Chapter 4Jules
CHAPTER
FOUR
JULES
It’s been three weeks since Gavin started feeding me. Despite telling myself after every meal not to return to Strange Brew, I knock on the back door every other day, shortly before noon. The breakfast crowd is gone and the lunch rush usually hasn’t started, so Gavin doesn’t have to work so quickly to feed me and his customers at the same time.
It’s Sunday, and I’m not expecting to see Callum when I step out of the alley beside Strange Brew. I’ve been avoiding him like the plague, but I should’ve known he’d be here on the weekend. There’s a boy with him—not an alpha, or a predator. Maybe his friend. Silo.
“Jules, right?” Callum says as he stands.
I take a step back. He’s the last person I want to deal with. “I’ll come back later.”
“Wait. No. Just—” He pushes his fingers through his hair. His father is a good man. It’s obvious Gavin is trying to raise Callum to be one as well, but who knows if he’ll be successful. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. About before. I wasn’t at my best. I know that’s not an excuse, it wasn’t you or anything you did, I was just—” He exhales as his shoulders slump. “It was me. I was a dick and I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“I appreciate your apology.” It’s not forgiveness, because what he did wasn’t okay. His sorry doesn’t erase the fact he grabbed or shoved me. “It was scary.”
“You can kick me if you want. Or bite me.”
“What?” Why would I do either of those things? “No way.”
Callum lifts his chin and squares his shoulders. “I can take it. Silo does it all the time when I’m an alphahole.”
I glance toward the omega standing a few steps back. “You shouldn’t hurt one another; that’s not what friends do.”
“It’s fine. He deserves it sometimes.” Silo slips his hand into Callum’s and presses against his side.
“Not that one time. That was just you being mean,” Callum mutters, just loud enough for me to hear. I’m not sure I’m supposed to hear.
“That’s a kink, not punishment,” Silo whispers back.
“I’m leaving.” Wherever that conversation is going, I want no part of it.
“Father’s in the kitchen. We’re having Philly cheesesteak and fries for lunch,” Callum calls as I retreat. I pause as my stomach rumbles. “Or, well, Silo’s having steamed broccoli, so there’s that too.” Both sound good. I lean more towards vegetables, but I’m too broke and hungry to be picky about what I’m given.
“Should we all go in together? I’m hungry,” Silo says.
“You’re always hungry, Thumper.” Callum tosses an arm over Silo’s shoulder, pulling the smaller boy towards the door. Silo laughs and allows himself to be dragged. After a moment of hesitation, I follow.
Entering the kitchen is always the most awkward part. Every time, I expect Gavin to say something like “You again?” or “No more handouts,” but he never kicks me out or turns on me.
“There you are. I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to look for you. This is about done. Wash up and get settled.” Surely he’s talking to his son and Silo. Why would he come looking for me? Why would he have been waiting for me at all? “Jules?”
I frown and point to myself. “You’re talking to me?”
Gavin laughs. I really like it when he laughs. I like a lot of things about him. Not just his pretty blue eyes and handsome face, or the richness of his voice when we talk about nothing important, but his kindness too. “Who else? Those two know the drill.”
I wash up before I sit where I normally do. Gavin looks at home and peaceful as he works. Another thing I like—watching him and his command over the kitchen.
“Come grab your plate and we can join the others,” he says.
I glance at the door that leads into the diner. “What about your customers?”
He doesn’t really want me around them, does he?
His smile is soft and warm. “We’re closed on Sunday. It’s just us and the boys today.”
“You come here on your day off?” I bite my bottom lip and look away.
He never questions me and I never ask questions either, but I want to know why he comes all the way to Strange Brew to cook for his kids. Why not cook for them at home?
“Have to count inventory and catch up on the books,” he explains as he balances plates. I’d offer to help carry them but my hands are the only part of me that isn’t dirty. It’s been... a while since I took a proper shower. No one wants me handling their food. “Altair’s still learning what’s what. It’ll be a few more years before I can enjoy my Sunday.”
“Oh.” I grab my plate and follow him out of the kitchen.
One table is occupied by a group of four. Altair and Callum I know because I’ve seen them around the diner, and Silo I just met, but there’s another boy at the table, another alpha predator. He looks to be my age.
“Oh, I see. I do have another son.” Gavin sets plates on the table. “Jules, this is Baz. Baz, this is Jules. He’s new to Pine Glen.”
“Nice to meet you, Jules.” Baz holds his hand out. I glance at my hands but I just washed them. His grip is loose and easy as I accept his handshake before he releases me altogether. “Welcome. How are you liking it so far?”
“It’s... nice.” It’s not home and anywhere is better than there.
Gavin pulls out a chair and motions for me to sit. I do, and he drops into the seat beside me. Is it really okay for me to eat with him and his family?
“Nice.” Callum scoffs. “Small towns are where hopes and dreams go to die.”
