40. Kelly
Chapter 40
J ake is gonna get all the cuddles.
My poor slobber-muffin.
Leo meets us at the front desk when we walk in. His usual pleasant smile falls when he catches sight of my throat. Still, he shakes it off fairly quickly and walks with us to the kennel area in the back, where we find Jake lying on a cushioned dog bed with a cone around his head. His tail wags slowly when he sees us, but he doesn’t try to jump up or go into his usual full-body wiggle.
Even when I open the door and kneel down next to him, he just pushes his big face into my hand, sniffing my palm before licking me a few times. His big brown eyes stare up at me, and I want to cry again because someone hurt my friend. “Oh, my sweet baby. Are you ready to go home and get all the snuggles?” His tail wag speeds up at my words, but he’s still shaky and unsteady when he stands up. Sam grumbles a bit and then squats to pick Jake up, wrapping his arms under my poor pup’s legs so he feels more secure.
Sam goes to put him in the front of the cab for the ride home, but Jake whines and wiggles until Sam puts him down. While I’m pretty sure he couldn’t make it over the tailgate before he was hurt, it doesn’t stop him from trying now. It’s not until Sam lifts him into the truck bed that Jake stops struggling. Flopping gracelessly into the corner between the cab and the bed, he looks up at me, a big doggy smile on his face.
After a brief discussion, we head for the hospital to pick up Steve and Garret. We leave Jake to guard the truck, which is code for snoring comfortably, while we step inside. Garret’s already talked to the doctors this morning, and it only takes a few minutes before a nurse wheels Steve out. He tries to talk Teddy into giving him a piggyback ride—much to the nurse’s dismay—but Sam shuts him down quickly. Steve is still pretty small compared to Sam or Garret, but he’s the only one willing to risk further injury to himself if Teddy falls or can’t keep him up.
The ride home goes fairly quickly, and when we get there, Sam carries Steve inside and deposits him on the couch before coming back for Jake. Once the two injured parties are situated, because I’m still not counting my stupid throat as being hurt, we take stock of the moving truck. I am totally skipping class and work today, with Gabe’s repeated grumbling to stay in bed and rest.
Instead, I spend the next few hours carrying light bags of nesting stuff in while Teddy, Sam, and Garret argue over where to move the furniture and everything else. Sam’s water bill is going to be insane after all the laundry we’ve done this weekend trying to get the nest ready, but with luck, the last load of blankets should be out of the dryer before bedtime tonight.
By late afternoon, Sam and Garret head out to take the truck back to the rental lot in Springfield. Thankfully, Garret’s head is feeling better. He keeps brushing off the injuries to his head in favor of hovering over me. Still, Sam insists that they haul his truck on the trailer, so Garret’s not driving at all. It seems to take forever, and Steve and I spend the entirety of it cuddling with Teddy wedged between us on the couch.
Tomorrow I need to make it into work and class, despite what my alphas and Teddy keep insisting. I’m almost done with school, and if the needy omega hormone spikes are anything to go by, I’ll soon be missing at least a few days of both to help take care of Teddy during his impending heat.
He loves the new mattress that Steve and I ordered. I don’t voice my question on whether or not the shipping information was how Marc found us. Steve doesn’t need the guilt, and what’s past is past, anyway.
Sam is really upset that he hasn’t provided a bed frame yet…and that the one he started—along with most of his lumber and power tools—burned up in the shop. It’s lucky that he’s been storing a lot of the restoration stuff, like sheetrock and insulation, in the house. Still, there’s no telling how long it’s gonna take insurance to get him sorted out.
Teddy helps Sam make chicken alfredo for dinner, and it smells amazing. Steve wants to help, but he can’t stand up for very long yet, so he’s relegated to the living room with me and Jake. The easy camaraderie we had when it was just the two of us seems to have disappeared, but none of the jealousy or anger has returned. Which is a bit frustrating, but I’ll take what I can get. He may just not be in a very joking mood since he was just shot…twice.
With Garret and Steve’s furniture, we finally have a full set of matching chairs, which isn’t super important, but right now I’ll take the wins we can get, especially when we all sit down to eat. I offer up my chair to Steve so he can have an easier time maneuvering from the smaller area he and Garret usually sit in. He thanks me with a small smile, and then Sam moves the table away from the wall to give me more space anyway, earning a mildly annoyed glare from Garret.
