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“Are you liking it?”
“I kind of love it. I’m not full-time until I’m done with school, so the hours mess with me a little bit, but I’m getting by. Once the facility with the second location is open, I’ll be done with my program and I’ll be working full-time at the bakery with Jasper.”
“We love a man with a plan.” Meg laughed.
“You’re gonna have to come visit us,” I insisted. “Come for the yoga, stay for the treats.”
“I can absolutely make that a habit. My program should be all done by the time construction finishes.”
“Hell yes! That’s my brainy bitch.” I high-fived Meg, making her laugh again.
We walked in together, all three of us with our arms full of the neatly wrapped treats Luca had brought. We set them on the gift table and I beelined to give Allie a birthday hug.
“Happy birthday, girly!”
“Thank you!” She squeezed me back and whispered in my ear, “When do I get my secret present?”
“After everyone leaves.”
Allie pouted. “I’m not patient enough for that.”
“Now is a good time to practice, then.”
I stepped aside for Luca and Meg to both hug her, and I headed over to the little bar and got myself a raspberry and ouzo slushie.
There were piles of Allie’s relatives, some friends I recognized from work, and some friends from her university days. I didn’t know most of them, but I took my slushie and mingled my way around the room. The buffet dinner was beyond delicious, and I stuffed myself on baklava for dessert. Nicky and her pack stopped by to drop off gifts, but with all of their wonky work hours, they didn’t stay too long.
The evening dwindled down slowly, and I settled in to chat with Meg and Luca as everyone slowly petered out. Once it was us three, plus Sidney and Allie as the last ones, Allie bounded over to me. “Surprise present time?!”
I glanced briefly at Meg. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t care too much so it wasn’t a huge deal if I told her right now too.
Rather than say anything, I looked over at Luca and slipped my hand into his.
Allie’s gaze flipped from my face to our hands, processing for a half second before an ear-splitting squee filled the restaurant. “Oh my god! Really? When? Where? How long? Tell me everything,” Allie demanded.
I absorbed all of her excitement, and Meg and Sidney’s focus on the two of us, willing my heart to calm the fuck down. Luca gently squeezed my hand.
“Before I tell you all the details, can I ask you to keep it quiet for now? I’m nervous about Mama Marino finding out, and we haven’t told Nicky yet.”
“My lips are fucking zipped. Now spill.” Allie dragged a chair to sit in front of us, perching on her knees, and Sidney came to sit next to her, lovingly tucking some of her escaped hair behind her ear.
I gave them sparse details, that the spark had happened at the wedding, but we hadn’t become official until a few weeks ago.
“This is so exciting!” Allie bounced in place. “We’re going to be sisters!”
Sidney settled his hand on the back of her neck with a sigh. “Don’t put that expectation on them. They’ve only been together for a month.”
Allie’s pout was instant before she sucked it back. Thank god for reasonable alphas. Allie reacted like I had anticipated, and I was trying not to focus too much on the weight of that expectation. If I didn’t focus on right now instead of who knew how long into the future, I was going to make myself crazy.
Allie looked like she was having a WWE showdown inside her head, but she managed to wrangle whatever errant thoughts were going on in there. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m just really excited about the idea of getting to officially keep Luna. But I won’t say a word. After right now.” She squeaked excitedly again and leapt off her chair to hug both of us.
I caught Meg’s eyes on me. “Question?”
“I told you to behave at the wedding,” she said, but she had a soft smile on her lips so I knew she wasn’t too upset.
“It was after midnight when we kissed. I didn’t break any of the rules you gave me.”
Meg laughed. “Technicalities, but I’ll accept it.”
