“He’s very protective of you,” Del remarks, and I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Yeah, he is.”
“He’s careless at times and a little wild, but he’s loyal.Incrediblyloyal. He will never, ever do anything to hurt you.”
“I know.” My heart expands in my chest, and I inhale shakily.
“Once he makes up his mind about something, he has difficulty letting go…” Del stops walking and grabs onto my hands. “Magnus, tell me you’ll love him like he deserves. He has such a tender heart. I hate seeing it broken.”
My eyes are stinging, and I swallow roughly. “I’ll do my best. I promise.”
I can see Sem jogging toward us out of the corner of my eye, and Del quickly lets go of my hands.
“What’s wrong?” Sem asks, his eyes moving from my watery eyes to his mom. “What did you say, Ma?”
Del looks a little sheepish. “Nothing you need to know about.”
Sem crouches down and looks at me. “What did she say, Maggie?”
“Nothing, Sem.” I reach over and stroke a hand down his cheek, and his eyelids flutter. “I’m fine. Just got a little emotional. I’m okay.”
He grumbles something under his breath, and then he points to his back. “Come on. Hop on.”
I snort, swiping at my eyes. “Sem, I’m not riding on your back like a child.”
He glances up at me. “I carry you all the time.”
Del smiles widely at the two of us and then waves her hands at us. “Go on, Magnus. Go ahead. I don’t mind walking alone for a bit. I might even turn around in a bit and head back. I need to make sure my husband isn’t doing something irresponsible.”
“We are not leaving your mom to walk alone,” I protest, and Sem huffs still crouched in front of me.
“But you’re too slow.”
“This is not new information,” I reply. “I was never very athletic.”
“Hm, but you are flexible,” Sem says with a wink and then reaches his arms out behind him, and I roll my eyes and climb on. Because he won’t let me continue walking, apparently.
“I am flexible because I do yoga. You know what, Sem, you should come with me sometime. Try it out and see what you think.”
He stands up and readjusts me on his back.
“Yeah, maybe I will.”
I lean forward and whisper, “Then I can check out your ass. Myboyfriend’sfine ass.”
He huffs and begins walking, his mom trailing behind us.
When we’ve put enough space between his mother and us, Sem looks over his shoulder and asks, “What did she tell you?”
I press my mouth against the side of his neck and press a soft kiss there. “She’s just concerned about you. She wanted to make sure I don’t end up hurting you.”
“Jesus, that woman meddles.”
“She just loves you and she’s worried. Apparently, you’re a big softie. Who knew?”
Sem grumbles something under his breath, and I lick my way up to his ear and nibble on it.
“Stop that,” he grunts. “I’m getting hard.”