Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
DAX
Seeing Mateo make an effort to communicate with his roommates made Dax so proud he wanted to squeeze the stuffing out of his mate.
He’d looked so defeated when his sister arrived, but apparently she knew exactly what to say to get Mateo to open up and be honest—and in a way that didn’t put Owen’s back up either.
By the end of it, they’d settled into something that actually sounded workable.
Mateo would step in when things got overwhelming, Owen would handle what he could on his own, and neither of them looked like they were being forced into it.
Owen still had his autonomy, and Mateo might finally be able to walk through the kitchen without his eye twitching.
The way Carmen had set it all up felt both deliberate and somehow magical, even though he knew Mateo’s family was all humans.
He had eight siblings, and yet he’d never been so in tune with any of them that he could’ve gotten results like that.
He was usually the peacekeeper after the explosion had happened.
He couldn’t interrupt the conflict and get the same results.
He felt a little like he should be taking notes.
“I think you might be a secret genius,” Dax murmured as he sidled up to Carmen.
He hadn’t gotten much one on one time with her since she arrived.
She was almost constantly moving and had an uncanny ability to get everyone involved and talking even if they weren’t particularly social, like Nylian.
He hoped in the future, once things settled for Mateo and he could finally talk to him about their mate bond, that he and Carmen could spend more time together.
She was bright and bubbly, definitely his kind of people.
Carmen snorted, parsing out a few of the tamales into a container so she could bring some home.
“I just know my brother. He’s got tells for when he’s getting overwhelmed and needs someone to step in.
He’s a smart guy, but he’s always been a little awkward and doesn’t speak up for himself the way he should.
I never wanted to speak for him, but I figured out a few ways to get him to open up when he needed to. ”
“Can we exchange numbers?” Dax asked, his voice a little awed. “I’ve been trying to help, but I don’t want to push him too far and–”
His rambling made her laugh, and she wiggled her fingers in a gimme gesture so he handed her his phone.
“He’s tougher than he looks. And sometimes he needs a push.
But if you’re ever concerned, you can always shoot me a text.
I am fluent in Mateo-isms. I can point you in the right direction.
” She lifted her voice to be heard over the rest of the conversation in the room.
“Besides, if you have my number, maybe I’ll get more than one update a month.
You’d think he doesn’t care about his family with how much he avoids us. ”
Mateo didn’t even turn around, just let his head drop forward, his sigh holding years worth of aggravation and affection all at once. “I texted you!”
“Not the same thing,” she singsonged. “Now, I’m outta here.
I promised my friend to make her food in exchange for the charm.
” She wiggled the container with a wicked grin on her face.
“Thanks for this, by the way. And now I’ve got an excuse to come back to visit so I can return it. See you later, everyone! Adios!”
She disappeared out the door with the same gusto and enthusiasm as she’d come in. Somehow, without her, the room felt smaller. Dax shot a wide-eyed look at Mateo.
“You grew up with her?”
Snorting, Mateo lifted his head to look at Dax.
“I shared a room with her until I was ten. By that time, we were bickering so much, my parents renovated the attic to give Carmen her own space. She was pleased because she got an entire floor to herself, and I could finally have a clean room without her teasing me about it.”
Somehow, Dax got the feeling that Carmen would’ve kept them in the same room for a lot longer just so she could keep an eye on her little brother.
And Mateo had already said she’d dirty her room on purpose just so he’d have something to clean when he was stressed.
She’d have to make a huge mess for him to notice it if she was all the way in the attic.
She probably spilled it down the stairs just to get his attention.
That seemed like something she’d do in the short time Dax had gotten to know her.
Thanks to the meal being a group effort, and Mateo constantly following after the chaotic movements of his sister, the clean up was minimal.
Kaz ushered Owen to his room to rest, since healing wasn’t instantaneous and his face was still swollen and bruised, and Mateo surprised him with a clean room and a freshly fluffed comforter that he burritoed himself in with a happy sigh before falling straight to sleep.
That was probably the healing magic doing its job.
When it came to broken body parts, druidic magic almost always encouraged sleep so the body could focus on healing.
Dax set up a bath for him and Mateo since he needed a soak before bed anyway and found his wayward mate in the kitchen, drying and putting away the last of the dishes with a much calmer expression on his face than he’d had when Dax had arrived.
He wrapped himself around his mate, glad that he finally got to hold him after a few hours being too busy to stop for very long.
“Bath? I need a soak.”
Mateo hummed, putting the last bowl in the cabinet above him and closing it behind him, a move his sister never made.
Dax was pretty sure all the cabinets were open at one point and Mateo had needed to save her from smacking her head into the doors several times.
She liked to say she knew her brother best, but Mateo wasn’t a slouch in caring for his sister either.
“I’m good with that, but no sleeping in there. You might like it, but I’ll get cold.”
