Chapter 30 #2
“I guess…” He opens and closes his mouth. “Look…” He runs his hands through his hair. “I don’t expect you to believe me when I say that I promise I’ll never do that, but I mean it. I haven’t earned your trust yet, rainbow.” He looks at Delilah. “But you know I’ll spend the rest of my life trying.”
“What if you get cold feet?” Sabs squints at him. “Who’s to say you won’t up and leave without saying goodbye again?”
“What I did last year was…” He looks anguished.
“Unforgivable. I thought I was protecting Delilah by shielding her from my life, but I was wrong. I came back to SVU to find her because our time apart only proved that I could never be truly happy without her, and my pack has helped me become a better man. They’ve shown me what’s truly important. ”
Sabs cocks her head. “And what is truly important?”
“Having a real family,” Jagger answers matter-of-factly.
“Man, you’re making me well up!” I blow him a kiss. “We’re brothers. Always and forever.”
“Before I met them, I thought it would be easier to be alone,” Jagger continues, staring at the floor. “That I’d never be truly happy—”
Sabs raises her hand to silence him, clearly unimpressed. “Are you done?”
Jagger recoils. A rush of protectiveness surges through me. This wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for after spilling his heart out. He rarely opens up like this, so Sabs doesn’t get how big of a deal it is. Nash’s shoulders tense, obviously feeling the same.
“Sabs!” Faye cuts in. She’s dabbing at her eyes and sniffling a little. “He’s baring his soul to us. You can’t cut him off like that!”
“Puh-lease. Cry me a river!” Sabs steamrolls over his emotions.
“All I’ve heard tonight is Jagger feeling sorry for himself.
” She shifts to address him directly. “While I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses and realized how much of a fool you were to walk out on the best thing that ever happened to you, we need to know that our friend will be well taken care of. ”
“I have…” Jagger struggles to find his words, her interruption clearly throwing him off course. “Money. We can make sure she’s well provided for.”
Delilah pinches the bridge of her nose. Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say.
“I can hire a bodyguard to protect her,” Jagger adds, seemingly entering free-fall mode, blurting out whatever comes to mind as Delilah shakes her head. “And a driver too. We’ll give her anything she needs for her nest. She’ll have everything she needs!”
“What she needs is a pack she can rely on.” Kady’s eyes narrow. “You can’t buy that level of support.”
“And she’ll have that.” I step in to save my packmate before he digs himself an even bigger hole that he’ll never be able to get out of. “We’ll worship the damn ground she walks— or skates—on.”
“Worship seems a bit strong of a word,” Delilah mumbles.
Sabs slaps her knee. “Worship doesn’t seem strong enough to me!”
“She can rely on us,” Nash growls. When he speaks, everyone’s head turns to face him. Kady and Sabs even look taken aback, presumably because he’s barely spoken until now. “We’re not going anywhere. Delilah is, and will always be, our top priority.”
“Exactly.” Jagger nods. “That’s what I was trying to say… but badly.”
“I know you were,” Faye acknowledges. “We can all tell how much you care about Delilah, even if some of us…” She glares at Kady and Sabs. “Find it harder to accept than others.”
“I’ll never make the same mistake again.” I can tell Jagger means what he says and hope the girls can too. “With time, I hope I can earn all of your trust.”
Kady eyes Jagger with skepticism. “Remember that I’m a Sinclair. My father can make even famous people disappear.”
I laugh then realize from her stony face that she isn’t joking.
“You have one chance.” Sabs holds up a finger. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“I won’t,” he promises.
“We’ll see.” Kady harrumphs. Clearly, she’s still not completely convinced, but I think she may be thawing as she looks at the pretty orange drink in Faye’s hand. “Is that a Mai Tai?”
“I can make you one, if you’d like?” I offer. I’ll make sure it’s the best damn Mai Tai she’s ever tasted.
“I guess one won’t hurt.” Kady flashes me a small smile, so fleeting that I almost think I imagined it. Especially since it’s the first non-threatening expression I’ve seen on her since she arrived. Even the atmosphere in the room feels lighter, and Delilah’s posture relaxes.
Maybe we’ll make it through the night unscathed after all.
“That’s the pizza!” Nash jumps up when the doorbell rings.
“Whoa…” Delilah’s eyes bulge when Nash returns, holding what looks to be about ten oversized boxes in his arms. “That’s a lot of pizza.”
“I wanted to make sure everyone got something they liked,” he says. “It beats burnt lasagna.”
