Gunnar shook his head as he made his way to his Alpha’s bedroom. This was bizarre as hell. Never in a million years would Gunnar have thought his mate would just show up at his door seven kinds of quirky. He banged on the bedroom door, a pissed wolf snarling as he answered it.
“What?”
“There’s someone here to see you,
Ricky
.” Gunnar snarled back.
“Shit, are you kidding me? What time is it?” Maverick blinked the sleep from his eyes.
“Six in the morning,
Ricky.”
“Stop calling me that, wolf.” Maverick snarled again. He grabbed a robe and followed Gunnar to the den.
“Hey, Ricky. Ready to get started?” Nero stood in the middle of the room, pushing his gloved hands into his front pockets.
“It’s…early.”
Nero shrugged, hiking his black messenger bag onto his shoulder once again, and walked past the two, down the hall in the direction of Maverick’s office. Gunnar could only stare for a moment. The bag looked bigger than his mate, as if it were going to knock him over any minute.
He scratched his disheveled hair and turned to his Alpha. “What the hell is up with him? He said something about dinosaurs and computers.” Gunnar questioned Maverick.
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21
“We are going to shop for a new computer for my office. He claims mine is a dinosaur. He’s the guy that fixed Cecil’s game.” Maverick rubbed his eyes as he yawned, turning to follow the quirky human to his office.
“He’s my mate,” Gunnar stated.
This stopped Maverick in his tracks. “No way.” He grinned.
“Yep, the little nutter is my mate. Is it me, or is he off the charts?” Maverick laughed so hard he held his side as he leaned into Gunnar. “We get to keep him?”
“What do you mean
we
? He’s mine, not an adoption of yours like little Melonee.” Gunnar growled, but then he began to laugh as well.
His nutter was strange, but cute. He was happy he got to keep him.
Now all he had to do was convince Nero.
“Come on, Gunnar.” Maverick slapped him on the back. “Let’s go see what your mate is up to.” Maverick laughed the whole way to his office, looking over his shoulder at Gunnar and shaking his head.
“Coffee. Do you have it?” Nero asked as they entered Maverick’s office. The little human already had his laptop out, typing away without even looking up. He seemed engrossed in his search for Maverick’s perfect computer as his legs swung back and forth from Maverick’s office chair that had been hiked up to its full extension.
Gunnar grinned at the sight. Fate had favored him with this quirky human.
“I’ll go get some. Go spend time with your mate.” Maverick chuckled as he left the two alone.
Now what?
“I’m Gunnar.” His mate looked at his outstretched hand quizzically before turning his attention back to the laptop. Okay, then, not a hand-shaker.
“Hey, Gunny, does Ricky have more than one computer in the house?” Nero asked as he typed away, his face scrunched up as he studied whatever it was he was doing.
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“It’s Gunnar. There’s a few more here. Why?” Gunnar studied his mate. The man already seemed jittery. Should he even have coffee?
“Where’s his router?”
“His what?”
“It’s…complicated.” Nero shook his head as his attention went back to his laptop.
Gunnar wondered where his mate came from, who he had lived with, and why in the hell he wore blue latex gloves. He imagined himself throwing Nero onto the desk and making him wiggle around while crying out Gunnar’s name. The thought of biting into that soft-looking flesh had him hard as a rock.
He grinned when Nero’s eyes slowly rose to look at him then slowly lowered back down. The nutter did this at least two more times. He was simply gorgeous.
* * * *
Nero mentally rolled his eyes at the laymen. They never understood him. If Ricky had more than one computer, the giant was going to need a whole new setup, and what was with the dial-up service? This house was like being in the late nineties. Nero looked up when he felt eyes staring at him. Gunny was still in the room, watching him.
“I don’t need a babysitter, I swear.” Nero rubbed his hand over his hair, waiting for that uncomfortable feeling to creep up his spine as it always did when anyone paid too close attention to him. It didn’t come. He looked up again to see Gunny watching him closely, his green eyes locked on him, but no tension coiled his muscles from the look. Weird, very weird.
“Here’s your java fix, Nero.” Ricky handed the mug over.
