21. Sabs #3
Ren pulls the entire cake over to her with a fork, and I swear, I’ve never seen her smile so hard. “It’s all yours, gorgeous.”
Cole chews his lip. “Unless you’d prefer the carrot cake? That looks great too.”
“I prefer my cakes vegetable-free.” She screws up her nose then licks her lips at her chocolate bounty. “I really am happy to share, though.”
“Oh, we know.” Laz smirks. Relief fills me, knowing his dirty joke is a sign that he’s starting to loosen up again.
“Hey!” I pretend to retch. “I don’t need to hear about what you guys get up to in the bedroom!”
“Please.” Cole motions to my guys, who are all hovering around the island. “Make yourselves at home.”
“Here.” Damon thrusts a plate into Adler’s hands with an unnecessary amount of force. “Eat.”
Adler chuckles nervously, like he’s been caught in a hostage situation, while Drax hums while loading up his plate, enjoying Adler getting some heat.
“How about we move outside?” Faye suggests, Cole already moving to open the large doors that lead onto their private beach. “It’s a gorgeous day.”
“Maybe play some volleyball?” My palms are itching to get back to it. “I can beat you again, Adler.”
“You’re never gonna let me live that down, huh?”
“Nope.” I wink at him. “Never.”
“You’ll soon learn just how competitive Sabs can be,” Cole says. “She’s been beating us all for years.”
I stick my tongue out. “And I’ll continue to.”
“Hey, isn’t your friend named Delilah?” Luca examines the boxes from the bakery as he helps Faye and Ren gather some of them up to take outside.
I wave an apple strudel. “So you have been paying attention to what I say.”
“To you?” Fuck, Luca’s cute when he smiles. He has the sweetest dimples, ones I have not yet properly appreciated. “Always.”
“Jagger Knight bought the bakery and named it after Delilah when they started courting again,” Faye explains as we head out into the sunshine.
“Every omega in Stella House now gets free food there for life, but I keep slipping cash into Dora’s tip jar because I feel so bad about not paying.
” Dora is the adorable owner of the bakery who never accepts anything from us.
“Oh, and Dora loves my gram’s new hand lotion too, so I keep giving her more every time I’m there. ”
“That seems a fair trade, but Jagger will be mad if he finds out,” I tut, wagging my finger at her. “He loves spoiling Delilah,” I add for the benefit of the guys.
“I can’t believe she’s with the Jagger Knight.” Luca places the sandwiches on a picnic table. “He’s making his own music now, right?”
“Apparently,” I reply. “Delilah says what he’s working on is amazing. Although she’s a little biased. She keeps trying to get him to do a private show for us, so hopefully we can hear for ourselves eventually.”
“We all need to get together again soon.” Faye picks up a chocolate chip muffin. “It feels like it’s been too long.”
“Yeah, I ruined our last brunch.” I smile apologetically, rubbing my claim mark that serves as a reminder of when all my friends hurried to be with me in Stella House post-bond. “Sorry about that.”
“Why don’t you invite all the Stellas over to our place?” Adler suggests, sitting down next to me as I plant my ass on a picnic blanket. “I’ll stay close by, but you can have some girl time.”
I kick off my sneakers and peel off my socks, desperate to feel the sand between my toes again. “Yeah, I’d love that.”
“I can dig out some foot spas and maybe schedule a massage for you all?” Luca offers.
“Luca is studying to be a sports physical therapist,” I tell Faye, noting Damon’s surly look.
“I’d hire omega masseuses, obviously,” Luca interjects, obviously sensing Damon’s reluctance to let anyone else near his omega. “I know the best ones.”
“That sounds heavenly,” Faye groans, settling down on one of the deckchairs. “My shoulders are aching from all the weeding I’ve been doing lately.”
“I’ve been feeling a little tense since bonding. How long will this whole bond adjustment period last anyway?” I ask, knowing the Silverwood Pack will give me an honest answer. “It’s much better than it was, but it still feels a little weird to be too far away from each other.”
“It varies,” Ren tells me as he sits at the picnic table with Luca. “With me and Faye, it was only a few days. With Damon, it took a little longer.”
“If Damon had his way, I’m sure he’d be with honeybee all the time,” Laz teases.
“What about you, Laz?” Adler dares to ask my brother a question. “How long did it take?”
“A week or so, I think.” I’m glad when Laz replies in a pleasant tone instead of snapping. “Cole and I bonded with Faye on the same day.”
“I’m guessing because you didn’t know each other before, it might be on the longer side,” Ren says.
“You’ll get used to it quickly.” Faye smiles at me. “It’ll settle in no time.”
“And do you ever get used to feeling each other’s emotions?” I ask.
“It’s still weird.” Faye laughs then smirks. “But it does have some advantages…”
“Yes!” Cole returns from inside with a volleyball in his arms. “I knew we had one somewhere.”
Adler quirks an eyebrow. “Rematch?”
I’m already on my feet. “You betcha!”
He’s going down all over again.