Chapter 5 #2
“Don’t pretend you aren’t loving building a pack from the ground up. I don’t believe your grumpy persona for a second,” Jonas said.
“Hmph. I’ll have you know I was a bona fide hermit not that long ago.”
“Yeah, but then you fell in love. That changes everything.”
“Well. You’re not wrong.”
Adam rose, and Jonas heard the recently plugged-in refrigerator open and close before a water bottle appeared in front of his face. He grabbed the bottle and opened it while Adam came back around to join him on the couch.
When he’d taken a long drink, Jonas eyed Adam. “Cindy said you got stuck handling most of the details of getting the Keoghs set up?”
Adam sighed. “I suspect that woman’s going to be a pain in our asses. Cindy was nice enough to give Myra some info from her landlady, and somehow that turned into me negotiating the lease and arrangements. Olivia is not shy about stating what she thinks, or what she wants.”
“Tomorrow should be loads of fun, then.”
“She’s not terrible. Just…not particularly socially adept, I guess you could say.”
“Which is saying something, coming from a recently reformed hermit,” Jonas said with a laugh. Adam lifted his bottle to him in salute.
Jen and Robert came down the hallway then, laughing. Jen put her toolbox down and looked around the room. “This is great guys, I really appreciate your help.”
Jonas checked his watch. “Kickoff’s in twenty minutes. You’ve got your bed set up, your fridge turned on and your TV plugged in. Abandon the boxes for tomorrow and come watch the game at my house.”
“Son, I realize you’ve only been mated a few weeks, but don’t you know better than to invite a bunch of people over for a game with no notice?”
Jonas smiled. “Trust me, Dad.”
“I’m in,” Adam said, pulling out his phone. “Let me see if Myra finished her work yet. She had a rush assignment she promised to get done today, even though it’s Sunday. Otherwise she would have been here,” he added to Jen.
“You going to call Mom?” Jonas asked his dad.
“I’ll text her that we’re going to watch the game, but she’s working on a quilt and watching some girlie movies, she’ll be glad to have another couple of hours without me underfoot.”
They moved some boxes around to make sure Jen had clear paths to everything, and then headed out. He sent a little pulse down his mate link, smiling at the answering burst of joy at the knowledge that he was coming home.
Cindy had felt bad about not being able to help with the move, but she was hard at work on a couple of projects for the blog, and he’d told her Jen would understand. Just because she worked from home didn’t mean she could be available in the middle of the day for someone else’s needs.
When he’d said as much, he’d worried she would burst into tears and his heart had stopped, for just a second. Then he’d felt the love and appreciation coming from her, and he’d known the almost-tears were happy ones, not sad. Apparently people had not always understood that little fact.
He parked his car and by the time he was halfway up the walk, Cindy had the door open, bottle of beer in hand.
He noted the wedge of lime sticking out from the top and smiled.
His girl always knew the perfect drink to offer him, be it water, lemonade, a scotch, a beer or whatever.
Sometimes it was something he’d never even heard of, but once he tasted it, it was exactly right.
She held the bottle out but he ignored it, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up into the air.
Which put her chest right in front of his face, so while that hadn’t been his intent, he went ahead and nuzzled her, giving a little lick before he set her down.
She opened her mouth, but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything before claiming it for a kiss.
Her arms had gone around his shoulders when he lifted her, and now the beer thunked against his head, but he didn’t care. He’d missed her. He’d only been gone for five hours, but he’d missed her.
When he finally pulled back—mostly because he heard the other cars pulling up, not because he wanted to stop—she had a look of such sweet pleasure that for a second, he was sorry he’d invited anyone over.
She looked past him. “Robert, I’m so glad you’re here. Are you guys going to stay to watch the game with us?”
“If we’re not intruding. We can go to the bar and grab some burgers there, if you’re busy here.”
“Don’t be silly, come on in. Is Jen coming?” she asked, as Adam walked up and claimed a hug from her.
“She’s right behind us,” Jonas assured her as he gestured everyone into the house.
His dad headed towards the living room, then came to a stop.
Jonas had to laugh. It had been a normal living room when he’d left early that morning.
Cindy had said she was going to work on some Super Bowl party recipe and decoration ideas for her blog, and he should encourage the others to come back to watch the game, so the food she made didn’t go to waste.
Now the living room looked like football come to life.
There was green felt covering the coffee table, with yardage lines in white.
A console that was usually behind the couch had been moved up against a wall and draped in burlap.
Above it was a banner of footballs. The console was covered in food.
There was a watermelon that had been carved in the shape of a helmet, with fruit salad pouring out of it.
There were rice crispy treats shaped like footballs, sliders, cups of dip with veggies sticking out of them, and so much more.
He shook his head and shoved his dad inside so he could pull his mate to him and give her another kiss. “You’re something else. I can’t wait to see how your pictures turned out.”
“Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.”
“I’ve no doubt.”
“Robert, Adam, there are beers and water bottles there in the bucket, but if you’d like something else, just let me know. There are sodas in the kitchen.”
“This is great, Cindy, thanks. Myra says she’ll be over in about an hour.”
“Perfect, I’ll save the parmesan-thyme-browned-butter popcorn for when she gets here, so it’s nice and hot.”
Adam groaned, putting a hand to his heart. “It’s a good thing I love her. And that you have a table full of equally delicious-looking food over here. But just so you know, for future reference, I’m a popcorn kind of guy.”
She laughed and kissed his cheek. “So noted. And how well you’re matched, because it’s one of Myra’s favorites.”
Adam looked pleased as he wandered over to the food table.
Jonas let Jen inside and made sure she was happy with the beer and water before he grabbed Cindy’s hand and led her to their bedroom.
“Jonas, we are not getting it on while we have a house full of people,” she said with a laugh as he backed her onto the bed. “Especially a room full of werewolves with excellent hearing.”
He lay down and pulled her on top of him. “I know. But I missed you and want a little cuddle.” He ran his hand up and down her back. “Did you get everything you needed? Are you done for the day?”
She melted into him. “I did, yes. Did Jen get settled in?”
“She still has a bunch to unpack, but she got most of the kitchen unboxed, and the bathroom. She and Dad set up her bed. She has her interview with the Sheriff’s Department tomorrow.”
She’d begun to draw shapes on his chest as they talked. He identified a heart, a spiral and a diamond. “Are you worried about figuring out your own work situation? I don’t want you to feel like you have to help everyone get settled, to the detriment of yourself.”
“Nah, I like it. It’s nice to get a chance to spend some time with everyone early on while we’re all getting used to being here, being together. I don’t need to do anything, really, I just like to keep active. So as long as this is keeping me busy, and entertained, it’s all good.”
He heard a shout from the living room and sighed. “I guess we should go out there.”
“You’re the one who invited everyone,” she reminded him.
“I didn’t think I was up to the challenge of eating all your practice food myself.” He pinched her butt lightly. “And you totally knew I would, there’s no way that whole spread was just practice. I was happy to invite them, until I had you in my arms.”
“Sweet talker.” She kissed him hard and fast and rolled away.