Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 111

Jesse

After we got back to the hotel, Lia went out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. I joined her and jabbed her with my elbow gently.

“You’re thinking too hard.”

Lia flinched, barely masking her glare. “And you’re sneaking up on people again.”

I smirked, leaning against the balcony railing. “I wasn’t sneaking. You’re just too busy brooding.” She huffed. “I’m not brooding. I’m thinking.”

“Uh-huh. And what’s the difference?”

“Brooding is pointless. Thinking leads to solutions.”

I gestured toward the city lights stretching beyond us. “Found any?” Silence. Then, a begrudging, “No.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

She shifted, her expression cautious. “You have an idea?” “Sort of. More like a lead.”

“Well? Don’t just sit there looking smug. Spit it out.” I tilted my head. “You trained as a witch, right?”

Her expression tightened. “Yeah. ‘AThy?”

“You ever keep in touch with your old magic teacher?” Lia blinked. “My mentor? Uh… a little. Why?”

“Because she taught you magic?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, I still talk to her but why do you want to know?”

“Because we need help tracking a coven, and she might have the kind of connections we don’t.” Lia groaned, rubbing her temples. “You want me to ask her for help?”

“Unless you’ve got a better idea.”

“I was hoping we could do this without outside help.”

I scoffed. “We’re four days deep into ‘no outside help,’ and all we’ve got is a whole lot of frustration and a total of zero leads.” She muttered something under her breath. Probably cursing me out.

“So?” I pressed.

Lia dragged a hand down her face. “Fine. I’ll reach out.” “Now?”

She shot me a look. “No, Matt. I thought I’d wait until next year.”

I grinned. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your attitude.” “Glad to see you haven’t lost your ability to be annoying.”

I stretched, making myself comfortable against the railing. “Let me know what she says.”

Lia pulled out her phone but hesitated, thumb hovering over the screen. “She might not answer right away.” I shrugged. “That’s fine. If she’s awake, great. If not, at least the message is out there.”

She exhaled through her nose. “And if she refuses to help?” “Then we move on to plan B.”

She snorted. “We don’t have a plan B.”

“Exactly. Which is why you should send the message.”

With an exasperated sigh, she tapped out a message and hit send. I caught the tiny flicker of anxiety in her eyes before she masked it with indifference.

“You’re not leaving?” she asked.

“Of course not. I want to see her reaction when you tell her we’re looking for a rogue coven.” She groaned, dropping her head back. “I hate you.”

“You love me.” “Go away, Jesse.”

I laughed but stayed put, watching as she anxiously checked her phone. She’d never admit it, but she was nervous. I didn’t blame her. This wasn’t exactly a casual favor to ask.

But it was our best shot. And whether Lia liked it or not, we needed help.

***

Lia

When Jesse was right, he was right. I didn’t get her the first time I called, but after an hour I tried again. This time my mentor answered, catching me off guard. I hoped this wasn’t a bad time to call her. We hadn’t spoken much save for the occasional text.

But she had been a great teacher. She knew the magical community inside and out so if there was anyone that could help me, it could be my old teacher.

I hoped that she would agree to help me. She might want nothing to do with all this craziness! I mean, dragon shifters were at risk of waking up and terrorizing us all. A lot of people would just want to either bury their heads in the sand or get the hell out of the area as fast as they could.

“Now, that’s a name I haven’t seen on my caller ID in a long time.” “Hey, it’s been a while.”

“More than a while. You don’t call unless you need something. Spill.” “I need to find the Rosewater Coven.”

A pause. Then a low chuckle edged with disbelief. “Why in all the hells would you want to do that?” This forced me to explain the situation.

“Did you not hear the news about the dragon shifter that was found?” She laughed. “Do you think I pay any attention to the news?”

With a sigh, I leaned back over the balcony. Jesse joined me, nudging me with his shoulder. “How are you handling all of this?”

I blinked. “I’m… handling it.”

He shot me a look. “Lia, you can be honest with me. You can be honest with all of us.”

My eyes gazed out at the gardens below. It was a lovely hotel with lush, green gardens that I would’ve loved to explore but we were so busy trying to find the Rosewater Coven that there was no time for us to even do that.

“We should be living our lives, not chasing after this coven who made our lives a living hell!” I snapped.

Some people from below must’ve heard my shouting because they looked up, glaring at me. I ducked back inside, shame washing over me.

“That was a bit over the top but I don’t blame you,” Jesse said, following me inside. “Last week we were discussing the championships and you were talking about finals. Now we are looking for a needle in a haystack.”

It was not how I fucking saw my life working out.

“I should probably stop complaining about this because it could be worse,” I whispered. Jesse shook his head. “No, you have every right to complain about this, Lia. All of us do.” “Where are the rest of the guys?” I asked, looking around the hotel room.

How had I not realized it was so quiet? Rain was usually chattering with Matt grumbling under his breath. Then Colby was

trying to keep the peace.

“They went out for something to eat,” Jesse told me. “It took all of them together?” I asked, smiling softly.

He snorted. “Well, Rain wanted pizza and Matt wanted Greek food. Colby just wanted to make sure they didn’t come back with something that he hated.”

“I don’t even have much of an appetite right now so I am fine with whatever they bring back. I’ll just eat it later.”

Jesse tugged me close to him, wrapping his arms around me. He was being particularly affectionate today and I couldn’t get enough of it. Sniffing, I wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest.

“We’ll get through this,” Jesse told me, kissing the top of my head.

This was a side of Jesse I hadn’t seen before and I had to say I loved it. It was fitting that he was doing it when none of the other guys were here.

I heard the sound of Rain’s voice from down the hall, causing Jesse to roll his eyes.

“Guess the moment is over,” I teased, standing up on my tip-toes to kiss him on the lips. “Let’s continue this later. Or I hope we can continue this later.”

Desire flashed in Jesse’s eyes. “Don’t tempt me.” “I’m not tempting you!” I argued.

He smirked. “You sometimes tempt us by just existing, Lia.”