatever but it’s there. He’s down to be tied up for the ritual as long as I’m there. He really wants his mate to the point his dragon is irate about it and at the risk of TMI he now knows the damn definition of a cock tease.”
A laugh escaped my throat. I couldn’t help it.
“And that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
“You think he’s just misunderstood?”
“No, I think he needs therapy. He’s supposed to start it soon. I think his dragon is rightfully upset about some things and he’s irrational about others. I think he needs to do a lot of self-reflection before he inflicts himself on his true-mate.”
“I’m not going to understand, am I?” Sunny asked him, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Probably not,” Teddy shrugged.
“I get it. I get topping the asshole,” I leaned back on the sofa. “I get what a thrill that is. I get that trying to save a dragon with a sob story is also a thrill at a certain age. He’s not bad looking either.”
“Laken!” Sunny said my name like a swear word and I laughed.
“Not as good looking as you,” I grinned at him. “We’re all adults here and for better or worse we need to work with Selt. We need to get along with him and it’s not your choice or mine where Teddy puts his dick.”
“Is this guy your boyfriend?” Sunny asked.
“That would imply commitment, and we haven’t talked about that,” Teddy shook his head. “The sex is good, and we had nothing but time to kill while we waited on you two.”
“Do you two have any ideas about the ritual?” I asked.
“Yes, and we’ll tell you together. We’ll cook you both dinner tonight and we’ll talk about it – just the four of us.”
“A double date?” Sunny groaned.
“Sunny, don’t make me put on the voice that says I’m the oldest dragon here. Don’t make me be that sort of mate. Even if it is a double date, be a good friend.”
“He insulted you and ---”
“Yeah. He did. He insulted me. Me, Sunny. I get it. We’re a pair. I’d eat the faces of everyone who ever said a bad word about you. He acted like himself.”
“Moonscales ---” Sunny said, and it was Teddy’s turn to groan.
“What are they supposed to do about him, Sunny? Send him into the sun for being a bad flirt and sore loser?”
“Guys like him don’t stop at the little stuff,” Sunny squared his shoulders.
“They do here. The whole flight can hear him – whatever he does. There is no being quiet to protect predatory assholes here,” I said. “Look, to be honest, I think they’re a horrible match too. I think Teddy could do better and I think Selt shouldn’t be doing anyone until he works out his shit. But that’s not up to me. That’s not up to you or anyone else except for them.”
“He’d be worse if---” Sunny said and stopped himself.
“If everyone wasn’t watching?” I suggested.
“Yeah,” Sunny nodded.
“But with the flight link everyone is watching. Also, he can’t escape feeling what others around him feel with that same link. It’s why we don’t kill each other in the arena. It’s why sex is so fucking good in the purple district for a lot of people. He’s jabbing at himself more than anything. He’s yelling and screaming because his inner hatchling is fucking miserable.”
“But how does that happen here?” Sunny snapped at me and Teddy whipped his head around like he might punch him on the nose for it.
I shook my head at Teddy and squeezed Sunny’s leg.
“Babe, mate. I love you. I love that you believe any system could spare everyone all the trauma. Not even our system is perfect. Could he be a monster? Yeah. Is he an alpha with an over inflated ego who thinks life is mean to him and likes to play grab ass in the arena instead of actually fighting? Totally. There’s a difference and I still stand by what I said when we talked to my grandma. He’s still flight and who knows, Teddy’s probably good for him. You don’t have to understand it. You don’t have to get why Teddy would want to do anything with him. You just have to make it through however long it takes to open the gateways and then however long they decide to be whatever together without losing your shit on him.”
“You can tell him he’s an asshole,” Teddy shrugged. “He knows he is.”
“I swear if he so much as thinks about insulting Laken, I’ll descale him, Teddy.”
“Your mate is pregnant. That’s understandable. Now, if you’re done insulting my friend with benefits do you want me to text Izora and see if he’ll swing by and do the ultrasound for you two? I mean, if you want one.”
“Yes!” I said before Sunny could object to Teddy changing the subject.
They were never going to see eye to eye on Selt but we could all lay eyes on our egg if those two just kept their egos in their pants for a bit longer.