Chapter 30
Considering that usually the pack’s Monday night movie was little more than a couple bags of popcorn and whatever soda was in the fridge, I was pretty happy with how things were coming together.
Even though Eva wasn't officially a member of the pack—yet—making her feel welcome and comfortable seemed like the right move.
Especially since I wasn’t officially a member of the pack either, and I knew what it felt like when that was pointed out. And because I’d sort of been a dick to her last week.. We’d texted a lot since, but I still felt a little bad about how I reacted after her date with Marcus.
Even though I had my own feelings about this little arrangement of Cameo’s, I still liked Eva. And it was obvious that Indi liked her, too. So… baby or no baby, I wanted this to work. At least between us.
Eva was our girl, and even though things had gotten a lot more complicated than just trying to date the same woman as my partner, I wanted to show her that she was wanted.
Even if sometimes my territorial omega hindbrain made me act like a total freak about it.
While Marcus was torturing his staff on their day off about counting to-go boxes and individual peppercorns instead of lording over the kitchen, I’d turned the downstairs into movie heaven.
Snacks and candy to everyone's preferences covered the low coffee table. Chewy sour candies for Indi. Crunchy chocolate-dipped biscotti for Cameo from that Italian grocer on the other side of the city. A whole mess of guesses for Eva that’d make a movie theater concession stand jealous—licorice, peanut butter cups, gummy bears, and spicy cinnamon candies, to name a few.
And, the centerpiece. A charcuterie board that I’d carefully arranged with meats and cheeses from the fridge, supplemented by a couple of things that the deli counter guy suggested when I’d gone to pick up Cameo’s cookies.
It took a few YouTube tutorials to figure out how to roll salami into a rose, but after forty-five minutes and a whole lot of swearing, I managed. I just hoped that Marcus liked it.
Did I go overboard? Probably, but I was so insistent about getting everyone together that I needed to make sure it was worth it. Besides, with this pack’s mismatched schedules, if we didn’t hang out tonight, we wouldn’t get another opportunity until next Sunday.
A week was already too long between hangouts as it was, and even though Eva was spending most of her time with us here at the house, it was still nice to get time with everyone together… Especially when I was following her advice and trying to show her that I was actually in this.
That I wanted it to work with all of us, not just with me and the pack.
The movie was all set up. I'd found this obscure French horror film from the 1950's that I thought Marcus would like. It’d taken more effort than I'd like to admit to figure out how to download it into a format that was able to be streamed.
But after wrestling with it for entirely too long…
and asking Indigo for some much needed help…
it was finally ready to go on the projector.
All that was left was to wait for the pack.
And the popcorn, duh.
I checked my phone, Cameo would be off any minute, Indigo was upstairs with Eva, the pair dutifully staying out of my way while I worked. And Marcus shouldn’t be too much longer after that, so I was good to go up and make it now.
Sure, I could’ve just gotten some microwave popcorn and tossed it into a bowl—but that didn’t seem very festive.
I wanted what was likely to be the first of many group dates with our pack to be special—set the bar.
With that in mind, I’d ordered a kit online with kernels to pop in a pot and a bunch of different seasonings, so everyone could pick their own flavor.
The only thing I hadn’t considered as I made my way upstairs was that in the process, I was absolutely going to mess up the kitchen I’d spent the better part of an hour putting it back in exact order after my ordeal with the cheeseboard.
Ugh.
It was only fun to fuck up Marcus’ kitchen when I wanted to annoy him, and tonight… I didn’t want the alpha annoyed.
I wanted him to relax.
And, if it wasn’t too much to ask for, being grateful wouldn’t hurt either.
Finding the pot I needed was a little trickier than I’d originally thought. Even though I’d been living with the pack for a couple months now, I was hardly ever in the kitchen. And I certainly couldn’t remember the last time I needed to actually cook something.
If Marcus didn’t make dinner, that was usually Indi and Cameo’s cue to order pizza. Or Indian. Or Chinese.
