Chapter Forty-Three
Patch
Jamie changes before we eat, but he takes the seat between me and Em when he comes back downstairs, more like a wolf than I’ve ever seen him by the way he needs to constantly touch both of us.
I relax into each one. I don’t think the door has closed for all of us—or at least, my wolf certainly doesn’t believe that to be the case—but I know I need to tread lightly.
Em should be angrier than he is at finding out we’re mates, and that might come through tomorrow.
Jamie, too, might have second thoughts once the events of the day catch up to him.
Just before midnight, Jamie begins to nod off, though he’s trying to watch the TV with us. Em laughs and finally turns it off. “Come on. Time for bed.”
Jamie’s eyes are closed. “Okay,” he says, clearly walking that line between sleep and wakefulness when he asks, “Whose room are we staying in?”
Em stills. I don’t dare say anything. It might kill me, but I meant what I said—I’ll go home if they ask me to.
“Jamie, we…” Em looks at me helplessly, then sighs. “We’re just sleeping, okay?”
Jamie huffs. He forces his eyes open and stifles a yawn. “Think I’m going to pass out, honestly.”
“Yeah, come on.”
Em helps Jamie up and nods for me to get the lights as he leads him over to the stairs. I dash off to check the front door is locked, then the back, before I follow them up to the hall.
Em hesitates for a moment, then steers us over to his room again. It’s a little messier than last time, some things packed into bags, but the bed is made and Em gently pushes Jamie over to it before he grabs his own pyjamas.
“Do you need anything to sleep in?” he asks me.
“No,” I say. I watch Jamie clumsily climb onto the bed. He wraps himself up in the duvet, right in the middle. I can’t help my smile.
“Patch,” Em says. He’s closer now. “Hey. If it’s too fast, you don’t have to stay here. Or you can take Jamie’s bed, if that’s better?”
“No, I want…” I tremble with all that I want. Can’t he see it? Feel it?
For a second, I think he does. He reaches out and strokes my jaw, the touch feather-light but grounding all the same.
“You want to stay with us?” he asks.
I nod.
“Okay. What do you wear to bed?”
Usually, nothing, but that doesn’t feel quite right when Jamie’s in a T-shirt and joggers and Em is wearing pyjama bottoms.
“I’ve got… I’m wearing boxers.”
“Okay. Get ready for bed.”
He slips away to the bathroom and I strip off, then sit on the edge of the bed, watching the door. Jamie holds on to my wrist.
“He wants us too,” he murmurs.
“I know.” My wolf knows. “He might still not want all of it.”
“He wants magic,” Jamie says. “He found it. He’ll remember.”
I glance back at him, but his eyes are closed, a peaceful smile on his face. I shake my head and watch the door again. Em smiles when he comes through and sees me sitting there.
“All yours.”
He moves for the bed when I go to the door, but then I look back and see he’s trying to get in on this side, closest to it. I shake my head.
“Other side.”
“I always—”
“Please.”
He studies me for a moment, and his eyes soften before he nods. “Okay. Hurry back.”
I do. I take care of everything quickly, then stand in the hallway for a second, listening for any sounds below. Nothing, so I walk back into the bedroom and stop at what I see.
Jamie is already fast asleep in the middle of the bed. He’s facing towards the empty space next to him—not a lot of it, and we’ll have to remedy that, should all go well—with one arm reaching back to rest on Em below the duvet.
Em is lying behind him. He’s still awake, but he’s removed his glasses and now he blinks at what I assume is my own blurry shape. He’s pressed up against Jamie’s back, arm around his waist.
They look safe and warm and perfect. The feeling that rises in my chest threatens to choke me.
“Come on,” Em says. “Come sleep.”
I climb into the bed and Jamie immediately sighs and presses up against me. Em reaches out, too, fingers landing on my bare skin.
“Get the light?”
I twist and turn off the lamp next to the bed, plunging the room into darkness. Em shuffles around a little, then lets out a sigh. He sounds content, too.
“Good night, Patch,” he murmurs.
I press my lips to Jamie’s forehead. Even in sleep, he snuggles closer. “Good night, Em.”
I wake when Jamie moves, sometime early the next morning. Em is still fast out next to him, mouth half open and his face squashed into the pillow. Jamie has his face buried against my chest, and from the way his legs are moving, I think he’s halfway towards wakefulness.
I kiss the top of his head and run a hand down Em’s side. It’s hot under the duvet, but I don’t want to move. Jamie murmurs something and then lifts his head. He blinks blearily up at me.
“What time is it?”
I reach back blindly for my phone, wincing at the light that fills the room when I tap it. “Six.” My voice is like gravel. “Go back to sleep.”
“Hm. No.” He doesn’t seem inclined to move, though, beyond rolling onto his back. Well, as much as he can, pressed between us the way he is. “We need a bigger bed.”
“I think that’s a down-the-line kind of purchase.”
Jamie huffs. He looks at Em, still sleeping. “Do you think he’ll leave?”
“I don’t know.” I really don’t. Thinking about it makes me feel sick. “What about you?”
Jamie blinks up at me. He must be sweltering in all those clothes; his cheeks are pink, but I like him all soft like this. “What about me?”
“Yesterday was… a lot. Any second thoughts today?”
“I should be asking you that.”
“Me?”
Jamie’s lips twitch. “Yeah. I declared that you were both my mates, didn’t I? I made my decision. I’d have had you weeks ago.”
I rub my hand down his side, rucking his T-shirt up just a little. “I know. And I… Yeah. I want this. Both of you.”
“The pack, too?”
“The pack, too.” I laugh. “I think that was a given even before you chose me.”
Jamie snorts. He leans up and kisses me, soft and sweet. The mark on his face is all but gone now, but I’m still careful not to touch that cheek in case there’s any lingering hurt.
“We just have to convince Em,” he says when we part.
“Better idea would be not to wake me up at six in the morning,” a gravelly voice says.
Jamie’s eyes go wide, but he can’t suppress a grin. I lean up and look at Em. He’s barely awake, eyes narrowed, and right now he reminds me of some angry housecat.
“Sorry,” I murmur. “Go back to sleep.”
Em huffs. He settles down again, then wraps his arm around Jamie’s middle, dragging Jamie back against him. Jamie cackles. “What, am I your teddy bear now?”
“Shhh,” Em says. He presses his face to the back of Jamie’s neck. I smile, content to watch them for now. “I’m sleeping.”
“You’ve been awake the entire time, haven’t you?” I ask.
“Maybe,” Em replies, and Jamie reaches back to poke him in the side in retaliation. “Noooo, don’t do that.”
“What do you think, then?” Jamie asks. He raises an eyebrow when I shake my head. “About all of us. The pack. Everything.”
Em kisses the side of Jamie’s neck. Will he have a mating mark there sometime soon? Desire curls in my stomach. I hope so.
“One more reality check,” Em says. He opens his eyes and lifts his head. “I need an outside opinion. Just to make sure I have my head on straight.”
I nod immediately. “Anything you need to know…”
“I know,” Em replies. He smiles and when I lean in, he waits for me, tilting his face up expectantly. I keep the kiss as short and soft as the one between me and Jamie earlier. When we part, Jamie is watching us, breath coming a little faster.
Em leans down and kisses him, too. Then he settles back in and sighs. “I’ll meet Cate later this morning. At least she can check if I got a concussion or something.”
“When would you have got a concussion?” Jamie asks, bewildered.
Em shrugs. I shuffle over, closing the less than one-inch gap between all of us.
“Whatever you need,” I say.
“Sure,” Jamie agrees. “Just don’t forget we’re going over to Kieran’s in the afternoon.”