14. Steve
Chapter 14
S he looks skeptical that I’m wearing her clothes, but she doesn’t say anything. This isn’t meant to be a power move; I just like her shirts. Also, I don’t particularly feel like dressing like I usually do. I’m fully aware that the T-shirt leaves my arms exposed, and all the black ink that covers them, but it feels good not to look like I’m headed for a funeral for once. I grab one of Sam’s flannel shirts out of the closet to wear as a coverup. My courage only goes so far.
“You ready?” I slip my wallet into my back pocket, and my phone in the other.
She nods and calls out, “Jakey, we’re gonna go grab some food. Do you want to stay inside or outside?” The big dog comes lumbering out of the kitchen, still crunching away at a bite of kibble, and walks to the front door before looking back at us.
Kelly lets him out, rubbing his ears a little before she closes the door. “Stay here and protect the house, Jake. Sam’s gone for a few days, so we need you to protect us, ok my baby?” I swear to shit the dog sits up straighter, like it fucking understands her. It’s both cute and also kind of freaky.
“Ok, Steve, sorry…um…my car’s kind of short. I just…yeah, Garret bumped his head, so just…ya’know. You’ve been warned.” She won’t meet my eyes, and her cheeks are a deep pink as she stares at the ground. When I don’t say anything in response, she finally looks up at me, her eyes flicking down to her shirt again. “So…um, are you more into the manga or the anime?”
Oh, we’re doing small talk.
Fun. Fun.
Fuck.
Well, if I don’t reply, I’ll be an asshole. “Both? I prefer the manga. But I’ll watch it too sometimes, mostly dubbed though. I’m not a huge fan of subtitles.”
She’s smiling at me now, her eyes bright and excited. “Oh…after dinner, do you wanna stop by my folk’s house? You can look through what I have there and see if there’s anything you’d like to read…I mean, we picked up a bunch last night, but there’s still more…if you want to.” The offer is surprisingly sweet, and it takes me aback, because I don’t feel comfortable sharing with her yet, despite my current attire .
“Let’s see how dinner goes first. I’m already kinda sore from working on the nest today.” Her face falls, and she looks horrified for a moment. “Oh…Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry Steve. I completely spaced. I just…Let's get you some warm food, then home to stretch out. I might have an extra heating pad around if you need one for your back.” Her hand comes down and rubs across her lower stomach—I forgot that just last night we were at the store picking up supplies for her. She’s probably not feeling great either.
Trying to be more agreeable, I lower myself into her tiny car, and she was right—I am totally gonna get a concussion the first pothole she hits, unless I’m slouching down. It’s still a surprise that the car dips even lower as she gets in. Will this thing even have an undercarriage left by the time we get to the diner?
It soon becomes apparent that the bottom of her car is the least of my worries. This girl acts like her little rust bucket is a race car—sliding around curves in the dirt road, flying over the gravel so fast that I don’t even know if we hit most of the potholes. By the time we finally reach pavement, I’m surprised I haven’t yanked the O-shit handle off her damned car.
She must hear my sharp intake of breath, because she slows her drift as we pull onto the blacktop, and then it’s only another couple of miles to the diner. She’s grinning like a maniac and I wonder briefly if she normally drives like this or if she just wants to torture me. Why the hell didn’t Garret warn me ?
“You ok?” is all she says as we pull into a parking space a few minutes later, and it takes me a moment to get my tongue unstuck from the roof of my mouth enough to answer.
“That was…what was that again? Do you normally drive as if being chased by all the demons of hell, or am I just special?”
Her giggle would be adorable if I didn’t feel like leaning out of the car to vomit all over the sidewalk. Maybe that’s her plan, she wants me to be too nauseated to eat. “No, silly. I don’t get to cut loose often. First it was Mom and Dad, and now Sam and Teddy and Garret. Any of them would flip their lid if I drove like that with them. Heck, I’ve barely gotten to drive at all since I met the guys. Sometimes you just need to turn the music up really loud and go, ya'know?”
I look briefly at her little radio. It doesn’t appear to have a bluetooth, or a CD player. There isn’t even a front plug in for a phone connection. Dear lord, does she only have FM? Her laugh is high and clear as she watches me staring at the dashboard. “Come on, Steve, let’s get some food. Then maybe some books, a heating pad, and home.” She bounces out of the car like some kind of highly caffeinated squirrel.
Dear god, what have I gotten myself into?
My legs are still unsteady as I climb up and out of the car. She giggles again when I lock her door, and the engine makes a low ticking sound as I circle the hood to walk inside. It’s odd that I even notice that, but then again, there are barely any sounds, even right in the middle of town. None of the constant hum of traffic I’m used to, or the people passing on the sidewalk. Just the birds settling in for the night in a tree beside the building, and the low hum of the streetlights kicking on for the evening. It would be peaceful if it wasn’t so creepy.
The bell jingles over the door as we walk in, and Kelly looks around, seeing the server. “Oh, Hope. I didn’t know you worked here.”
A younger woman waves back at us. “Yeah, for a while now. Just sit wherever you want. I’ll be there in a few.” Kelly grabs a couple of menus off the counter and leads me back towards the far wall, stopping in front of the last booth.
“This ok?” she asks, and I nod briefly before sitting down with my back to the wall.
She stands there fidgeting and staring at me. “Do you mind? I…I don’t like my back exposed. I just…Can you scoot over so I can sit next to you?”
That’s fair. I don’t like people walking up behind me either, so I scoot closer to the corner and she slides in next to me. We’re both so scrawny that we could probably fit another one of us in the space that’s left. When I go to pluck one of the menus from her hand, her grip is tight, and I tug a couple of times before she finally relaxes enough to let go.
