Chapter SixteenGrace
Chapter Sixteen
Grace
I woke up feeling like a cozy cinnamon roll. Apparently, I’d slept on top of Wes and Evan, covered in a mountain of soft and fluffy blankets.
Finally, they’d allowed Wes to come join me, and I loved the cuddles. I needed reassurance from more than Evan that things would be okay–especially after the last seizure when that awful man had been here.
At least Evan had been with me–and well, Lexi and her pack when Evan had to go.
But I had them both now. Being close to Wes like this made all those old feelings come bubbling to the surface.
How right it felt to be in his arms. How good he smelled.
How kind he was. I still didn’t know how I had gotten here or why.
But if I had to be in another world, at least Wes was here.
Before we were a thing in our dreams, we were friends.
Hopefully, we still were. I could use a friend.
There were parts of me that wanted him to be much more. Would actual sex with him be as good as it had been in my dreams?
The door opened, and the nurse checked on me and the monitors. My cheeks warmed as she eyed the guys sleeping in the bed with me.
She just grinned, whispered that she’d send in breakfast soon, and left.
I carefully extracted myself, put on my slippers and matching robe, and went to the bathroom.
When I came back in, a handsome man with olive skin, salt and pepper hair, and a nice suit, was setting things out on the table.
“Spencer. Hi.” My voice caught in my throat. Wes was handsome. Evan was beautiful. Spencer was mesmerizing. Polished, put together, elegant, and probably in his mid-to-late thirties. He smelled like a freshly oiled baseball glove, and it was fantastic.
“My good doctor.” Spencer turned and smiled. “I come bearing breakfast and requested items.”
“Oh, thank you. That coffee smells wonderful.” On the table was a box of fancy pastries along with a drink holder filled with cups.
“Try this.” He handed me a cup.
That accent. If Greek gods were people, they’d look like Spencer. His brown-grey eyes were beautiful, very different from Wes’ brown-green or Evan’s deep brown.
I sat down and took a sip. It wasn’t coffee. Maybe some sort of tea latte? Also delicious. “Ooh.”
Things finally tasted right. And this? Yum.
Spencer nodded. “Indeed.” He sat down and took one of the beverage containers. “Do you recall what equipment you need for your research?”
Equipment? It was nice that he wanted to give me a lab at his company, but what exactly did he think I was doing? But then Evan said he was a mad scientist with a biotech company. I had no idea what sort of scientific advancements they had here. Many, if I were just going by my medical care.
I took another sip of the frothy, milky tea. “It was just a hobby I was passionate about. I… I don’t think I got here myself by using that research.”
“There’s a lot to consider when working on theories such as that,” he agreed. “Also, as I said before, there could be ramifications not just to proving them, but making them work.”
“True.” That was the biggest reason I didn’t think I brought myself here. It was one thing to prove parallel worlds existed. It was another to configure the theories to actually get from one to the other.
And to actually build a reliable way to travel between parallel worlds? It wasn’t just a scientific marvel, it was a big bullseye. If one person could figure it out, who else had?
“It doesn’t faze you? Where I’m from? I’m from elsewhere. I’ve come to that conclusion. Not that I’d admit that to many,” I said quietly, hoping that I could trust him.
I needed to trust them. Someone. But I wasn’t always good at picking the right people.
“That’s shrewd. No, it doesn’t. I’ve always had an interest in those theories, though my personal research doesn’t lie therein. What specifically were you working on, do you recall?” His voice was so silky.
I’d been thinking about that since last night. One of Lexi’s packmates, Rami, was an engineer working on the lunar program, and our conversation had set some things loose in my murky brain. “Qubits.”
He nodded. “Like mapping the six dimensions?”
Something loosened in my mind and another memory bubble popped. “No, I didn’t get on that project,” I breathed. “Mine was much more fundable. I don’t remember. I’m so sorry.”
But I got flickers. Fences. Badges. Guys with guns.
“Something more practical? Excellent. Not remembering is fine, my good doctor. You don’t have to be sorry. I also understand if it’s proprietary and you can’t tell me.” He opened the box. “Try.”
“Oh, I will. Evan says you have a biotech company? What do you do?” I took one of the beautiful little pastries that had yellow cream and berries.
“Mainly, we focus on painless ways to give medical care. Non-invasive scans, entire batteries of tests with a single drop of blood, vaccinations without needles.”
“Oh, I had the most curious MRI. Back home you had to be in a tube and lie still for ages, this took a few minutes, and I sat in a chair.” I took a bite, and flavor exploded across my tongue. “Mmmm.”
“It’s the fine yet simple things that make life worth living,” he told me.
“Mmmm, do I smell coffee?” Evan mumbled, sitting up. “Hi, Spence.”
“A bag with things for you and Wes is on the chair. I brought your favorite,” Spencer added.
Evan poked Wes. “Food.” He got up, came over, gave me a kiss on the cheek, then lifted me up and sat in my chair and put me on his lap.
I leaned into Evan. It should be weird. But it felt so deliciously right.
He looked at the logo on the cups. “Aren’t we fancy?”
“While you two will eat anything, I figured our good doctor would appreciate them.” Spencer handed Evan a cup.
Wes sat up. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. “Spence. Hi.”
“Katie was over at the house this morning. She gave me a bag and said that Lexi wanted this given to you. It’s in the duffel,” he added.
“Oh.” Wes practically leapt out of bed, went to the duffel, and found a plastic sack. He opened it, and a silly grin crossed his freckled face as his hazel eyes danced.
A silly, gleeful grin.
“Grace, someone wants to see you.” His voice went singsong.
“Who?” I couldn't help but grin back. This was the Wes I remembered. Playful, boyish Wes.
