Their Marred Boy

Chapter 17

Felix allowed a smile to dust over his features at Harper's reddened cheeks. All the man had had to do to emit such a heartwarming reaction was lay a comforting hand on his mate's fidgeting leg.

Harper had stilled instantly at the unexpected contact and had captured his bottom lip between his teeth. If the admission wouldn't lend him into a fit of embarrassment, he could perhaps express how ridiculous it was for the small contact to have as large of an impact on him as it did.

Harper timidly looked at his mate, one hand gripping his thigh and the other on the steering wheel, the man looked more relaxed than he'd ever seen. The boy plunged his teeth further into his lip, as he resisted the urge to drool over the handsome man.

They were on their way to Michigan where the Rodriguez Pack was located. While Felix had urged his mate to take his time and familiarize himself with the idea, Harper had chosen to get it over with as soon as possible.

The man had been losing his precious sleep hours on worrying himself for the occasion, therefore they'd settled on a date when they'd all be free to make the trip.

Felix and Harper would get there first, as Skyler had school and Bennett had work, and right before Harper's procedure, Elias would drive them both to the pack grounds.

The car ride was long and tiresome but both mates enjoyed the bonding time. Turns out, with Harper's lack of experience in moving vehicles, he'd been nauseated for the majority of the trip.

Felix had gone grocery shopping the day before and had stocked up on snacks for their time on the road. Harper had been considerably surprised at the large cooler nestled in the backseat, though had enjoyed the fizzy drinks and sandwiches that it had sheltered.

They'd had a good time holding hands, fun storytelling on Felix's part, carpooling, and Harper feeding chips to his driving mate.

And although Harper wished they could take turns driving so Felix could rest, he didn't have a license nor did he know how to drive. The guilt of being useless had eaten him alive each second he'd had to rest his eyes.

"We're almost there, Harps."

"Oh no. I don't know how to act." The boy panicked in return.

This was the first time he'd be meeting a mate's family and he was nervous. Spiraling more like. He'd managed to keep his emotions at bay during the entire thirteen-hour journey but now everything seemed to be getting real.

It wasn't necessarily concerning for himself as opposed to his fear of embarrassing Felix. He wanted his men to be proud to have him, to be seen with him, though he knew that was a higher bid than he could afford.

First and foremost, his lack of education and illiteracy would stick out like a sore thumb in an environment of educated, classy people. He also wasn't very smooth when it came to holding conversations with new people. He needed time to get accustomed to a person before his outgoing personality crept up from underneath the surface, and that was a huge setback for first impressions.

He was ashamed to admit this one particular worry, though unfortunately, it was inevitable. He had an appearance that would raise more questions than compliments and he wasn't sure he was ready for that. He wasn't ready to stand beside his freakishly handsome mate and look his friends and family in the eyes and declare that yes, yes he was the man who'd have the pleasure of calling him his.

No matter how open-minded or nonchalant you were about things like physical appearances, it would be insulting to claim he wasn't what people expected for his mates. Each one of his mates was so perfect that you had to wonder what horrors they'd committed to end up with him.