“Thanks. What is the main purpose you use your computer for, Ricky?” Nero asked as he sighed into his first caffeine fix of the day.
Nutter Nero
23
There was just something about the first jolt. All his nerves settled into place, and he could think now.
“Mostly online shopping. I keep records of expenditures, although I fall behind with it. Interested in being my new assistant? I had problems with the last one. It’s…complicated.” Nero just blinked at Ricky. A full-time job? He liked what he did, but it just didn’t cover his financial needs. The calls for his services weren’t as frequent as he would like. His rent was often late, though remembering to pay it was more of the problem than a lack of cash, and he couldn’t afford the electronic toys he was drooling to own. He kept printouts of a wish list he had of the various items he hoped to one day afford taped to his walls. “How much would this job pay?”
* * * *
“Room and board is included. You would live here, and I would open an expense account for the things you would need—and also for the things you would want.”
Dangle the carrot in front of him,
Maverick
. The human probably made damn good money at what he did, so he would just have to up the offer, shine it up, and hand it over on a silver platter. Maverick wanted to keep the human, and he
was
Gunnar’s mate after all.
Maverick already had an accountant, but he wanted someone who would see to the everyday financial needs of running the household.
Plus it would be a bonus if Nero could watch his accountant. He had never had a problem with the guy, but watching the man who watched your money never hurt. Besides, a mate could be trusted. Humans were a shot in the dark. They were greedy, calculating, and downright underhanded at times. Most humans, anyway. The mates weren’t.
“Sure, I’ll take it. On one condition.” Nero’s legs stilled as he sipped at his coffee.
“And that condition is?” Maverick couldn’t wait to hear it. If this quirky human held to his personality, it should be outlandish.
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“Let me have complete control of the security needs you are lacking. A house this size shouldn’t be unprotected. Not good, not good at all.”
Maverick was going to enjoy this. Hawk was the commander of the wolves. If you had to put a human label on him, then he would be head of security. What would the wolf do when Maverick handed Nero over to him? He
had
to see this. “Done.”
“Okay, I have everything you need in the basket. Just need your credit card.”
Maverick pulled out his wallet and handed his credit card to Nero.
“You shouldn’t do that.”
Maverick drew his brows together. “Do what?”
“Trust people like that. You didn’t even look to see what I bought.”
“Wouldn’t know what I was looking at if I did. I trust you. You haven’t given me a reason not to.” Nero was a mate now, and mates could be trusted, right?
“Not good, not good at all.” Nero muttered as he took the offered card. He typed away then looked back up. “Done, it should be here in a few days. I opted out of the next day air, saved a few bucks.” Maverick liked him already. “Why don’t you go with Gunnar to get something to eat, and we’ll go over the financial records later.”
* * * *
“Show me the way, Gunny.” Nero closed his laptop, wrapping the cords up then sliding them into his messenger bag. Next he took out what looked like a clean wipe and dusted across the top of it. He disposed of the napkin then slid his laptop into the bag as well.
Pulling it over his shoulder, he strolled from the office.
“Goody, we get to keep him.” Maverick laughed.
“Mine,” Gunnar reminded his Alpha before following his mate.
Nutter Nero
25
Did he know where he was going? Apparently not, he was looking in every room he passed. “This way.” Gunnar placed his hand on his mate’s shoulder only to have the nutter move away. Not liking to be touched was going to hamper his attempt at claiming. Gunnar was a touchy-feely kind of person, and his mate was just going to have to get used to this.
Setting his messenger bag down, his mate took a seat at the table, entwining his fingers together in front of him. “What would you like to eat?” Gunnar asked as he walked to the fridge.
“Got anything for a sandwich?” Nero asked softly.
“Sure, what meat?” Gunnar rummaged around, looking for all the fixings a sandwich would need. He pulled out lettuce, tomatoes, mayo and mustard. There were pickles in the back as well. It seemed like an odd breakfast, but he wasn’t going to mention it.
“Ham?”
“Ham it is. What do you want on it?”
“Ham.”
Gunnar stopped what he was doing, and looked over his shoulder at his mate. “Just ham?”