“Sorry, Steve. I don’t…I don’t always deal well with people. It’s easy enough with Sam and Teddy. They feel like my family, like they’re mine, ya’know? But…I’ve never had a lot of friends, or really any serious relationships before. I just can’t…Cripes, this is embarrassing.” The tips of her ears are bright red as she searches for the right words .
Instinctively I reach out, touching the back of her hand, and she flinches briefly before relaxing and letting me touch her freely. The waitress, Hope, chooses that moment to make it to our table. She takes in our joined hands and smirks at Kelly. “Another alpha, Kelly, really? Well, I guess now that Pack Asher’s officially bonded, you had to find somebody else to chase after.” The bitch tries to sound offhanded, but I see the sparkle of malice in her eyes, and Kelly sinks down into the seat beside me.
That doesn’t work for me.
I mean, I might not like her, but no.
Besides, even if she’s not mine, she’s Teddy’s.
And Sam’s.
And Garret’s.
Fuck.
I summon my best stereotypical flamboyant gay best friend voice. “Oh, honey no. Kelly’s my beta-in-law. She’s getting mated to my brother…and my omega, and my alpha. But I don’t like pussy. Speaking of which, if you could stop being such a cunt and bring us a couple of cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes, that would be just fabulous .” I smile sweetly and bat my eyes at the stupefied waitress.
Kelly and Hope both stare at me open-mouthed—Kelly’s ears turning redder by the second, and I worry I’ve taken it too far. But before our beta can either laugh or cry—I’m not sure which one I’m waiting for right now—Hope huffs and walks off. Thank fuck another older waitress is behind the counter, so at least if we have problems, like something disgusting in our food, we have someone to actually take it up with.
I turn back to Kelly in time to see a tear slide down her cheek. “Oh, Kelly, no. No, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just…She was being such a bitch, and I reacted. I’m so—” My apology is cut off by a loud snort and then she’s laughing so hard more tears run down her face. Wrapping my arm around her to keep from falling out of the booth, I wait until everything has tapered off before handing her a napkin.
She wipes her face with it before turning to me. “Sorry, Steve, the voice just kind of surprised me.”
She lets out another little giggle. “And I went to high school with Hope. She’s always been mean. First, about the fact that I had a job at the garage, which is supposed to be a man’s job.” Her fingers make air quotes on this last part before she huffs out, “Tell that to Sal.”
I’ve heard a bit about the female alpha who works at the shop with Kelly, but I’ve only met her the one time, when we first got to town. In truth, it was enough to make me jealous—hearing Bear say she’s pretty. That’s all it takes, apparently.
Fuck, I really am a petty bitch.
Shit.
Kelly waves her hands in the air like she’s wiping away the conversation. “Anyway, thank you. I appreciate you standing up for me. I’m…I’m not used to people doing that. Mom and Dad, yeah. But…I don’t have a lot of people. Mostly the guys at the garage, and they’re closer to family. I have a few that I talk to at scho ol, but not even that, really. Spencer started following me around this week, and I think that has more to do with trying to get Teddy to introduce him to another omega.” She sniffs again, her eyes still leaking a little, but I don’t think it’s still from the laughter.
Oh great, common ground.
Just what I don’t need.
What would Sam do…or Bear?
Fuck, I’d channel my twin if it would help her stop crying.
Well, ok, I won’t kiss her, that’s for damn sure.
Ew, gross.
But hugs, I can do hugs.
I wrap my arm around her. She really is petite. Not as small as an omega, but I can see why Bear calls her Pixie. Pulling her against my side, it doesn’t feel like the intrusion I thought it would, having her in my space. Maybe it’s because her clothes still smell like the rest of the pack, maybe it’s shared trauma. Regardless, she shouldn’t be sad right now. I hold her and rock gently back and forth until the older waitress comes to our table with the food.
“Sorry for the wait, folks. Hope had to go on break but just call me if you need anything else.” She waits patiently while I inspect the burgers and push one of the milkshakes into Kelly’s hands. Then she nods and walks back to the front counter. It’s too much to hope that Hope gets fired, but as long as we don’t have to deal with her again, it’ll make my night .
It takes a bit, but I finally manage to pull Kelly out of her funk by asking her a million questions about her favorite manga, and the town, and what else she does for fun. She’s regaling me with a story about her bosses’ pack meeting their omega when the waitress brings over our check. “Everything ok tonight? You can just take care of it up front when you’re ready.” It seems more like a polite way of asking us to leave, and I’m fine with that. Kelly did say everything closes early around here.
“Come on, Pixie. Is it too late to stop and meet your parents and get some books? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find any baseboards tomorrow out in the shop, and it’s going to be super boring at the house otherwise.” She smiles up at me, and yeah, I think I should try to make this work. Not a relationship like with any of the rest of our pack, but friends. She really can be my beta-in-law, maybe?
She jabs me lightly in the ribs before handing her debit card over to the waitress, who’s now working the register. “Well, you could always use more practice on the kart racing. Maybe then you could actually beat me next time.” Her smile is huge as she takes her card back and we walk out into the parking lot.
I have an overwhelming urge to ruffle her hair. Instead, I snark back, “Oh, har har, very funny. I happen to know for a fact that you only won because Garret would blue shell my ass every time I passed you for first place.”
Her fake gasp of shock brings a smile to my face now. “Steve, are you insinuating that I used my feminine wiles to cheat? ’Cause let’s be honest here, I don’t personally see that as being even remotely possible. If Garret was waiting for you to get in first place to shoot, it’s because he’s your brother. Come on, you’ll understand when you meet Tuck.”
Thankfully, the ride to her parents’ house is much more sedate.