Dax chuckled, releasing his mate enough that he could head to their room without actually letting him go. “I hadn’t been thinking about that at the time. My tub at home is temperature controlled. It would’ve stayed warm all night.”
“And I would’ve woken up a prune,” Mateo challenged with a grin. “I still say no sleeping in the tub.”
“I feel like we can negotiate on that,” Dax replied teasingly. He knew they couldn’t, not without some kind of magic involved, but Mateo was playing with him and for the first time in a while, the awkwardness was missing. He wanted to enjoy it.
They rinsed off in the shower first for Mateo’s peace of mind, then cuddled together in the warm water of the bath, Mateo resting his head on Dax’s chest with a happy sigh.
For a little while, he just enjoyed the quiet moment.
Mateo was trailing gentle fingers along one of his tentacles, not to rile him up, but more like he just wanted to touch and be close.
Meanwhile Dax was rubbing a hand up and down Mateo’s back, enjoying the tickle of the warm water and the weight of his mate resting on his chest. He could totally fall asleep like this, and if Mateo hadn’t been clear about that being a no-go, he might’ve closed his eyes for a bit.
Instead, he tried to distract himself from the sleepy energy, asking, “How are you feeling?”
“Mm. Better, I think. I’ve never lived with anyone other than my family, and I guess I was just trying so hard not to be ‘that guy’ that I couldn’t figure out how to manage the communication bit.
I never planned on staying that long anyway, just long enough to afford a decent place on my own outside the human part of the city, so I thought just wait it out, you know?
” He sighed, melting into Dax a little more.
“I feel like at least now I can be honest if something is bothering me and they won’t hate me for it. ”
“No one would’ve hated you for it,” Dax chided, hugging his mate a little tighter.
He liked how positive Mateo sounded now, though.
Like the condo would no longer be such a large stressor for him.
He could see Mateo’s point, no one wanted to be the bossy and nagging roommate, especially so soon into the pilot program, but he wanted Mateo to feel comfortable to express himself if something was bothering him too.
Dax realized that right now might be a good time to bring up the whole mate thing.
Mateo was in a good mood, having just had a fun, albeit chaotic, visit from family, ate good food, and made a breakthrough in how he interacted with his roommates.
He seemed content and happy, and his whole body was relaxed against Dax’s.
Dax had been waiting for the perfect moment to tell his mate what they were to each other, and now felt like the best–
“I just hope nothing else changes for a while,” Mateo murmured sleepily.
Dax stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, things have been crazy since before I moved in. Starting a new job, and living on the human side of town hadn’t exactly been easy.
I had the fight to even get out of the contract for my apartment.
Then moving in here, the issues I had sleeping, the struggles I had communicating.
It’s been a lot.” He hugged Dax tightly for a moment, letting out a happy sigh.
“I just want things to be easy for a little while. No more big life changing events. I’m not even going to bother looking for a new place right now. I just want a moment to breathe.”
No more big life changing events…
Dax’s heart sank, and he stared blindly up at the ceiling, trying to fight back tears.
Mateo continued talking about how long it’d been since he had true peace and how something was constantly happening, leaving him feeling like he was struggling to keep his head above water.
Finally being able to talk to his roommates about what was bothering him might be what he needed to find his equilibrium again.
The more he spoke, the more Dax realized he’d missed his chance.
In his fear of adding too much to Mateo’s plate, he inadvertently waited too long to tell him about their bond.
Now, if Dax said anything, he’d be ignoring what Mateo wanted and hitting him with another big wave of something new and life-altering without giving him a chance to breathe first. And who knew how long it would take for Mateo to feel open to the idea of change.
He was even calling off his apartment search for the time being just so he didn’t have to make any big changes for a while.
It could be months before Mateo might feel ready.
And where did that leave Dax? Could he even wait that long?
His instincts were getting more and more intense by the day.
The relief he’d felt when Mateo asked him to stay the weekend was nearly all-encompassing because each night he spent away from his mate felt like a punishment.
It was a little like their roles were reversing, and Dax was the one not sleeping well anymore, kept awake by the aching need to be close to his mate.
He couldn’t even suggest living together because it was too big a change and went against what Mateo wanted.
Plus, it was too early for any normal relationship, right?
The only reason it didn’t feel wrong was because they were mates.
Except they weren’t yet. Not really. It was entirely one-sided.
Mateo had given him no indication that he felt the bond the way Dax did.
He seemed happy in their relationship and sought out Dax when he needed comfort, but that didn’t mean he thought they were mates or that he was even open to the idea.
Dax closed his eyes, swallowing hard around the ball of spikes in his throat as he thought about all the opportunities he’d had to come clean. All the moments he’d tried, then stopped himself because it ‘wasn’t the right time’. Now he wasn’t sure that time would ever come.