When he turned around, it was to find his friends staring at him with shit-eating grins.
“What the hell are you looking at?”
Derrick burst into laughter. “Oh man. Playboy's finally fallen. That was priceless.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dude, you were looking at her with that lovesick expression Zack makes when he stares at Kelly,” Ace said with a chuckle.
“Ass.” Zack elbowed him.
“Doc's niece, hmm?” Roane drawled. “So that's why you've been so different lately.”
“I'm not different.” Hale cursed them and sat back down again, cradling his coffee, which was growing cold. “Paige needs some help, that's all.”
“Oh, I'm sure you're helping her, all right.” Derrick smirked. “I bet you helped her a helluva lot last night. No wonder you've been moaning and groaning during the night the past few weeks. Wet dreams about a hot blonde, eh?”
“Fuck off, D.” Embarrassment seared him. God, he'd been calling Paige's name out while he slept. What if he'd mentioned McKinley as well?
“Man, I don't need to fuck off, not with the hottest mate in the world in my bed.”
“Thanks so much for the reference,” Sabrina said dryly as she entered the room with Caitlyn and Kelly on her heels.
“Oh, ah, hey, baby,” Derrick covered lamely and greeted his mate with a kiss.
Every damned one of the Circ females shot Hale cheeky grins. The torment would never end.
“So, Hale's finally found his true love, hmm? Who is she?” Kelly asked as she waddled to her mates. At only five months, her belly had grown to the size of a watermelon, and Hale wondered if she might be carrying twins.
“She's Paige Masters, Doc's niece. But she's not my mate, my true love, my anything. God, you people are annoying.” Hale muttered under his breath and swallowed more coffee. His eyes felt gritty, his head ached, and he felt sluggish all of a sudden.
“You need some z's,” Roane said.
Hale turned, unnerved to find Roane's piercing gaze centered on him. “I'm fine.”
“You're exhausted. Lemme help you to your room.” The threat was there. Shit.
Hale didn't want to answer more questions when he didn't have any answers. Was Paige Masters his mate? No, because if she was, then McKinley had some part in Hale's future as well. Why had Hale spaced earlier and tried to attack his best friend? He had no idea, and he didn't want to know.
“I said I'm not tired. Besides, I want to be here when Paige is done with Doc. She doesn't know any of you.” He glanced around him. “And from looking at you, I can see why she'd be less than thrilled at being surrounded by your ugly mugs. Not you, ladies.”
“Thanks, Hale.” Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Derrick, is he always this oblivious?”
“Afraid so, princess.”
“Hale, you have circles under your eyes. You're still recovering from your injuries the other night. We all know you're Circ. But your body still needs time to finish healing and replenishing itself internally. Go get some rest. Caitlyn, Kelly, and I will make sure none of the guys so much as goes near her without you around.”
Hale considered her. Paige wouldn't feel threatened by the women. Especially not Kelly, who looked about as harmful as a round little kitten. “Okay. If you need me, I'll be in my room.”
“Dreaming about Paige,” Derrick murmured. Zack and Ace snickered, but Roane didn't laugh.
“Come on, playboy. I'll help you to your room.”
He dreaded each step, but to his relief, Roane said nothing. Hale opened the door to his room and lay down, expecting Roane to leave. Instead, his friend walked in, closed the door behind him, and stood next to his bed. Damn.
“Hale, you're worrying me. Why won't you tell me what's wrong?” Roane sat at the edge of the bed and turned to face Hale. “I'm your friend. I'm not gonna judge you because you had sex with Doc's niece, for God's sake.”
“I know.” Hale felt like shit because he was holding out. Hadn't Roane come to him when he'd had problems with Caitlyn? Didn't Roane always know how to help him, how to solve all their problems? “Roane…”
“Yeah?”
“Look, you can't tell the others. Not even Doc.”
“I won't.” And just like that, he wouldn't.
“I, uh, I've been having dreams about Paige for a while. And they're not normal.
My family had a history with this kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Psychic stuff. My dad could predict the weather. My mom knew things before they'd happen. But I thought I was normal. But then a few months ago, I started having dreams, prophetic dreams. I saw Paige with me.”
The silence unnerved him.
“Okay. You're psychic. So what exactly have you been dreaming?” At Hale's surprise, Roane grinned. “Come on, Hale. Like I'm not going to believe in ESP? Hell, we turn into giant monsters when the mood hits. That's not exactly normal.” An odd sense of relief filled him, that Roane accepted him. “Well, here's the problem. In these dreams…” He cleared his throat, not sure how to say it. “In these dreams I'm with Paige. But there's always someone else with us.”
“By your tone, I'm thinking that 'someone' is a guy.”
“I'm not really into men, Roane. I mean, I know we all do things together. But it's different with the squad.”
“Look, you don't have to explain it to me. Technically, Circs are bisexual. We do it with anything Circ. Hale, man, you're my best friend. What, you think I'm going to revoke your membership to 'the club' because you're going to be with some other guy?”
“I think the guy is McKinley,” he said in a rush, before he could change his mind.
Roane's eyes widened, the shock on his face almost comical. “The same motherfucker who nearly killed you and Derrick a few months ago? The same one who threatened Sabrina if she should ever return to Pearson Labs? Elliot Pearl's old bodyguard, that McKinley?”
“Yeah, that one,” Hale groaned and threw his arm over his eyes. “Why do you think I haven't said anything? He's the reason I had a hard time with you and Caitlyn the other night. My beast kept telling me to find him…and Paige.”
“Damn.” Roane drummed his fingers on his knee. “Tell me something, Hale.
When you found Paige the other night, was she alone?”
“No,” Hale replied, miserable.
“I knew you were lying. Ass.” Roane slapped him on the leg, and Hale lifted his arm from his face to see his friend. “Tell me. All of it.” Hale told him about meeting McKinley, about the dreams he'd been having, about the psychic blast McKinley had shot him with at Pearson Labs months ago. He couldn't bring himself to tell Roane how often he thought of the male, but he didn't hide anything else.
As Roane sat there digesting it all, Hale wondered if he'd done the right thing in telling the truth. Circe's Recruits was his family. What if his strange connection to Paige and McKinley put them all in danger? Wouldn't it have been better to learn about McKinley on his own, with no one the wiser, should McKinley be as dangerous as Hale thought he was?
“Well, this is a shit sandwich, any way you look at it,” Roane rumbled. “If Paige is already tied to McKinley, and you're dreaming about doing both of them—”
“No, man. That was just me doing Paige. He was just…there.”
“With his hands on your ass,” Roane snorted. “Get real, Hale. From everything you've described, Paige and McKinley might very well be your mates. What does your beast tell you?”
Damn. Roane would have to ask that.
“You don't have to say anything. I can see it on your face.” Roane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Figures you'd be the biggest pain in the ass finding your mate. Okay. So we have Paige here. You need to connect with her. Work your magic.