The point was, usually there wasn’t anyone but Marcus in this house cooking anything, except for today.
I looked over the instructions on the packet.
Okay, well… I skimmed them. Really, it was making popcorn! You put the oil in the pot, add the kernels, and BAM! Done!
The burner clicked a couple times before the flame ignited, warming the bottom of the stainless steel pot while I cut the top off the packet, dumped the contents into the bottom, and put the lid on.
Just like the instructions! I thought to myself, feeling like I was totally nailing this house husband thing.
Then, I waited. Which was harder than I thought it would be, but the instructions really stressed that you weren’t supposed to lift the lid of the pot.
So, even though it was making me crazy that I couldn’t see my progress, I left it on.
Once the telltale pops and pings started up, I gave it a bit more time until the popping was more frequent, lifting the pot off the heat to shake it.
I was pretty sure it was going well, even if I’d thought the instructions were stupid, I was following them basically to the letter and—fuck.
The unmistakable smell of burned popcorn hit my nose. I opened the lid, and sure enough, there was a bunch of greyish popcorn-adjacent charcoal clinging to the sides.
It was annoying, but not a big deal; I had plenty of time and an entire box of packets.
I would not be defeated so easily!
At least, that's how I felt, until I burned another batch. And another.
The kitchen was quickly turning into a graveyard of packets. It shouldn't have been so hard to make some damn popcorn, but I just couldn't figure it out. What I could do though, was feel myself getting frustrated and making dumb mistakes, which was only making it worse.
"Stupid fucking thing is broken…" I grumbled as I threw yet another batch away, turned to the sink to wash out the pot.
"You doing okay?" A deep voice called from behind.
"Fine," I snapped, turning to face Marcus, who was on the other side of the island sporting an infuriatingly cocky smirk. “Why are you home so early?”
“Inventory ended up being fast,” he said, not remotely fazed by my bad mood. “You sure you don’t need help? ‘Cause it smells like burnt popcorn in here."
I could feel my face growing hot, a mix of frustration and embarrassment making my voice tight. "I'm working out the kinks."
"It's popcorn," the alpha deadpanned, loosening his tie.
"Well, if you think it's so easy, you do it, Mr. Smart Alpha Guy!”
“Mr. Smart Alpha Guy,” Marcus repeated with a laugh, taking off his jacket and hanging it by the back door before coming towards me in a fitted black T-shirt. “Okay, take a seat, sweetheart.”
He took the freshly dried pot from my hands, and I stepped aside, switching places with him to sit at the island.
It almost looked like he was floating through the kitchen.
Obviously, I knew he was a chef, but there was something so graceful about the way he turned the burner down before placing the pot that it looked more like dancing than cooking.
Even something as simple as making popcorn looked like a complicated solo.
Marcus started the same way I did, by emptying a packet into the pot, and I felt smug victory settling in. I’d seen this film several times before, and I knew exactly how this was going to go.
With me emerging victorious, Marcus stood with a pot full of disgusting, horrifically burned popcorn.
Once that was sorted, the alpha grabbed a couple of saucepans and started them on the burners. I watched with interest as he went to the fridge and the pantry, coming back with butter and sugar, respectively.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"Butter for the popcorn and sugar to make caramel corn. You like sweet things, right?"
I swallowed heavily, the sensation that I was watching my victory slip through my fingers pounding my smugness into dust. "Right."
He nodded with a little hum, working away at the stove. It didn’t take long before I was totally lost, since he was doing like three things at once, and I was a novice at best when it came to anything to do with the kitchen. Still, I figured I would’ve been a little better at keeping track.
The popping started, and Marcus started shaking the pot instantly, careful to keep it over the heat.
"That's not what the directions said,” I complained.
He glanced up, and damn, the intensity of his gaze always got to me. Those mossy green eyes were the kind of thing that made painters go crazy trying to mix the right shade. "The directions made you burn it, didn’t they?"
