13. Olivia
OLIVIA
BEST. GIFT. EVER
It was my thirty-first birthday, nearly a year since the party that had changed so much of my life, and three days after the celebration I’d had with my family.
It had been lovely in a lot of ways, but also not so lovely in others.
Cesare got into an argument with my father about outdated alpha stuff that had culminated in the two of them competing in a series of physical trials to prove they still had “it”.
What “it” was, I wasn’t clear on, but it annoyed me, especially when other men joined in.
That wasn’t enough to tank what was otherwise a lovely start and middle, but then multiple guests insisted we go on a run to reunify while others objected that it would be better to wait for the pack run. All that while several of the children kept asking where the fireworks were.
I wasn’t sure who had told them that my birthday had the same sort of celebration protocol as that of the United States. It would have been flattering if I hadn’t had to explain fifteen times that there would be no explosions.
At least, there hadn’t been any planned explosions, because as it turned out, Rolando and the triplets helped cover an early exit for me by, naturally, lighting something on fire.
Or rather, the triplets played the part of arsonists (a little too well, in my opinion), while my brother played the part of putting everything out before it could ruin more than decorations and my cousin Nina’s sweet mashed potatoes.
No big deal, of course.
Except for destroying sweet mashed potatoes.
Who put sugar in Yukon gold potatoes? I liked to think of myself as adventurous, but that was for yams and sweet potatoes only.
I’d recently thought those two were the same tuber, until Amanda spent thirty minutes explaining why they weren’t while we were playing Uno online.
“Are you all right? You’ve been staring out the window the past fifteen miles.”
I tore myself out of my reverie and looked over at Keith, who cut quite the impressive figure in his dark green suit with the black accents.
I’d helped him pick it out early in our relationship, and it always made me all fuzzy on the inside when he wore it for special occasions.
It was like a silent form of approval that didn’t need any words.
“Just thinking about things,” I murmured, pasting on a smile. From the expression on his face, I could tell it didn’t quite land.
“Anything you wanna talk about?”
“No, not really. I was thinking about my birthday and how so much has changed since then and yet so much hasn’t.”
He nodded. “Family stuff?”
“Family stuff.” Not for the first time, I was incredibly grateful when he didn’t ask me for any sort of clarification. He really had the patience of a saint because what I was doing to him wasn’t fair.
I didn’t know how to navigate it. I had fallen so deeply in love with a human who was exceptional in every way, but I also wasn’t willing to lose my family. They had their flaws, of course, but those flaws weren’t worth losing them forever.
And even if, for some reason, I chose to abandon my pack, I would still be a wolf.
Did I want to spend my whole life pretending to be something I wasn’t?
Denying the most basic side of myself? Then, if I did choose that, which I never would, how would I explain the fact that I would be aging about half as much as Keith at most?
Ugh.
I’d really gotten myself into a mess, hadn’t I?
“We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly happy turning the car around and having a night in,” Keith offered. It was so incredibly sweet because I knew he’d been planning our day together for at least a month.
We’d gone to a movie earlier, then back to his place so I could get dolled up for the fancy restaurant.
“No, no, I’ve been looking forward to this. I can’t think of anything better to get me out of my head.”
“Only if you’re sure.” When I nodded, he smiled and lifted my hand to his lips. “Sometimes being in the car at night in the rain makes my thoughts wander too.”
“Does it?” I mused, happy that there were new things to learn about the man who brought so much joy to my life.
“Yeah. Just contemplative, ya know?”
Boy, did I. I’d never connected it to the rain, but he was right. There was something about the rhythmic beat of the windshield wipers as they dashed from side to side, a counterpoint to the hollow thumps of the big, fat rain drops against the windshield.
But the issue was, no matter how many times I refigured the puzzle in my head, I wasn’t willing to let go of Keith or my pack. I wanted to be a wolf, and I also wanted to be his wi—
Don’t think about it. Just like every other time.
Easier said than done. I managed to get myself together by the time we pulled into a parking garage deep in the city.
“It’s a bit of a walk,” Keith said. “But I brought an umbrella.”
