19. Jacks
Chapter 19
S tanding in the kitchen, I’m trying to decide what to make for dinner. After making everyone lunch and rushing them out the door, I started laundry. Between the nest and Gabe’s sheets there will be a couple of loads, no pun intended.
I should call Candice and invite her over for dinner.
Yes, she was just here, and I know she can’t be here all the time. She works, but with us she won’t need to…but maybe she likes it? She also has her iguana at home, and she can’t leave it there alone all the time. Oh, I bet I could set up a habitat here for it, and maybe her computer in the office. I don’t do coding often, just when we need some extra money, but it could be a nice shared space for us.
I pull out my cell and text Leo to ask what we need to set up for her pet so she can bring him here and stay all the time. She won’t want to give up her house, it’s her safe space, and in spite of what happened this afternoon, she needs more time.
Fuck, this afternoon. Leo was flustered when he came in, but even he couldn't keep it in his pants at seeing Gabe fuck our sweet little omega. I wanted to join, but we need to ease into things, and I’ve never really thought of Gabe and sex at the same time. I love Gabe, but he and Leo are more like brothers to me than anything else.
Xan on the other hand…
I would love to make an omega sandwich with him.
Fuck, being in the middle of the two of them or having her in between us…Fucking hell.
I should probably stop this train of thought before-
Too late
My boner is now officially the thing that wouldn’t die. Between the sights and sounds I woke up to and her scent all over the laundry I’m inundated with it.
Fuck me.
That’s ok. I can deal with this. Call and invite her over, ask what she might like to eat. Polite shit. None of that needs to involve me driving over to her house and just hanging out for the afternoon and keeping her from work.
Nope, none at all.
And yet, I find myself in the Jeep, with the keys, backing out of the driveway.
Gabe is gonna be super pissed…but fuck him, he actually got to knot our omega this morning, so he can suck it.
Hmmm…suck it.
Goddamn it!
And we’re driving, yes, good, focus on the road.
I should have left a note.
Oh well, they track me anyway…wait, did I pocket my phone. I could just stop in and tell them I was going there.
But then they’ll want me to go home to “give her space.”
I’ll just text Xan when I get there, and then we can go grocery shopping to get what she might like for dinner, and I can cook for her, and have snuggles.
I got a goddamned plan!
Kevin Bacon in Tremors is a classic.
Pulling the Jeep into her driveway, I give the side eye to the truck parked there when I know that her car is in the shop. I quickly hop out and ring the doorbell. She’s smiling when she answers and I’m on high alert. I smell another alpha, and she seems happy to see him.
Curiouser and curiouser.
“Hi Jacks, come in, I was about to call and thank Xan again for calling Joseph to help with my locks. I didn’t know you knew him too.” She’s still smiling and seems relaxed, despite having a strange alpha in her house.
I know for a fact that Joseph is already packed up with his own omega. He’s a few years older than Gabe, but he’s lived in the area forever. He did our training when we signed up for the volunteer firefighting bit .
“Hey, man, how’s it going?” I say cheerfully, curling my arm around Candice and pulling her tight against me, just so he doesn't get any ideas.
Joseph turns towards us and his face falls when he sees me. “Jacks? Sorry, I expected Xan would show up…um, you feeling ok after last night?” He knows I have some…well, let's just say I have issues and leave it at that.
“I’m fine, Gabe’s fine too, since he is the one that had to go to the hospital, thanks for asking…all fine here. How goes the deadbolt install?” Not that I want to rush him out of my omega’s house, but I totally want him to get the fuck out before the whole house smells like him.
I walk over and pick up a throw pillow to scent mark it again.
Fucking Hell.
“So, you two know each other? How long’s that been going on? Does Brice know?”
Way to play it cool, jackass.
Candice comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist…rubbing her face on my back, and holding me close, both reassuring and marking me.
“Joseph lives next to my grandpa’s old place. He’s 10 years older than me, but I grew up next to him. I was even the flower girl for his pack mating with Brice.” She pushes her face around my waist, “How’s his jewelry making going? I still have those earrings he made me when I turned 16.”
Joseph's smile is more genuine now, “He’s good, actually. The business never took off as much as he wanted. But he loves shiny things and just being able to create something, so he still does it as a hobby.”
Candice smiles back at him, and Joseph turns back to his work. She pulls on my shoulder to bring me down to her level. “Hey, sorry, I need to go save my work. I was right in the middle when he showed up. I’ll just need to go to the office for a minute, ok?” Taking her hand off my shoulder, I kiss the knuckles before gently pushing her towards her work room.
