Jacks, Marcy - Eli's Reluctant Mate [DeWitt's Pack 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Marcy Jacks (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📗

Then she pointed to the bathroom.  “Go wash yourself. How do you expect to make a good impression on a human mate if you look like filth?”

He needed a shower. He definitely agreed with her there. He

nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

She made a hmph sound and walked away, wrinkling her nose at every single dirty dish that he had laying around. Old pizza boxes on the floor from back when he was still trusted enough to go into town to order food. Ants and small vermin scattered as she kicked the

box―Andrew jumped when a mouse scurried beneath his feet―and  then she turned to glare one more time at Eli.

His face heated, and he had to look away. He turned to James real  quick. “Am I banished?”

James looked like he was struggling for patience. Or that maybe  he was struggling to not just throw Eli’s ass out. This was the first  time James had seen the inside of Eli’s cottage, and now the other  man had a good idea of why none of the omegas wanted to be his

roommate.

“I did give you a pretty wide loophole, so no. But I want you  sober. If you need an escape or need to forget about the shit that’s  bothering you lately, either take up a book or go running, find a  hobby, anything. You are not getting drunk anymore while I’m in  command, period, and you’re never having anything with even the  least bit of alcohol in it for a year. Got it?”

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Eli nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” James motioned to the general area surrounding them.  “Clean this place up and open some windows. Your mate’s been asking to see you all morning.”

Eli was stunned. “He has?”

“Yes. He’s Dean Lefroy’s brother.”

“Dean―” It took Eli longer than it should have to put together  exactly who that was. When it clicked, his eyes went wide. “Shit.”

“No kidding. He claims he was unaware of Dean’s profession as a  hunter, and I’m inclined to believe him, but I’m still having  him  watched.”

“Who’s watching him?” He looked to Andrew.

He must’ve been glaring because the alpha raised his hands and  moved back a step. “Don’t look at me. I’m not doing it.”

“You are. So get your ass up and clean this place up before he gets  here,” James said. “I might’ve convinced him to give you a chance,  but it’d take a miracle with the place looking like this.”

Eli was already up and running to the bathroom. He was going to  shower the stench of alcohol off of him and get this place clean as fast

as possible.

He didn’t believe for a second that Chis was anything like his  brother, so Eli felt there was nothing to worry about on that part.  What had him smiling even through the pounding migraine in his  skull was the fact that Chris wanted to see him and that he was going

to give the two of them a chance.

* * * *

Chris had been asked politely to wait just a little bit longer, for the fifth time, when he decided he couldn’t handle it anymore. He asked  Tristan which house Eli lived in, and the other man, seeing that he was pissed off and didn’t want to be put off anymore, pointed the way with a sigh.

Eli’s Reluctant Mate                       69

Chris understood what the holdup had been at the sight of four ugly, plump, garbage bags sitting just outside of the door, waiting to be taken away.

The door opened, and Eli stepped out with yet another full garbage bag, and he dropped it on top of the others―it sounded like there was glass inside it, bottles most likely―before looking up, noticing Chris approaching him.

“Hi,” Eli said.

Okay, relax yourself. Just relax.  “Hi,” Chris said.

Eli looked behind himself to the inside of his house then shut the

door before Chris could see whatever it was that had the other man

looking so panicked.

“I was hoping I’d have another hour before inviting you over.”

“Cleanup duty?” Chris asked.

“Something like that. I haven’t exactly paid much attention to the  finer details of house cleaning for the last little while.”

Since the death of his brother. Chris knew it without anything  more being said between them.

They both stood there, shuffling their feet like a couple of  awkward kids, neither knowing how to make the first move.

Chris decided to be a little brave for once in his life and just do  something first. “Want some help?”

“Help?”

“Yeah, I could, I don’t know, do your windows or something.”

Eli smiled at him. “Sure. I guess it’s not so bad anymore that if  you see the inside you won’t think I’m a complete slob.”

The emphasis Eli put on the word complete made him laugh, and  he started walking toward the door. “I was never great  at it either. I  doubt you’ll shock me.”

Eli pushed the door open, stepped inside with all the glee and  energy of a kid inviting his first crush to his house for the first time,  and he even held the door open for Chris, too.

What Chris noticed first, and what he was most happy with, was

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that when Eli shut the door behind them, blocking out most of the  natural sunlight, Chris didn’t feel any of that panic that he thought he  should have. Especially since they were cramped together in such a  small hallway.

No,  this felt okay.

“It’s all just down here,” Eli said, walking on ahead. Chris  followed.

The next thing he became aware of when they got to the kitchen was the smell of orange-scented cleaner. Nothing in here looked too bad. Maybe the stove needed to be wiped off and the floors swept and mopped, but that was about it.

Of course, all those bags outside did mean that it had looked a whole lot worse in here before Chris had come along.

“You sure this is okay?” Eli asked. “Wasn’t exactly how I would envision a first date.”

Chris looked at him at the word date.

Eli blushed, scratched the side of his head, and refused to return

Chris’s stare.

Give it a chance. Remember,