“Of course you did,” I said, knowing from past storms we’d weathered that he had one of those jumbo-sized ones that could fit the both of us.
Well, me and most of him, but that was probably the best we could hope for without becoming a walking hazard on the sidewalk.
“But trust me, I don’t mind getting a little wet.
” I waggled my eyebrows at him and he snickered, which never failed to make me chuckle.
Was it immature? Yes. But with Keith I didn’t always have to be the consummate professional and composed woman.
I could be a brat, or immature, or downright silly. He never judged me for it.
“I suppose I might have experienced that once or twice,” he said, leaning over to kiss my cheek before getting out of the car and grabbing the umbrella from the back.
I felt a little like a princess when he came around to my side and held the umbrella over the door so I was completely dry as I exited and began to walk, the two of us arm in arm.
Even through my light coat, I felt the heat of his body radiating through the night air.
As a shifter, I was supposed to be the warm one, but my giant partner definitely had me beat on every night but the full moon.
And on full moons, I was always with my family, so it wasn’t like Keith knew anything about that.
Ugh.
My subconscious was really set on not letting me put that out of my mind and enjoying the night, was it?
I’d have to try harder.
Instead of chasing my tail in circles for the umpteenth time, I leaned my head against his shoulder and enjoyed our short walk to the high-end sushi restaurant.
“Whoa…” I murmured as I looked up at the glamorous front. It was just shy of early aughts gaudy and stood magnificently against the night sky. “I’ve been meaning to come here for ages!”
“I know,” Keith murmured, looking pleased with himself. “You mentioned it once or twice.”
I flushed. It was so good to be seen and understood. The things Keith remembered… it really was lovely.
The hostess, who looked like she’d stepped off the page of a fashion magazine, greeted us warmly as soon as we stepped inside.
Movies had made me think that upscale restaurants like these would be full of snooty people who would make the experience unpleasant, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.
“Good evening, may I have the name on your reservation?”
One of the reasons I never ended up coming to this place was because they didn’t take walk-ins and their waiting list was a mile long.
I always told myself I’d snag a spot the next month, then I’d forget about it.
Once again, Keith was covering the places where I struggled.
I liked to think I did the same for him.
Like making any sort of phone call to customer service and getting results instead of being pushed around.
“Keith Insrym,” he said, letting go of me so he could pull his phone out, no doubt for the confirmation e-mail. The hostess gently shook her head.
“Oh, don’t worry about that! We haven’t had anybody try to steal another person’s reservation so we don’t really require ID unless you plan to do the wine tasting menu. I see here, under your reservation, it’s your birthday Miss Olivia?”
I nodded, and as silly as it was, I felt a bit like a micro celebrity. While my family had enough money that the occasional fine-dining event wasn’t impossible, we tended not to do it since we had so many cooks in our pack covering quite a broad range of skills.
“It is,” Keith said, sounding almost as excited as I was.
“Thank you for choosing to celebrate with us tonight, Miss Olivia. If you’ll follow me, we have your table prepared for you.”
I expected plate settings and maybe a glass of sparkling water, but I should have known better.
Because apparently, this restaurant took fine dining as seriously as my partner took my birthday.
A huge bouquet of bright flowers stood in the center of the table, which I knew Keith had sent ahead of time, a bottle of wine and fresh glasses of water waiting for us, as well as a decorated side table that held a handful of beautifully wrapped small presents.
I couldn’t help but think how different this was to how things usually went with my family. I loved them, I did, but they kind of sucked when it came to celebrating me.
“Wow…” I whispered, unable to stop myself. Keith and the hostess seemed pleased at my breathless response.
I was only half-listening to the ensuing explanation of our night as we sat. Something about a special tasting menu that was never created twice and the influences they had. There was too much to look at and too many delicious smells surrounding us.
So, this was what Ginna meant when she told me I needed to try more upscale places. It wasn’t something I’d want to experience every time but it was nice on a special occasion.
“A tasting menu?” I murmured. “This is so cool!”
“Do you think so?” Keith said, and I swore he was blushing behind his beard. I loved that he loved treating me almost more than I enjoyed being treated. Was… was he making me a bit of a princess?