Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Emily
The third pizza slides onto the cooling rack with a hiss of steam. I wipe flour from my hands onto my jeans and glare at the oven timer. One more pizza to go. I should’ve gone to the airport.
“Leif will be fine,” Jared says from his perch on the counter, legs swinging, a slice of pepperoni pinched between his fingers.
He pops it into his mouth and chews with the smug satisfaction of a man who’s been stealing toppings all afternoon.
“That’s not the point.” I drop the pizza cutter into the sink with a clatter. “Those two haven’t spoken properly in months. What if they spend the entire drive not talking?”
“Then it’ll be one long, awkward trip back to Pinecrest.” Jared steals another pepperoni. “But I have faith in our Omega. Leif’s been doing a good job of earning forgiveness. One could even say he’s been eager.” He punctuates the sentence with a waggle of his eyebrows.
Heat flushes my cheeks. “Shut up.”
“Are you going to say it’s not true?” His grin widens. “After last night, on the couch—”
When I swat at his knee, he catches my wrist mid-air, his fingers warm and callused as he gives a tug.
I stumble forward, caught between his spread thighs, and he leans down.
His mouth finds mine, tasting of tomato sauce and stolen pepperoni, and his free hand slides around my waist to pull me closer.
My palm lands on his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart through his thin T-shirt, and I let him draw me in, the argument dissolving as his lips move with mine.
The oven timer dings.
Jared groans into my mouth. “That thing has the worst timing.”
“Just like its owner.” I slip out of his grip and grab the oven mitts. The pizza comes out golden and bubbling, and I transfer it to the cooling rack beside the others. Steam rises in a garlic-scented cloud. “Hand me that empty pan.”
He slides the baking sheet across the counter without getting down. “We should buy a pizza oven. The kind that gets up to nine hundred degrees. Crispy crust. Blistered edges. The works.”
I gesture at the surrounding kitchen, with its narrow counters, the sink that doesn’t fit a baking sheet, and the refrigerator tucked into its alcove with an inch to spare for the door. “And where would we put it? Between the toaster and the fruit bowl?”
“Good point.” His legs stop swinging. “The cottage is getting too small, Em.”
The words catch me off guard, and I drop the empty pan into the sink before I turn on the water, letting it run hot over my flour-dusted fingers.
“Have you thought about it?” he asks. “What happens when we join the Wrights? When you bond with Leif? If Grady comes into the family?”
His next question is quieter. “Are we all going to live in separate houses?”
“Everyone is just getting settled,” I murmur, thinking of all the new cabins I helped build. “It would be silly to ask them to move again. And Grady hasn’t even said he’s staying, yet.”
Jared hops down from the counter and steps up behind me, his hands flattening over my stomach. “What about after we have a pup? Or two? Have you given it no thought? Us all being together?”
My fingers curl under the scalding stream of water, but I don’t pull away.
“Yeah.” The word comes out quiet. “I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Talk to me.”
I turn off the water and dry my hands on the dish towel hanging from the oven handle. “I’ve always imagined my entire pack living together. Under one roof.”
I turn to lean on the counter. “But Leif only moved into his cabin a few months ago, and if Grady decides he’s staying, he’ll also be living on the island. The thought of always traveling back and forth across the water...”
I shake my head. “It feels miserable. I want our children surrounded by their entire pack. And when Leif eventually gets pregnant—” My throat tightens.
“Male Omegas have a harder time. I want to be there. Through the pregnancy, after the birth. I don’t want miles of water between us if he needs me. ”
Jared’s features soften, and he moves to stand beside me, shoulder to shoulder, our arms brushing.
“The cottage has two mortgages, after buying out Auren’s share.
” I continue. “If we sell, we won’t get much more for it than what we owe.
And adding a second story...” I motion toward the ceiling.
“It might solve the problem in the long run, but living through construction with a newborn isn’t ideal. ”
“We’ll talk to them.” His hand finds the small of my back, warm through my flannel. “Find out what Leif and Grady want. Then we’ll talk to the Wrights. They already want us in the pack. Maybe we can use it to negotiate.”
