Chapter Thirty-Three
Kendall
We walked through the doorway into the family kitchen. Tommy was carrying a platter over to the table, and his eyes lifted to see me and Jude. He set the platter down, raced over, and high-fived us both.
“What are we celebrating, Tommy?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I’m the one who knew Haven and Elsa were in love before they would even admit it to each other, and you two are even worse than them.
” Tommy rolled his eyes. “I haven’t even had a girlfriend or a boyfriend.
Don’t even know if I ever want one.” He cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner and rolled his eyes.
“You’ve been so dumb. You’re best friends. ”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Well, I appreciate your feedback. I guess.”
Tommy spun around, looking at the rest of the brothers, who were all here now. Haven was already seated at the table, eating a cracker. Cole was setting out glasses. Asher was filling a pitcher with water, and Grady sat down beside Haven and grabbed a cracker. “I’m fucking starving,” he announced.
“Language,” Maggie chimed in.
Even Tommy rolled his eyes. “Swearing is a sign of intelligence.”
“Don’t you even start with me, Tommy Silver,” Maggie warned.
“I’m not going to argue that point. I’m sure you found that detail somewhere, and I do appreciate your good vocabulary.
But I still think it’s important we all understand there are places for profanity, and the dinner table is not one of them. ”
“Back to my point,” Tommy said. “I think I should be in charge of everybody’s love lives.”
Grady almost choked on the cracker he had just finished chewing. “Dude, no. Don’t even get started. I’m not looking for love. I have other priorities.”
Tommy nodded knowingly. “Right.” He looked between Asher and Cole. “Let’s just put it this way. When you think you might be serious about somebody, you gotta clear it with me.”
“What, are you like a human filter?” Asher asked, setting the pitcher on the table before sitting down.
“Something like that.”
“Meanwhile, you need to get the rest of dinner on the table, Tommy,” Maggie cut in.
I was relieved that everything was out in the open.
My doubts would still flicker in the background, but I couldn’t deny how good it felt to be here with a family I loved and with my best friend.
It was a relief not to keep my emotions tucked away.
I’d told myself for years that if Jude ever found someone, I would still be his best friend, and it would work out somehow. But it would’ve been difficult.
Now, I just hoped that we could really make this work. That everyone’s faith in our love would be enough to carry us through. We got through the initial wave of everybody noticing. Chloe was busy working, but she came in to grab a plate Maggie had made for her. Meanwhile, Elsa beamed at us.
“Tommy,” I said about halfway through dinner, “this salmon casserole is amazing. I believe you’ve truly found your calling. You can obviously work as long as you want over in the rescue program, and I don’t know what I’ll ever do without you, but I think you should be a chef.”
His grin was wide. “Do you think?”
“I just said so.” I nodded firmly.
Haven took a bite. “Kendall’s right, Tommy.
You really are good at this. Mom taught all of us to cook.
” He gestured with his fork toward his brothers.
“And, we’re serviceable at it, but you? Oh, you’re a better cook than all of us.
This salmon was freezer-burned, and you turned it into something delicious. ”
Maggie chimed in, “I think I’m a pretty good cook, but you’re really good.”
Tommy’s gaze arced around the group. He was sitting beside Haven, who curled his arm around Tommy’s shoulders and squeezed. “Thanks, Dad.”
“We’ll have to look into some kind of culinary school for you.”
“Do you think I need to go to culinary school?” Tommy looked around, clearly wanting someone to know the answer.
“I don’t know.” Haven shrugged.
“I don’t want to go to a snooty one,” Tommy chimed in.
“Even if you do go to a snooty one, you’re not snooty. You can look down on all the snooty people,” Cole offered dryly.
Tommy liked that idea, grinning as he took another bite of food.
Once again, Jude somehow managed to get me twisted up with desire, just from sitting near me.
After we finished eating and we were all relaxing around the table, his brothers were mostly chatting about business while Elsa showed Tommy some recipes on her phone.
Jude put his hand on my thigh, his touch like a brand, the heat emanating from it.
He proceeded to talk about scheduling and routes for backcountry skiing and recommended areas where guests could stay overnight.
All the while, his thumb moved in an idle stroke.
His fingers teased down to trace over the seam on the inside of my jeans. My entire focus narrowed to that area.
His touch was so close to exactly where I wanted him to be that I began to wonder if I could even manage to stand.
I finally had to curl my hand over his and move it.
When I glanced at him, I saw his lips curve in just the barest hint of a grin.
It was all I could do not to swat at him. How dare he?
I took an unsteady breath. “Kendall?” Elsa prompted.
“Huh?” was all I could manage when I whipped my gaze to hers.
“I was just asking you, what’s going to happen with that moose?”
“Oh. The moose.” I sighed. “She’s healed up, but because somebody tried to raise her, she’s not very accustomed to the wild, so we’re going to work on reintroducing her.
There’s an area on the Kenai Peninsula where they monitor the moose.
We’re thinking of seeing if they’ll support us with this transition. ”
“Do people keep moose?” Elsa asked.
“They shouldn’t.” I shook my head. “But sometimes they do. She was young enough when she got brought in that we’re hoping we can gradually let her loose in the wild. But she’s too comfortable with people, which is a problem.”
“Dolly’s looking good,” Tommy chimed in, referring to his favorite goat.
“She’s always looking good.” I chuckled.
“I was thinking we could get the goats sweaters to wear,” he added.
“Oh, my God. Are you going to do one of those goat sweater things?” Cole said, waggling his brows.
“Why not? I think they’re cute,” Tommy replied.
“You could do a goat yoga class in the summer. People pay for that kind of thing,” Grady offered.
Asher groaned. “No,” was all he said.
“Why no?” Grady asked. “Tommy said the goats would be appealing to customers.”
Cole shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. “Nope. Not our vibe here.”
“Well, a lot of people think hiking in the woods to spend the night outside in the winter without heat is dumb,” Tommy pointed out.
“Is that what you think?” Jude asked with a grin.
“I don’t think it’s dumb, it’s just not something I want to do. I like being warm. I don’t want to worry about dying from hypothermia,” Tommy said practically.
A chuckle rustled in Jude’s throat. He squeezed my thigh again, catching me off guard, and I almost jumped from the electricity of his touch. This was going to be the problem with us being public.
By the time we left and Jude started driving me home, I was burning up for him. Travis was sound asleep in the back. He’d been running loose outside all through dinner after I fed him.
“How about you drive faster?” I suggested.
Jude glanced over. “Are you in a hurry?” he drawled.
“Yes!” I burst out. “You’ve been teasing me all night.”
“You’re fun to tease, and I love that I can tease you.”
As if to emphasize his point, he reached across the seat and slid his palm over my thigh.
Once again, his fingers teased along that seam of my jeans, but this time he brought his palm all the way up and cupped between my thighs.
I wasn’t even thinking when I opened them slightly and bit my lip to keep from whimpering.
“Oh, fuck me, Kendall,” he rasped.
“Two can play this game,” I teased as I reached over and placed my palm over the ridge of his arousal. His length pulsed under my touch, and I felt a surge of power.
I giggled when he swatted my hand away. In doing so, he had to move his hand from where he was teasing me, so it served two purposes.
“Now, will you hurry it up?”
“Absolutely,” he said flatly.