“I haven’t murdered you. Yet,” Baz tells him with a grin as he picks up his fork.
Callum slumps in his seat but the edge of his mouth tips upwards. “Because you’re a terrible big brother. Altair is going to be the one to do me in and cement his place as my favorite.”
“Don’t lie. Silo will kill you before I get around to it,” Altair says before biting into his sandwich. Honestly, I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard him speak.
“I’m just biding my time,” Silo teases his friend.
Callum tosses an arm around Silo and drops a kiss on his hair. “That’s why you’re my best, best friend.”
“Wait until he’s eighteen. The life insurance payout will have me on a tropical island until I’m old and dying,” Gavin says.
I can’t picture my family sitting around a table, joking about murdering one another. Mostly because in my family, no one would know what’s a joke and what isn’t. It’s nice that they’re all so comfortable with one another, but I feel out of place. I shouldn’t be at this table, intruding on their lives.
I bow my head over my plate and go for the broccoli. It’s not under or overcooked—it’s freaking perfect. I shove a forkful into my mouth.
“The broccoli’s good, right?” Silo asks. He has a lot more on his plate and only half of a cheesesteak. “What kind of shifter are you?”
I open and shut my mouth. “I... I’m a pika.”
Callum takes out his phone and taps on the screen. “Oh god, they’re so cute. Look.”
Altair takes the phone when Callum shoves it under his nose. He smiles. “Adorable. Why can’t you be cute and fluffy?”
A slow burn works its way across my cheeks and down my neck. I tuck my chin into my chest.
“Shut up,” Callum says as he takes his phone back. “I’m cute. Silo’s fluffy. It works.”
Silo crosses his arms over his chest. “Are you saying I’m not cute?”
Callum’s eyes widen. “I’m not not saying you’re not cute.”
Baz laughs. “Okay, Pinocchio.”
“Father—”
“If you can’t take the heat—” Gavin shrugs, offering his youngest son no help.
Callum rolls his eyes. I cover my mouth, hiding a chuckle behind my hands.
“I have some old clothes if you want them, Jules,” Altair says around a mouthful of food.
I shake my head. “I can’t take your clothes.”
Gavin has done enough for me. I can’t accept more help from the Strange family.
“You’d be doing me a huge favor.” Gavin squeezes my shoulder, a soft grasp that lasts barely a moment before he releases me. “They’re collecting moth dust just sitting in the garage.”
“Oh... then... I guess.” It’s probably a lie but the idea that I can do him a favor is appealing. He’s been helping me so much; I want to help him, so he knows how much I appreciate everything he’s done.
“How about after lunch I give you a ride and let you dig through the bags?” My first instinct is to decline. I’m dirty; I don’t want to get his car dirty. If I say I’ll walk, he’ll tell me I’m being ridiculous since I don’t even know where he lives.
“Okay,” I whisper as I push broccoli around my plate. “If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Like I said, you’re doing me a favor.”
“Where are you staying, anyway?” Altair asks.
“Around.” I’m not staying anywhere. I don’t have the money. Thankfully, it’s not hard to find small spaces to squeeze into, and the nights are getting warmer so more often than not, I’m not that cold.
Gavin presses his shoulder against mine. I glance over. “Do me another favor and finish my broccoli, yeah?”
“That’s cheating!” Baz still has a pile of untouched broccoli but all the predators at the table are avoiding the green stuff.
“Mind your father. Eat your broccoli, Baz.”
“You’re never going to grow otherwise,” Altair says. I can’t tell which of them is older, but that seemed like a younger brother mocking an older brother who has said the same thing to him countless times.
“Still taller than you,” Baz says before he eats a forkful of broccoli. Altair glares.
“Barely,” Callum whispers to Silo, who chuckles. “And I’m taller than both of them.”
Of all the boys, Callum looks the most like Gavin. His hair is shorter, and he doesn’t have the same beard his father does, but the shape of their face is the same—big eyes, sharp nose, wide jaw.
“Mom should’ve swallowed.” Altair stabs at his broccoli.
“Who says she didn’t?” Gavin sits back in his chair with a grin.
“Lunch is canceled! Come on, boys.” Baz stands with his plate. Altair gags and stands too. Callum and Silo follow as the four boys rush to escape Gavin, but the damage has already been done. They can’t unhear what they’ve heard.
Gavin laughs as he returns to his food. Knowing Gavin has—or had—a partner who swallows doesn’t bother me. If anything, I’m curious.
What is Gavin like in bed? Is he kind and gentle? Does he prefer an open and honest conversation about what is and isn’t expected, or does he take exactly what he wants without a care or comfort for his partner?
My cheeks are hot enough to fry an egg and I bow my head, ashamed of myself for even thinking about Gavin’s sex life. It’s none of my business what he’s like in the bedroom—he might be handsome, but it’s not like that between us. What would he want with someone like me?