“Mr. Hippo.” Wes withdrew a plush blue hippo from the bag. One that used to be on his bed when we’d hang out in his bedroom in our dreams.
“Mr. Hippo.” My hand went to my heart. The fact that Wes had brought me his most treasured possession to comfort me, was everything.
Wes put him in my arms. “When he heard that you were here, he was thrilled. He missed you so much.”
I hugged the well-loved stuffie, which smelled of Wes. “Of all Wes’ things, I loved Mr. Hippo most.” Mr. Hippo was large, soft, and silly. “Thank you for remembering.”
“I know how much you loved him, so I thought a visit from him would cheer you up.” He squeezed my hand.
“Mr. Hippo? I’m going to learn so many things about you, aren’t I?” Evan laughed as he snagged a pastry, and Wes gave him a kiss.
A thought hit me. If Mr. Hippo were real, other things were.
“This is perfect. Um, can we go to the park? Our park?” I asked Wes. The place where we’d first met in a dream. It was near his house, and we’d often met there.
“Of course. Ooh, we can take a paddle boat out on the lake. We’ll see my room, too.” He beamed. “That would be so much fun. I’m so happy you’re remembering things.”
“Yes! I want to see everything.” All of the places that we’d been to in our dreams actually existed here. I’d absolutely like to swing on our swings, ride in a paddle boat, and make out in his childhood bedroom.
“I’ll show them all to you. Promise.” He squeezed my hand and then disappeared into the bathroom.
“Katie came over this morning? I’m sure Brennan’s in a mood,” Evan replied to Spencer.
“Yes. She sent you action items,” Spencer added.
“Oh, I met her last night,” I nodded. They’d all been so nice.
Wes came back out. “Katie came over last night, too?”
“Yes, she brought the food. She didn’t stay long. Katie’s Brennan’s sister?” I asked. She was part of Lexi’s pack. I’d also met a couple of others. Their pack seemed larger than Wes’.
“Yep. Katie is Bren’s twin and a lawyer.” Wes picked me up as if I were a doll and put me on his lap. “Mine.”
Um, okay. It wasn’t unpleasant, but no one had done this to me before.
At least my tea was within reach. I looked at Evan. “Is this one of those things I have to put up with?”
“You love it.” Evan grinned.
I sort of did. There was a sense of comfort in it. Of rightness.
“Is this for me?” Wes picked up the last cup. “Sorry if I’m going to leave you shorthanded, Spence.”
“I’ll be okay alone, Wes. The doctor says I’m going to sleep a lot because of the concussion.” I felt bad keeping him from his work.
“There are things that he can do from here–and at home. But I need you in the office for that meeting next week,” Spencer added. “Perhaps by then, Grace will be feeling well enough that she can have a tour.”
We finished breakfast, and Spencer stood. “I will see you all later.” Coming over to me, he kissed my hand. “Until later, my good doctor.”
All the breath left my body. He winked and left.
“Told you,” Evan laughed.
“I… I’m sorry. He’s…”
“A flirt,” Wes agreed. “And a showoff. Honestly, I’m glad he likes you. Spence is a good guy. Hand me my phone?”
Evan got his and Wes’ phones.
“Spence wasn’t kidding about Katie and the action items.” Evan scrolled on his phone. “I’ve got to go to work this afternoon. I’ll bring dinner, but I should spend the night at the house.”
“Is that how you do it, switching off every other night or something? Curious,” I asked.
“Not scheduled, but we try to be respectful. But I’ll schedule you, Peaches. Every weekend I’m not working, you’re mine. We should visit my cabin soon,” Evan said.
“You can’t have her all the time.” Wes nuzzled my neck. “But a weekend at the cabin sounds nice.”
“That tickles.” I batted my hand at him. “What if I want Evan all the time? I’ll fight Brennan for him. Jett, too.”
“Go easy on Bren? He has redeeming qualities. This is just bringing up memories of his ex, Caroline,” Evan told me.
“I suppose.” I sighed dramatically. I was actually confused and a little angry about what Brennan had done. “Caroline was a bitch?”
“They went to the same university here in Rockland. They knew each other longer, but she didn’t go to high school with Bren and Wes.
Anyway, Bren was ready to marry her,” Evan said.
“But she wanted to travel the world after graduation. They stayed friends, sort of, after they broke up. She was at Bren and Jett’s wedding.
Then, she started working at his company because she was done traveling.
At some point, she made herself indispensable to us to the point where we were considering bringing her into the pack. Except that she tried to replace me.”
She what?
“What? No one could replace you,” I reassured.
“It was awful.” His look went pained. “She went to great lengths to turn us against each other. She kept telling me that I wasn’t omega enough for them because I’m not the stereotype.
It got nasty. Finally, we realized what was happening, and Bren kicked her out.
As revenge, she did some shitty things, like release a sex-tape they made when they were young and stupid.
We weren’t certain that we’d get through everything, especially the emotional damage, because we hadn’t been a pack that long. ”
“Oh, Evan.” I got off Wes’ lap, stuffed hippo in hand, and hugged Evan. How dare she?
“I’m over it. Bren, obviously, isn’t. He cared about her. While he never mated her, they have a long history.” Evan held me tight. “When you walked in, it was a gut instinct for him. Protect us, and me, before you annihilate us.”
“I have no sex-tapes, promise. I will punch her in the tits if she bothers you again,” I promised. Still, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Brennan’s actions, even if I could understand where he was coming from.
If I had someone like Evan, I’d protect him fiercely too.
“You have an epic slap, use that,” Evan agreed.
“Can we not?” Wes asked.
Evan made a dramatic face. “Fine.”
“I’ll defend you,” I promised. Deep in my heart, I knew that to be true. I’d only been here a few days, and already I’d do anything for them.