Chapter 20Jules
CHAPTER
TWENTY
JULES
At the same time Thane and I finish unpacking the kitchen and putting everything away, Gavin, Baz and Altair bring up the last of the furniture. They fall on the sofa together, sweaty and exhausted. I gather three bottles of lukewarm water and pass them one each. Gavin grasps my wrist and pulls me into his lap, planting a fast kiss on my mouth. I grin and settle against his chest as he cracks open his water bottle and drains it.
It shouldn’t make me so happy—or leave a warm pit of goo in my stomach—just being near Gavin, but it does. How much he cares about me, and I care about him, twists through our bond. The echoes of emotions and impressions will only get stronger the longer we’re together.
He wraps one arm around my midsection and slips his hand under my shirt. I brush long strands of hair that have escaped his ponytail behind his ear.
“Thanks for all the help,” Thane says, sinking into a chair the boys brought up. He still has a lot of unpacking and rearranging to do but there’s no rush. Silo will help. Callum too—Silo might bite him otherwise. “I’ll get you two something nice later on.”
“Cover a few of my shifts and we’re good.” Altair leans into Baz’s side as he drinks deeply. Baz takes the empty bottle from him without a word and sits it with his own while Altair pulls his hair up and wipes sweat from his neck.
“You’re actually going to take time off? Are you sick?” Gavin presses his hand against Altair’s forehead.
Altair slaps his hand away with a tired huff. “Maybe I want to do teen shit once in a while. I could be entering my ho-phase.”
Gavin laughs. The sound vibrates through his body and I lay my hand on his chest, feeling it in my palm. He has such a deep laugh. It’s warm and friendly, and welcomes you to share in the joke. “Good for you. When do you want me to make an appointment so you can start birth control?”
Altair sighs and slumps in his seat as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Being a whore isn’t fun if your father is supportive. So much for my teenage rebellion.”
“How horrible. For you.” Baz throws his arm over Altair, who rolls his eyes but doesn’t push his big brother away.
All of Gavin’s kids are close. They harass and tease one another with nothing but love, but Baz and Altair are on a whole other wavelength. The pair of them seem to be in sync more often than not. Maybe because they’re so close in age; they probably spent a lot of their youth teaming up on Callum.
“Is having a ho-phase normal?” No one I know has ever had one.
Most of them don’t have the same freedom as Altair though. He’s never been beaten or denied food for days for being disrespectful or disobedient. Gavin will never punish him for having sex—or not having sex—with an alpha, with or without permission.
“Your first mistake is thinking there is anything normal about my children.” Gavin clasps the nape of my neck and presses his nose into my hair.
I think all of his children are pretty normal. They seem like good people.
“I’m normal,” Baz protests. Altair chokes on a laugh as he side-eyes Baz.
“By any other definition of the word—sure,” Gavin says as I shift in his lap and glance at the door. It’s getting late now. Callum and Silo are still MIA. After Silo chased Callum out of the house, neither of them reappeared to help move furniture or unpack.
“Doesn’t it say more about you if none of your kids are normal?” Altair draws his legs under his slender body and leans heavily into Baz. He might have a valid point.
“I have three children, and I knew the first one was a weirdo early on, but everyone knows my pullout game is weak.” My face is hot enough to cook an egg and I want to hide behind my hands. Instead I hide in Gavin’s chest as his children sputter and gag.
Thane only laughs.
“I guess it won’t be long before I’m just the oldest of the middle children.” Altair doesn’t sound bothered by the idea. Maybe because he already has experience as an older brother, so what’s one more?
Baz pats his younger brother on the head. His hand lingers and Altair tips into his touch before Baz ruffles his hair. “It’s not so bad. Just don’t let the power go to your head.”
“As if he needs to.” Thane stretches his legs out in front of him. He looks content; at home. I suppose he is. Gavin said Thane lived here with Silo before. I’m not sure why he got married and left—the rooms above Strange Brew are more than big enough for them to live comfortably. “He might be the middle child but he’s still the most spoiled.”
“Hey!” Altair pulls away from Baz. “Callum is way more spoiled.”
“Where is he anyway?” Baz looks towards the door. Is he just now realizing his youngest brother didn’t help aside from a couple of Silo’s things? “Silo has most likely caught him by now. I almost feel bad for him.”
“Don’t. I’m sure they decided against helping and went to play.” A frown settles between Thane’s brows. He’s dealing with a lot. He probably doesn’t like Silo being gone, but I’m pretty sure he’s safe. Callum threw a guy who grabbed me out of the diner a week ago and I hardly know him. He might actually really hurt someone for Silo.
“Let’s hope Callum doesn’t take after his father,” Baz says. Altair snickers.
“Maybe we should start to regulate their time together.” Thane chews on his thumbnail, like any worried dad who doesn’t know what his son is doing. If Callum didn’t seem so fiercely protective of Silo, Thane might have real reason to worry—Silo is a prey shifter, and an omega, who is best friends with a predator who’s an alpha—but those two are fine.
Gavin shakes his head. “Callum can be stupid but he’s not going to put Silo at risk, and if we try to separate them, we’re going to have a real teenage rebellion on our hands.”
“Just tell them it doesn’t count if it’s oral and Silo will swallow all of his kids,” Altair says. Thane makes a choked off, strangled sound.
“You can leave now.” Gavin waves Altair out of the room.
“If I was Callum, I’d be worried about Silo’s teeth, not if he swallows.” Baz really isn’t helping the situation.
Thane covers his face. “Both of you can leave.”
The last thing a parent wants to do is talk or hear about their child’s sex life. I don’t want to hear any of it either, actually.
“The problem here is their mother didn’t swallow,” Gavin says as he wraps his hand around my hip.
“Way to kill the mood, Father.” Altair pops up from the sofa and Baz stands too. “Now we’re forced to leave.” He looks up at Baz. “Buy me dinner?”
Baz tosses an arm over his shoulder and drags him into his side. “You worked hard. I guess I can afford to feed you. Take a drive to the city?”
Altair nods and wraps an arm around Baz as they go. “Yeah. I want ramen.”
I never had any siblings but if I did, I’d want to be as friendly with them as Baz, Altair and Callum are with each other. “It’s nice that your kids are so close.”
Gavin and Thane share a look I’m not sure I understand.
“They’re good kids,” Gavin says after a beat of silence.
I lean into his chest and bask in his warmth. “They have a good father.”