Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Kenny
A few days later, I joined Jess and Beast at their house for breakfast before work. Beast grumbled as he moved around in the kitchen, and Jess gave me a look.
“Is he somehow even more irritable than usual right now?” I asked, marveling at the sounds coming from just a few feet away.
Jess winced. “I had a bad night, and he tends to be pretty grumpy when that happens. Something about worrying I’m wearing myself too thin, which is impossible, since all I do is sit around and try not to heave up my guts.”
Beast froze and turned slowly—terrifyingly, frankly. If I didn’t know the man, I’d be worried he’d been possessed or something.
“You are not sitting around. You’ve been working.” His dark eyes widened and his nostrils flared.
My mouth dropped open. “Uh oh. Someone’s been sneaking in work? How dare you, Pop?”
She rolled her eyes and huffed, but a smile hid in her expression. “I dare because I am so. Bored. And I miss my job. I miss the office and being surrounded by all of you goons.”
I laughed, loving her orneriness. “You two are just twin beams of sunshine, aren’t you?”
Beast stomped over to the small table where we sat and slid a plate gently onto the placemat in front of Jess, then practically dumped one in front of me.
“Thank you, kind sir.” I inspected the omelet and toast in front of me. “This looks really good. Where’s my boy Bones? I need to pay him homage.” I hadn’t seen the giant, lovely beasty cat yet and part of me wanted to see if he could tell I was now a cat dad.
“Don’t want your Kit confused and smelling another cat on you this early, so he’s napping in the bedroom,” Beast said in a low tone.
Huh. Hadn’t even considered it, but I didn’t want my boy to get anxious over Bones’s existence.
A sharp movement from Jess’s direction pulled my attention, and I looked up to see her gaze directed away from her plate, neck craning.
“Uh…” I said inanely.
Beast’s large hand slipped into hers. “What do you need?”
“Just a sec,” she said, her voice strained. She drew in a breath slowly.
His shoulders slumped. “Believe it or not, this is an improvement.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve had something sooner, but I wanted to wait since Kenny was coming.” Her voice was a little watery.
My heart clutched. “Don’t apologize. I’m so happy to be here, even if you hurl your guts up.”
She laughed and reached for the toast on her plate, taking a bite as she pushed out of her seat. She set a hand on Beast’s shoulder. “I’m just going to take a breath outside. I’ll be fine.”
Her gaze cut to his and there was so much warmth and love and warning in there, I almost wanted to cry. These two were absolutely meant for each other, and I loved to see it.
The merciless ache in my chest was because of that, wasn’t it? Not for any other reason.
“She’s so stubborn,” Jude grumbled, but then his face softened and he added, “I love her so much.”
I propped my elbow on the table and my chin in my hand. “You guys are adorable.”
“We are.”
His easy acceptance of that was one of my favorite things about them. He’d gotten better at expressing emotions other than anger or broodiness, but the way he almost giddily enjoyed their love and closeness now was just shy of miraculous. Maybe it was actually a miracle, in truth.
The drag of my own longing faded in the face of the bliss radiating from him, even if some of it came in the form of worry. It wasn’t even a full minute before Jess returned, though. She sat and then took a big bite of the omelet.
“That was fast,” Beast said, a half-smile on his somber face, which might as well have been a Cheshire grin.
“I told you, I’m getting better. It’s in direct proportion to the desire to work, too.” She took another bite, then beamed over at Beast who was now looking so lovesick and gone for her, I had to look away. If I didn’t already know she was pregnant—and she certainly didn’t look it yet—I’d know by just this expression.
“So you think you’ll be back soon?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably and wondering why. Why wouldn’t I want my dear friend to feel better and come back to work?
After a sip of water, Jess said, “Not just yet. But don’t worry. Elizabeth isn’t getting kicked to the curb just because I start showing up again.” She waggled her brows.
Heat hit my cheeks instantly. “Right. Of course not.”
The ensuing silence forced me to look up and when I did, they were both studying me with matching expectant looks on their faces.
“You guys are already too freakishly in sync. Haven’t you only been married for like a day?”
Jess laughed. “Bit more than a day now.”
She leaned over and kissed Beast’s bearded cheek.
He leaned into the touch, but didn’t look away from me. Instead, he pinned me with his intense eyes and waited another beat before saying, “Come on. Tell us what’s going on.”
How did I explain this? What did I even want to say? I was a verbal processor, so the fact that I hadn’t laid it all out for them already was different for me. But so was everything with Liz—from the way I reacted to her, the way I wanted her so intensely and also wanted to just be near her. The way I’d decided I’d take what she could offer and not expect more despite that going against my very nature…
“I like her a lot. She’s basically everything I like and then some. ”
“What do you like?” Jess asked, prodding a bit.
A smile came before I even spoke. “She’s honestly a little grumpy, but she has this soft heart. She cares deeply about the people around her and she’s very purposeful, which I admire. She’s funny and hot as hell and… well, I could go on, but the point is I like her and we’re hanging out a lot.”
Beast’s eyes narrowed. “But?”
I chuckled softly, fiddling with my fork and feeling weirdly shy. “But she’s leaving.”
I nudged the perfectly made omelet around on my plate, then raised a brow at him. “Go ahead.”
He crossed his arms. “Don’t want you to get hurt.”
I nodded. His protective instincts extended far beyond Jess.
“Can we acknowledge that we don’t know how this ends, though? I mean, let’s say you keep dating. Maybe you even do long-distance? I know it’s not ideal, maybe not what you pictured, but I hate the thought of you liking someone this much, which is the first I can think of, and not even giving it a shot.” Jess tugged on one of Beast’s biceps and guided his hand to link fingers with hers and rest on the table.
Good grief, they were adorable.
“That’s where I landed. It’s definitely out of my comfort zone, but it honestly feels like…” I exhaled, nerves swooping around my belly as I thought of Liz and how inevitable she seemed. “It feels like I don’t have a choice but to try.”
No doubt thinking of this situation that way was foolish. The confusion and unsteady way I was navigating everything meant I’d been slow to let anything happen between us, despite spending as much time as she’d give me together .
But I didn’t want to think about that anymore, especially not when heaviness draped over my chest when I did.
So I took up my fork again and pointed at them before jabbing a piece of my meal. “Now, tell me, how’s the beasty baby growing and when am I throwing you the baby shower?”