We all follow him into the kitchen. As we walk, I notice Delilah’s hand brush the cuff of Jagger’s shirt, almost like a private show of solidarity. He may not be off the hook yet, but he’s made it through the worst of the evening. Well, hopefully that was the worst of it.
As soon as Nash piles the boxes on the island, Sabs is first to dive into the pepperoni, pulling off a gargantuan piece.
“Marco’s pizza was a good choice.” Kady eyes the gooey cheese trail hanging from Sab’s plate. “Nice job.”
Nash’s cheeks flush. It’s the first nice thing she’s said to any of us.
“Kady’s pack lives around the corner from Marco’s,” Delilah comments. “I swear, that’s all they eat sometimes.”
“That and your baking,” Faye chimes in. “Although I can’t blame them. If Cole didn’t insist on cooking most of the time, I’m sure my guys would eat takeout most days.”
“How long have you and your pack been bonded?” I ask Faye, noting the silvery claim marks on her neck.
“We met at the start of this semester.” Faye goes on to tell us her story while we all load up our plates and find spots to sit or lean against the cabinets.
“Scent matches blow my mind. I used to think they were just made-up stories.” I shake my head. “It’s pretty wild.”
“You can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” Kady mumbles around a bite of pizza.
“You love them.” Sabs nudges her.
Kady only smiles, picking a jalapeno off her pizza then popping it into her mouth.
“Kady’s not bonded to her pack in the traditional sense,” Sabs explains. “They have some kinda crazy omega-induced bond. You’re lucky to be a beta, Tae. It’s less complicated.”
Delilah’s eyebrows lower. “You can’t make assumptions, Sabs.”
“It’s okay. Sabs made a good point.” I drizzle hot sauce over my slice. “Being a beta is much easier than what you guys have to deal with. Although I can’t pretend I wouldn’t mind having your sense of smell sometimes.”
Sabs grins wickedly. “It’s certainly useful in the bedroom.”
Jagger whacks Nash on the back when he almost chokes on his crust.
“But I can smell Delilah more strongly than any omega I’ve ever met,” I declare proudly.
“That happens sometimes.” Kady nods knowingly. “If you’re in a pack with alphas who have found their scent match, you have increased sensitivity to their omega’s smell.”
I smile at Delilah as the rest of the room seems to fall away. “I guess that explains it, then.”
“So, Nash…” Sabs turns her attention to him.
He backs away into the cupboard, his large hands clumsily holding his pizza slice to avoid the toppings from sliding off.
It’s like watching a grizzly being stared down by a fox and losing.
I can see why she makes him nervous. It’s hard to predict what Delilah’s firecracker friend is going to come up with next.
“Delilah told us that you’re Jagger’s bodyguard. How’s that going?”
The muscles in his neck relax as he realizes he’s not being subjected to the same round of questions as Jagger.
“Someone’s got to do it.” He shrugs. “Though I’d rather be fixing up the house.”
“Hey!” Jagger nudges him. “Surely spending time with me is better than replacing a washer?”
“The jury’s still out there,” Sabs teases, making Nash snort.
“Whatever you did to the radiator in The Valley Voice office worked,” Kady tells him. “It’s never been so warm in there.”
“Nash can fix anything,” I interject. “He’s always busy with a project.”
Even while the girls were grilling Jagger, I noticed Nash’s eyes roaming the room, probably mentally checking off the various jobs he’s yet to complete—fixing the loose floorboard, redoing the blinds, replacing a light bulb… It’s not only his hobby but his way of unwinding.
Delilah bats her eyelashes at him. “Maybe you can take a look at my old mixer sometime?”
With a look like that, Nash will do anything for her.
He clears his throat and loosens his collar.
Seeing my packmate turn to mush around her is adorable.
Sure, he’s been on a few dates during the time we’ve known each other, but he’s never been interested enough to want to see anyone more than once.
“I already ordered some motors I think would be compatible, based on the photo you sent,” he replies before heading to the fridge to grab a can, probably to give himself some time to cool off after looking at Delilah for too long.
“Is that a foosball table?” Sabs’s eyes light up as she spots the table hidden under a white sheet in the corner of the room. We thought we’d cover it while we had guests, so the girls didn’t think we had a total bachelor pad.
“You play?” I ask her.
“Play?” She pretends to roll up invisible sleeves. “I don’t just play. I win.”
“Let’s see about that.” I point to the table. “How about a match?”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” Delilah warns me. “Challenging Sabs never ends well for anyone.”
“No takebacks!” Sabs jumps to her feet. “The table! Me and you! Now!”
She frog-marches me over there, followed by the others, who all hang around to watch, and I start to think… I could get used to this.