Behind the Eight Ball by M.A. Church Page A

her?”
    Aidric snickered. “As high maintenance as Heller is? It’s probably a male. A female isn’t going to put up sharing ‘mirror time’ with Heller. You all know how he likes to primp.”
    “Hey!” I glowered at Aidric. “I do not primp. Just because you look like you just rolled out of bed doesn’t mean that I—”
    Remi snorted as he gestured at Tal. “Hey Tal, you better hope it’s a guy or you may end up having to build a whole new room on Heller’s house.”
    “Huh? Wait. How’d I get in this?” Tal cocked his head at Remi. “And why would I have to do that?”
    “For his mate’s clothes, what else?” Remi asked. “Heller’s taken up both walk-ins in his master bedroom with his clothes. I know since I helped him hang some shelves in them. Mr. Clothes Horse over there isn’t going to give up his space.”
    “Well, why would I not use the space?” I rolled my eyes. “Why let it sit there empty? I needed the space, and it was there and… and it’s my damn house. I can do what I want with—know what? Bite me, Remi.”
    Dolf grinned at me. “You have enough clothes for two men. Oh, who am I kidding? You have more than Tal, Kirk, and me together.”
    “Kirk’s flannel shirts are not real clothes.” I sniffed.
    “From my flannel and me… bite us, Heller.” Kirk laughed.
    Brier tipped his water bottle at me. “Do you guys remember that time his hairdresser cut too much off the back of his hair? Jeez, you’d have thought someone neutered him when he wasn’t looking. The drama!”
    Rambunctious laugher and jokes flew around the table.
    “Okay, seriously, who is it?” Remi finally asked as they all calmed down.
    “Not sure I want to say now.” I pouted.
    “I’m not sure why we had to meet. I mean, I’m happy for Heller and all, but since when do we meet over just finding one’s mate?” Brier asked.
    I looked around the table. “‘Since when’ the mate is human.”
    After I dropped that bomb, no one spoke as silence blanketed the room.
    “Holy fuck.” Brier finally breathed, his mouth hanging open. “Human? Are you for real? Boy, talk about being behind the eight ball. I swear it’s like a fucking epidemic.”
    Kirk slammed his hand down on the table. “Are you for real? Are you really going to go there with me sitting right here? By God, are we going to do this again ?”
    “Kirk—”
    “No! Just no, dammit, Dolf. This has got to stop. Did none of you learn anything when that psycho nearly killed me because I was born human? What about when he attacked Dolf for mating me? All of you were there, and you saw.” Fuming, Kirk faced Brier. “Get your head out of your ass, man, and grow the fuck up.”
    Brier held up his hands. “Okay! Okay! Hold up a minute. I, ah… I… jeez. I’m sorry, okay? You’re right. You’re totally right. I didn’t think. I didn’t mean to… It’s just… it’s an automatic response.”
    “Thus the ‘getting your head out of your ass’ remark,” Kirk snapped. “The fact you said it was an automatic response kind of proves my point also. We need to be working toward it not being automatic.”
    “Need some help removing the foot crammed down your throat?” Remi asked Brier.
    “I’m sorry . I shouldn’t have said that.” Brier turned to Kirk. “I know that doesn’t excuse what I said. But it was just out there before I even stopped to think. I’m trying, okay? We all are. I really didn’t mean it, Kirk, and again, I’m sorry. Really.”
    “I know,” Kirk huffed, calming down. “It’s just that kind of thinking is what led to me being attacked, and it pisses me off.”
    “Guys.” Aidric raised his voice. “Why don’t we let Heller speak, hmm? I think we’ve forgotten, in the middle of our surprise, that Heller has made it painfully clear he doesn’t like humans.”
    “Shit,” Remi whispered. “Heller, man, we didn’t…. Gods. I’ve never understood what your problem was with humans, but that’s your deal.