“Yes, ham.”
“You got it.” Gunnar brought the meat over and laid two slices of bread on a plate, cracking open a new container of honey baked ham.
George, Tank’s mate, made sure the kitchen stayed fully stocked. He cooked for the entire house, and he wanted everything at his fingertips.
Gunnar watched silently as his mate’s fingers crept onto the plate, and with the tips of them he straightened out the bread to make it sit perfectly aligned on the plate. When he added the ham, his mate pushed the pieces so they were symmetrical with the bread. Okay, so his mate had OCD as well.
“Ketchup.”
“Ew, ketchup?” Gunnar got out the bottle, ready to squeeze a dollop on, but his mate held up his hand. Handing the bottle over, he
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watched as Nero made three perfect vertical lines down the slice of bread that was sitting untouched, carefully stacking it onto the other half. He peeled the crust off and threw it out of the kitchen door.
Gunnar filed the scene away in his mind. He wanted to remember for the next time how his mate liked his sandwiches. It was the cutest thing to watch him nibble it, but when he was only halfway through, Nero threw it away. What the hell? No wonder why he was so damn skinny. He could see the apprehension in Nero—the first real emotion the nutter showed—letting Gunnar know he was human and not a robot. He would leave the nutritional lecture for later.
Cleaning the mess up, he guided the quirky human upstairs. “I’ll show you where you will be sleeping.” Nero just nodded, following along like a puppy. Gunnar opened the bedroom door.
“I think you have the wrong room, Gunny. Someone already sleeps in here.” Nero looked around.
“It’s my room. I thought maybe since you were in a house where you didn’t know anyone, you would be more comfortable sleeping in here.”
“Oh.”
That’s all his mate had to say? No arguing with him that they were complete strangers and how dare he make such assumptions? His mate, with his blue gloves on, just sat his messenger bag down on the dresser and began to clean.
“You don’t have to do that.” Gunnar pulled his dirty clothes from Nero’s hands. “I was sleeping when you knocked and haven’t had a chance to straighten up.”
Nero shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, twisting his lips, and looking around. It seemed his mate was lost when his hands were idle. If only Gunnar could make use of those small hands, he had a few ideas where Nero could put them. He wondered how experienced his mate was and how many boyfriends he had? The man was too heartbreakingly beautiful not to have them lined up around
Nutter Nero
27
the corner. This pissed Gunnar off. No one but him was going to touch Nero.
“So, anyone special in your life?” He would play it subtle and pick away at his mate until he knew everything about him.
“My mom.” Nero answered in a don’t-bother-me tone. It grated on Gunnar’s nerves, and then his mate started opening drawers and peering in. Next, he opened the closet and shoved clothes aside, looking into boxes. Nero started mumbling to himself as he made his way to the bathroom, checking the medicine cabinet and under the sink.
“Anything in particular you’re looking for?” His mate did that blinking thing again he did with his eyes, as if Gunnar were speaking another language.
“I like comic books,” Nero blurted out.
A subject he had in common finally. “I like Marvel, you?”
“Oh, I read mangas.”
“Can’t be too different. Keata has some. He’s a mate who lives here. Oliver, another mate bought them for him. Keata came from Japan, and he didn’t speak very good English, so Oliver bought the mangas that are written in Japanese.” Gunnar explained to him as he cleaned the mess in their room. If his mate had OCD, then his days of just throwing things around was over.
“Cool, maybe he’ll let me read his.” Nero walked back into the bedroom. Gunnar noticed his mate had a hard time staying stationary.
“You read Japanese?” He was impressed. Gunnar also wondered why Nero hadn’t said anything when he used the word mate. It seemed his mate thought on a different wavelength than everyone else.
“My grandmother was from Japan She taught me to read it, write it, and speak it. Do you have fruit?” Nero was a subject jumper, too.
Gunnar was going to have a hell of a time keeping up with this small human.
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“In the kitchen. Wanna go get some?” Gunnar watched as Nero walked out of the bedroom. Didn’t Storm mention something once about a human kid leash? He slid Nero’s bag into his closet, venturing downstairs to find his ADD mate.
* * * *