I’m especially glad that Teddy’s back. Because while I’ve been trying to work my way through the stretching toys while they were gone, it’s a lot easier if you have an extra hand that can help get the angle right.
Plus, it’s a good time to show my omega the strap-on I got for his heat. I haven’t tried it on yet, so I save it for after I get out of the shower and come out of the bathroom wearing it over my pajamas. It even has an inflatable knot, and all four of the guys look at me with expressions ranging from horror to humor when I pump it up.
Teddy’s the first one to react. “Ok, well, I’m not sure who you think that’s going to fit into, because it’s not me. Fuck me, Pixie, but please tell me that knot’s adjustable, otherwise it ain’t happening.” I want to tell him that’s the point, fucking him—but he looks genuinely concerned, so I make it my mission to read the manual and see how to make it smaller.
Sam snorts, walking to my side and looking down. “You tryin’ to make me feel a little inadequate there, Sugar?”
Steve looks angry. “Oh, it wasn’t enough that you already have a uterus and tits, now your dick’s bigger than mine? Seriously, Pixie?” On that last word, he breaks and starts giggling. “Ok, yeah, no, if Teddy likes it though, I might have to borrow your toy sometimes.” He ruffles my hair before hobbling over to Teddy, pulling him under the covers, and wrapping himself around our omega. It doesn’t escape my notice that he’s still wearing long sleeves and pants. But he can keep that to himself for now.
Garret still stares, slack jawed, for a few moments. “I feel…conflicted.” He pauses, looking from my face to my new toy. “On one hand, you’re always fucking adorable, and I want to fuck you into the mattress until you’re nothing but a little boneless puddle of sweet satisfied beta…on the other, dick…like, really big dick. I…I have no idea what to do with this.” He rubs his chin, looking thoughtful .
My voice is raspy, and not much more than a whisper. “Well, my Alpha.” I pause, enjoying his low rumbling growl when I call him mine. “Instead of fucking me into the bed, you could always fuck me into Teddy during his heat. That way, I don’t get worn out using muscles I’m not used to. You don’t get frustrated with all the raging omega hormones trying to throw you into a rut. And we can see if all the stretching I’ve been trying to do while you guys were gone finally has me ready to take your knot.”
The whimper that comes out of him isn’t very alpha, and judging by Sam’s low chuckle, I’m not the only one who thinks it’s cute. But then Garret’s trying to get me out of the straps without undoing the buckles and I almost end up face-planting when he gives me a massive harness wedgie.
The startled squawk that comes out of my still healing throat causes his hands to wrap around me and lift me up to the side of the bed. My big ol’ dildo is eye level to Sam as I kneel on the mattress. He’s doing an admirable job trying really hard not to laugh, watching us as Garret grows more frustrated by the moment. Finally he throws up his hands. “Hold on, I think I saw some medical scissors in the bathroom, gimme a second.”
He’s so stinkin’ cute when he’s frustrated, and I think I might have to start cussing more if it drives him this close to the edge. But for the sake of my recent purchase, I grab his hands and lead them to the little black clips on the side and show him how to release them. The entire contraption sags down my thighs, pulled by the weight of the toy. I grab the remote control and deflate the knot so it doesn’t stretch out the silicone, and then shimmy the whole thing down my legs, passing it off to Garret to put in the closet…for now.
By the time he gets back, I’m snuggled up against Sam’s chest. Garret’s breath is hot on my neck as his arms wrap around my waist. “That’s not nice, little beta. Do you know what I want to do to you right now?”
I already feel half asleep from Sam’s purr, and my voice is mostly a sleepy mumble. “Purr for me and give me cuddles because I’m really sleepy and have to get up early for work. Also, hope that getting more rest tonight means I’ll have more energy tomorrow.”
He’s silent for a moment, before his breath puffs across the back of my neck. “Ok, yeah. That’s fair.” He rolls me towards him and my body jerks, feeling like I’m falling for a moment. Sam lets out a sharp breath and a loud grumble when my fist tightens in panic. Then I’m settled against Garret’s chest, Sam’s hand on my hip, Teddy’s hand over Sam’s. My alphas’ purrs surround me, and everything feels right.