This Grown Up You Speak Of by J.D. Light

Beckett Anders

At eighteen, I’ve already experienced far too much and lived a life that most would be terrified of. Needless to say, I don’t feel like an eighteen year old kid. Too bad a kid is exactly how Grayson Meadows sees me. Call it a hero worship, call it youthful naivety, but I have a massive crush on one of the men who rescued me from the bunker where my best friend and I had spent weeks being held against our will. I’d maybe believe what I felt was due to gratitude or even the fact that I was young and dumb if I was, in fact, dumb or hadn’t met every single one of my rescuers and didn’t feel the same kind of crazy longing I felt for Grayson. Something about the man makes me feel safe and crazed at the same time. I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything ever. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be his type, and he treats me like a little kid.

Grayson Meadows

Not only is my mate young, but he was just rescued from being held in a fallout shelter. It doesn’t take a psychologist to know the decisions he makes for the next few months around going to be with a clear mind and heart. When I claim my mate, I want to do it knowing I didn’t take advantage of him at a time when he was vulnerable, because of what happened. And everyone knows eighteen-year-olds are great at making terrible decisions. Unfortunately, I will need to be going back to Oregon soon and I don’t know if I can leave my Beckett behind without losing my mind completely. Which is another reason why I can’t tell him what he is to me. It’s one thing for me to have to suffer knowing my mate is out there, possibly living happily without me, but I couldn’t handle knowing he was suffering the effects of mate withdrawal too.