I turn my head. “What did you have in mind?”
“A home on Misty Pines.” His jaw sets with determination. “With enough space for all of us.”
My stomach swoops. Give up the cottage? I rebuilt this place after Auren left, planted the garden with my own hands, sanded and sealed the floors over long nights of living here alone.
I fought so hard to keep it.
But it was built for a pack of two. And I want more than that now.
“The Wrights would do it. I’ve been talking to Kyle about it, to get his opinion.
He thinks they’d go for it, and it’s not as if they lack the land.
That way, we wouldn’t have to live in a place under construction,” Jared says.
“Dominic could design one for us, and you could build it with room for us to grow into, with all the counter space in the kitchen that you could ever want.”
“With a pizza oven?” I ask.
The corner of his mouth lifts. “With a pizza oven.”
I stare at the cooling pizzas, the steam still rising in thin curls, and try to picture it. A cabin on the island. Morning light through pine trees. Leif’s and Grady’s bookshelves lining a wall. Grady at a desk by a window, his cane propped beside him, writing whatever he desires.
A home we could all live in.
“Yeah,” I say. “I want one.”
Jared’s grin splits wide. “Good. Because living here with a pup means either the pup gets the guest room or Grady and Leif fight for who gets to sleep on the couch in the office, which isn’t long enough for Leif or supportive enough for Grady’s knee.”
I snort. “There are bears on Misty Pines, you know. Leif said so.”
“Shut up about the bears.” He pulls me flush to his chest, his growl rumbling through me where we’re pressed together, and his mouth finds mine again, his hand cradling the back of my head.
I kiss him back, my fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt, and for a moment, the cottage doesn’t feel too small at all.
Then someone knocks on the door.
Jared pulls back, his lips still curved in a smile. “That’s them.”
“I’ll finish getting these ready.” I gesture at the cooling racks. “Go let them in before it starts raining again.”
Jared drops a quick kiss on my forehead and disappears from the kitchen. The front door opens, and Jared’s greeting carries back to me, warm and welcoming.
“Welcome back, Grady. We missed you.”
His murmured response comes too softly for me to hear.
I turn to the refrigerator and pull the door open. Cold air washes over me as I reach for the bottle of white wine on the top shelf that I put in to chill the moment Grady sent his flight itinerary. The glass cools my palm as I pour, the liquid pale gold in the kitchen light.
Boots sound on the hardwood, accompanied by the familiar tap of a cane.
I turn, glass in hand, as Grady steps into the kitchen.
He appears tired. Rumpled from the flight.
I extend the glass. “I’m glad you made it home.”
Grady accepts the wine and sets it on the counter without drinking it.
“Did you mean it?” he asks.
I don’t need to ask what he means. “Every word.”
Jared and Leif’s voices stay in the living room, giving us space, and the oven ticks softly.
Grady searches my eyes. “Do you still mean it? Now?”
“Yes.” I step forward. “I want you, Grady Garfield Finch. Romantically. In my pack, by my side.”
He reaches for my hand, and with a gentle tug, he draws me down.
His mouth is warm and soft beneath mine, and his beard tickles my chin. His hand cups the side of my face, thumb tracing the line of my cheekbone with a tenderness that steals my breath. I kiss him back, trying to convey through our lips how much I’ve missed him.
When we break apart, his forehead rests against mine, his breath warm on my lips.
I wait, breathless.
“I’m here to stay,” he says.
My grip on his waist tightens. “Yeah?”
His nose brushes mine. “Yeah.”
The knot of anxiety that’s ridden me since he announced his departure finally settles.
Before I can respond, Leif call from the other room, and I step back with great reluctance.
Turning away from Grady, I bring down the plates.
Behind me, he picks up his wine glass and takes a sip, watching me over the rim.
Neither of us says anything else. Not yet. But for the first time since Auren stood on my porch with his plum coat and his honeyed lies, every person I love is under one roof.
For tonight, it’s enough.