the stuff that far.” “I know you can,” Rowan shouted right back. “You have a temper! You admit it. Why am I a bad guy when I say it?” “Are you trying to add fuel to the fire?” I asked, glancing at him like he was nuts. “I’m tired of being in trouble,” he answered with a shrug. “We try to do what’s right by him and he throws tantrums like this with his powers. You hurt his feelings. That sucks and you didn’t mean it. If he would just tell us or talk to us instead of waiting until it festers and blowing up, things would be much simpler.” There was a thunk from below and I wanted to go down and see what was going on, but I also didn’t want my luggage smacked upside my head. Edric stepped out onto the stairs with his backpack over his shoulders and walked up as if he was furious and trying to keep himself in check. He focused on Rowan first. “I’ve tried explaining this to you but no one apparently listens to me. You guys get angry and you go for a run to calm down. It doesn’t work that way with the powers I have. They fester and build until I feel like I’m going to explode when I’m upset or around people who are upset and we had a yacht full of upset people last night. I’m sorry you’re so abused, but I thought trying to get the suitcases up here and working on my control when I’m upset was a good idea. “I’ll work on my tantrums far, far away from you from now on. And I know, you’re going to bitch that you’re in trouble again,” he said so quietly it was like an angry whisper. “But I really don’t like getting upset, Rowan. Yelling is not fun for me and it fucks with my powers. I’m not a drama queen and I don’t thrive on anger. So I’m sorry you think I do this for kicks but I don’t. If something hurts my feelings then it was something that shouldn’t have been said or done. “And yes, maybe discussing things with you would have been the right path but I was going to wait until after our first vacation together to sit down and talk this out. Instead I have Blaine in my face before I even got to have coffee or go swimming or fishing with anyone going on and on like a broken record giving me guilt trips. According to him it’s being a hypocrite that I can see in other people’s brains but I don’t ever tell you guys what’s going on with me. “But then here you are bitching that I’m always throwing temper tantrums about what’s upsetting me. So apparently two of my three mates can’t even decide what they want and the third is always cracking jokes because everything is just so fucking funny to him, even things that are sensitive topics. And I’m so not the only one here with a fucking temper. Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to go see the island and find a room of my own. Alone!” “Guess we’re one of the inner circles who’s in trouble with their Omega,” I grumbled as he walked away. “I make jokes when I’m nervous or don’t know what to say.” “Sometimes you have just let things go before others have and it doesn’t upset you anymore but it does others,” Blaine hedged. “Sometimes. But we all do it. I think it’s just that it was his Florida escape topic and we keep hovering. I heard him tell someone last night that we still think he’s going to run again. I do worry about that a lot.” “So do I,” Rowan admitted with a wince. “Shit. Do you think we’ve been harping and crowding him and didn’t even realize it?” “We love him so I think of course we were,” I answered. “Balls. We’ve got some groveling to do.” I glanced at Rowan. “You especially. That was a bitch thing to say to him. He doesn’t just fly off the handle for any little thing. He’s justified when he gets pissed.” “Yeah, well, I didn’t say he wasn’t. He just extra blows up sometimes.” “Don’t we all?” I challenged him. He bit his lip and then nodded. Yeah, we all did. We picked up our bags and headed towards where the