Chapter 17
Sunny thought she’d probably always smell like grilled meat, and she actually didn’t mind. The smoke from the grill, the charred meat, the veggies and condiments. She really loved it all, and never expected she’d find so much joy doing something like that.
But it was because of Seneca. He so very clearly loved what he did and she loved sharing it with him.
“What’s got you smiling so much, sweetheart? Thinking sexy thoughts about yours truly?”
Her cheeks heated and she let out a little giggle as she slid a basket next to the grill with a bun for the burger he was cooking. “I can’t help it. I’m just having a really good time.”
Something caught her attention at the corner of her eye and she froze, watching as a male with his back to her looked around.
Was that an enforcer?
The male turned and waved at a female and young child, and she realized he was a patron.
She wasn’t lying—she was having a great time with Seneca—but she couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder every ten seconds.
The dinner rush was in full swing with long lines and it kept her occupied.
But not occupied enough to keep her anxiety at bay.
Seneca set the cheddar-topped burger on the bottom bun, and she added a fried onion ring, lettuce, tomato, and barbecue sauce before putting the top bun on it. Grabbing a scoop of salty fries, she added it to the basket and said, “Here you go.”
The patron grinned. “It smells amazing, thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, enjoy,” she said.
As she took the next order, Seneca added cheese to two burgers. He was so calm and confident. She really wished she felt the same way. She’d been deliriously happy a minute ago, and then she’d gotten scared. Now she couldn’t get out of her head.
“Bun?” he asked, nudging her gently with his elbow.
She blinked. “Right. Whoops.” She grabbed two baskets and placed buns in them.
He gave her a side glance and said with a low voice, “You’ve been looking around all shift. Want to talk about it?”
She tried to sound casual, but she didn’t think she was successful. “What if someone shows up?”
“Security’s very tight. And I’ve got your back. You’re safe, sweetheart.”
She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. “My head knows that. The rest of me is struggling.”
He added cheese to the burgers and set them on the buns, dropping more to the grill after a quick count of the people in line, and she busied herself with finishing the burgers.
“I’ve got you, Sunny.”
His tone and his assurance eased the tension creeping up her spine. “I’m so glad for that.”
He gave her his thousand-watt smile and went back to work.
She refused to let herself be scared all the time. Seneca was right. The prowl might be full of assholes, but that didn’t mean they wanted to have a battle in front of humans. So she should relax. Because Seneca was a big bear and he had her back.
They worked for the next hour mostly in silence, save for chats with the patrons in line and Seneca making her smile with a well-timed joke. By the time the line had dwindled and the last of the burgers were claimed, the sky had turned to a beautiful sunset, all pinks and oranges and deep violet.
After cleaning up the grill, they walked through the park to the security building and turned in the walkies that all staff were carrying now in the park so they had immediate access to security if anything was up.
Two guards were in the main room of the security building and Seneca introduced them to Sunny—Alife and Felix, who were both wolves and part of the security team. “Save us some burgers next time, yeah?” Felix asked.
“You got it,” Seneca said.
She and Seneca walked to the employee cafeteria and down the flight of stairs underground. “I want to grab Fallon,” she said. “I’m starving and she hardly ate anything at lunch. She’s so worried about everything.”
“Well, it’s just been a day,” he pointed out. “Hopefully, as things settle down, she’ll realize she’s safe.”
She hoped so too.
They found Fallon in her room, reading a cookbook from Seneca’s bookshelf.
“I didn’t want to turn on my tablet.”
“It’s safe, now, though,” Seneca said. “You can use it.”
“I’m okay. For now. I watched TV and also did the dishes and cleaned.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Sunny said.
“I needed to keep busy. It’s okay. I like doing that kind of thing, remember?”
“Ugh, yeah. You always made me look bad because your room was so clean.”
“Sorry.”
“Let’s go get dinner in the market. You need to get out of the house.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Liar, liar. Now come on, girl. The food in the market is amazing. We’re not going topside, it’s all down here.”
“You’re not going to let up?”
“Nope,” she said, rocking on her heels.
“Fine.” She rose to her feet. “You’re so controlling.”
“Just with people I love.”
They left the house and private living area, walked down the hall to the cafeteria and right to the counter, where Hayden, one of the sleuth members, was taking orders. They all ordered the special: pork roast with fried apples and a baked potato.
When they’d picked a table, they settled and ate, and Sunny and Seneca filled the time talking about their shift at the burger stall.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Fallon said. “It seems like you found your groove.”
“You will too. Give it time.”
Fallon stabbed at a tender apple. “I don’t know about that. Everything feels so strange, like I’m walking through a dream or in some temporary limbo.”