I tried to keep my face neutral, but could feel what Indi liked to call my ‘bitchy-whiny-pouting-omega face’ coming on. “Well, yeah…”
Marcus shook the pot way more often than I ever did, and somehow managed to keep stirring the butter and the caramel in precise intervals.
Soon, he was dumping a perfect batch of popcorn into two large bowls.
In the first, he dumped the melted butter directly over and shook it vigorously without so much as letting even a single piece fall.
Then, he did the same with the caramel corn, flipping the pieces in the bowl until they were perfectly coated in sticky, warm caramel.
Once he was satisfied, he pulled the salt cellar closer to add a healthy pinch to each with a final shake.
“Done,” he said, giving the bowl of caramel corn a little push in my direction over the white stone of the island.
I was equal parts mesmerized and confused. I'd burnt three different pans and made a huge mess without producing anything, yet he had made two big batches without spilling a drop.
"Should we bring these downstairs?" he asked, turning off the burners and setting the pots into the sink to soak.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks."
He nodded, giving his hands a quick wipe with a towel before grabbing the salted butter bowl.
I grabbed the other, and we headed downstairs together, with me leading the way. Suddenly, I was feeling nervous.
Sure, it was just another pack movie night, but I’d tried to plan it all by myself with everyone in mind, especially him.
And I was sort of hoping that I could use tonight as a step in that direction. Now that we were looking at having a baby… I felt like I needed to get more serious about my connections with the entire pack. Not just Indi.
I pointed out where there was space left for the bowls on the coffee table, and we each set them down.
"Did you do all of this?" Marcus asked, examining the table with a little smile that I’d never seen from the alpha before.
"Yeah, but it was nothing, really," I lied, like it hadn’t taken me all day to run around town for supplies before I’d even started setting up.
"It's nice,” he praised. “The charcuterie board looks almost professional."
Sure that I would cling to the rush that little compliment gave me for years to come, I rolled my eyes, trying to play off my pleasure as no big deal.
"You're just being nice."
“Me?” Marcus chuckled, picking up a piece of cheese to examine it before popping the little cube into his mouth. "Doubtful. Your knife skills could use some work."
“You’re so annoying,” I complained, giving his shoulder a playful shove. “They’re fine.”
"They're passable," the alpha chuckled, gaze warm where it landed on my face.
This felt like the first time Marcus looked at me without a shred of contempt, and I had to admit… It felt pretty fucking good.
I wasn’t hanging up my bratting crown forever, but maybe, every once in a while, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. At least if it meant that my alpha was going to smile at me like that.
Heavy footsteps came down the stairs, loud enough for me to know it was Indi without looking up.
"Whoa, this looks great!" they said with a grin, leading Eva into the conversation pit by the hand. "Did you do all of this by yourself?"
“Well…” I started, but my answer didn’t matter to Indigo, the alpha catching me by the chin for a heavy kiss that made me feel like I was going to melt into a puddle right there on the floor. “I love it! Didn’t they do a great job, doll?”
“I have no idea how you guessed my favorite,” Eva said, leaning around us to grab a handful of gummy bears. “You’re seriously like, psychic or something. Thank you, Joon!”
She straightened, hip-checking Indigo out of the way to take the alpha’s place for a soft kiss.
I caught her waist, pulling her in for another, deeper kiss. “It was nothing, princess.”
“Sounds like a lie,” she said with a cheeky smile, tapping my nose playfully with her fingertip. “I hope all of your alphas gave you a big kiss for your hard work.”
Marcus seemed to get her not-at-all-subtle hint, tapping my shoulder to get my attention. When I turned my head, the alpha leaned in, and I met him halfway in a gentle kiss that spoke more to me than any of the words the alpha had ever grunted in my direction.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” he rumbled quietly. “You did well.”
Marcus’ appreciation was like the cherry on top of a delicious sundae.
I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I had a good feeling about tonight. Maybe I didn’t need to be jealous of Eva after all.
We were pack. I just needed to start acting like it.