“Whatever you need is ok, Little Lion. I just came over to see what you wanted for dinner.”
She blushes and fuck she’s adorable. But she doesn’t answer and just bolts from the room back down the hallway. I slowly walk after her, intent on seeing more of that blush, or causing it to get deeper. Yet when I walk into the office she’s sitting at her desk with a pen and it looks like drawing on her computer screen…weird screen though.
Oh hey tentacles…and…well.
That is certainly, um…detailed.
I turn away from the screen as her keyboard clicks and pull a sketchbook off the shelf. It isn’t flush with the others and that draws my attention. I open it expecting flowers, or still life fruits, maybe rough figure drawings.
Nope…Dicks. So many dicks.
And putting that back.
I turn to see her staring at me, her mouth a little o of surprise and her face bright red .
“A lot of people commission not-safe-for-work art. I practice…er. I need reference material and practice drawing specific anatomy. If you had just picked a different book…I have hands, feet, poses…”
Her voice tapers off and she is staring at her feet. Her next words are so soft I have to lean down to hear them.
“I’m not a freak, I just need a job. This pays my bills and lets me work from home. It’s a way to support myself. I don’t…I’m not a pervert I just….”
The first tear hits her bare foot, and then my arms are wrapped around her.
“No. No, no one said you're a freak. Well, ok I am sure people online do because people online are anonymous assholes. But we do what we have to do to survive, yeah?” I put my fingers under her chin and gently lift her face to mine.
“I’m so proud of how you take care of yourself, Candice. You’ve been through so much, and you just keep going.” I wrap my arms around her, trying to offer comfort that I don’t know if she wants, but I need to give. She remains stiff in my arms, and I’m about to let go when she finally relaxes against me.
“I just…nobody knows what I do. None of my clients know me. I have acquaintances online who know a little more about me, but mostly I have to hide everything, and I was worried that if you found out, you all would think I was some kind of pervert or a freak.” I can feel her tears soaking into my shirt as I hold her and sway back and forth .
“And then this morning, with Gabe, I felt like I was being dishonest. I like you all, a lot…like more than it makes sense to. But I also felt like I was lying to you, like, technically yes, my degree is in graphic design. But mostly I do commissions. They pay better, and I don’t have to meet clients in person.”
Her voice is muffled against my chest, so I lift her up to put her face in my neck and fold myself into her office chair. It’s a pretty tight fit and the canister lets out a hiss before sinking to the floor. I rub her back and purr for her.
I suck at words, never knowing what to say, but this...this I can do. Swaying back and forth, purring, and rubbing her back, I lose track of time–until Joseph knocks on the doorframe to her office.
“Hey, Candice. I got your new back door deadbolt installed, and rekeyed, so it should work with the key you already have for the rest of the doors. I left my card on the counter, so just let me know if you need anything.” Candice mumbles something into my chest and I nod to Joseph, who lets himself out. I swivel around and see we only have an hour until the guys’ll be getting off work, so I pull out my phone and send them a text to let them know where we are. Leo has sent me back a long list of items I’ll need to order for Candice’s pet to stay at our house, and I continue to rock with her while I do some shopping on my phone. Once I have it all ordered, I brush her hair back from her face.
“Little Lion, Little Lion, what should we hunt for dinner?” I sing-song in hopes of getting a smile out of her .
The eyes that meet mine are red and puffy, but no longer leaking. “You mentioned lasagna the other day?” it isn’t exactly a statement.
“I did love, and I will make that for you soon, but there’s no time today. What’s your favorite food?”
She looks thoughtful. It is an important question. “Pizza?” Another not statement.
“Ok, then how about we go to the store and get stuff to make a pizza bar? I don’t know what you like, but Xan is one of those pineapple on pizza freaks, so we will need to do multiples regardless. But I do love him, so if you could not judge him too harshly, I’d appreciate it.” This, at least, gets a smile.
“Is it safe? I mean, I don’t go into the store unless I have to…and I haven’t used de-scenter today.” Is it safe? Nobody is gonna fuck with my Little Lion while I am around.
I kiss her on the nose. “You smell enough like Gabe, and now me, nobody’ll mess with you.” I leave out the part about how good I am with a filet knife, and she climbs out of my lap to go get her shoes. I stand and stretch, pulling my phone out, again, to message the dinner plans to my pack. There is a surly response about my driving from Gabe, a message to be careful from Xan, and some more iguana information from Leo. At least he’s taking this seriously. I stuff my phone back into my pocket before peeling the tape off my omega’s computer camera, or at least off the lens area, and then watch her scurry around the house looking for a lost shoe while wearing her iguana.