“You’re not going back, you know,” Sunny said.
Fallon didn’t answer. She chewed thoughtfully, her shoulders relaxing a little. “I’ll try not to feel like I’m in limbo.”
Sunny smiled.
“Hey,” a feminine voice said.
“Oh, hi,” Sunny said. “Fallon, these lovely ladies are Adriana and Celeste. They run the nail salon. Adriana is mated to a gorilla and Celeste is mated to a lion.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Fallon said.
“Welcome to the park,” Celeste said. “We were going to close up for the evening and then I thought, why not ask you two to come have a mani and hang out with us?”
“Oh, I’d love that so much,” Sunny said. She looked at Fallon. “What do you think?”
“Sure,” she said.
“Come over when you’re finished,” Adriana said.
The females walked back to the nail salon and Seneca said, “Want me to hang out?”
“Nah, it’s a good time for a girls-only activity. I’ll find you in the house when we’re done.”
He gave her a kiss. “Have fun.”
She and Fallon dropped their plates off at the counter and walked into the nail salon, taking seats in front of the two manicurists.
Celeste took Sunny’s hands, setting one in a small bowl of warm, soapy water and began to gently file the other hand. Adriana worked on Fallon’s nails, and they talked about manicures and nail polish and what would hold up to lots of hand washing and high heat at the grill for Sunny.
“Hey, lovelies,” a female said.
“Oh, Dani, hi,” Sunny said. “This is my bestie, Fallon.”
Dani was a pretty blonde and ran the makeup shop in the market. “It’s nice to meet you. I brought you a gift bag with some of my favorite skincare supplies.” She set the bag next to Fallon and took a seat.
“This is so very sweet. Thank you,” Fallon said. “Are you mated to a shifter or are you a shifter?”
“I’m human. My mate is Neo, he’s a gorilla.
I used to do makeovers at a beauty salon, but now I get to do them here for the park shifters.
And you’re very welcome. I didn’t know jaguar shifters were a thing, but then again until not too long ago I didn’t know any kind of shifters were real.
My mom is mated to a stallion shifter and he has a son named Khyle.
They weren’t allowed to tell me about shifters, but I came here for a VIP tour and met Neo and found out about the whole thing. ”
“It must have been really eye-opening,” Sunny said.
“Heck yeah. My brother is mated to a wolf named Tris. They live in Little River, and my dad and Khyle run a construction company and Tris is the caretaker for the stallions.”
“She runs a farm?” Fallon asked.
“Yep. She’s really good at it too. My mom helps, but Tris is the bomb.”
“I used to dream about living on a farm. I read a book when I was a kid about a girl who cooked for a farm crew. I always thought that would be an amazing life.”
“It sounds wonderful,” Sunny said. “I’m all about the park life now, though.”
“Same,” Dani said. “You never know where life will take you.”
“Good point,” Sunny said.
She noticed that Fallon looked wistful and hopeful, and it was something that she hadn’t seen since Fallon had shown up at the park.
When their nails were done, they thanked the females, then returned to the private living area. Now that she was mated to Seneca, she had all the access codes, but Fallon wasn’t allowed to have them yet.
“Dani is really sweet,” Fallon said.
“She is. So are Adriana and Celeste.”
She opened the door and held it for Fallon, then walked through and closed it behind her.
As they reached the house, Sunny asked, “Are you okay?”
“I think so. Tonight helped. Thanks for making me leave the house, I didn’t know how much I needed it.”
“I’m happy to bully you anytime.”
They parted ways in the hall, Fallon going to try out her new skin care supplies and Sunny ready to spend some time with her sexy mate.
Seneca was sprawled on the bed watching TV on his phone, wearing only jeans, his hair tousled like he’d just run his hands through it.
Her tigress growled.
She’d freaking missed him.
Toeing off her shoes, she stripped off her jeans and shirt and made her way to the bed, crawling up beside him. “How was it?” he asked.
She tilted her fingers so he could see them in the light of his phone. “Behold the sparkly goodness.”
“Beautiful,” he said, putting his phone on the nightstand. “Just like you.”
“Fallon is better. Tonight helped her.”
“I’m glad she’s got you.”
“I just want her to feel safe the way that I feel safe with you.”
“It’ll happen,” he promised.
He kissed her gently, lips brushing over hers like a sweet promise.
She closed her eyes and breathed in his warm scent.
She felt whole.
And hopeful.
Because of the big bear who held her so tenderly.
She wanted that for Fallon, and hoped she’d find it someday.
But for now, her bestie was safe and that’s what mattered.
“I missed you,” she whispered, turning in his arms and kissing him. “So freaking much.”
“I missed you too, sweet tigress.”