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I laugh and Ford’s mouth curls into that gorgeous smile again. “There it is,” I murmur, keeping my eyes on Ford as Davis drags me inside. His cheeks flush, and I don’t know if he’s embarrassed or pleased. Though he has nothing to be embarrassed about, so I’m going with pleased. Unless he hasn’t received many compliments in the last seven years.
I’ll have to change that.
I pull my eyes from Ford and look around as Davis tugs me through the house so fast I don’t make out much. Soft neutral colors, natural woods, plants that don’t look real. There are paintings on the walls, but, for the most part, the space looks… unfinished. Like it’s waiting for someone to come along and put their stamp on it.
“We made you dinner,” Davis says, guiding me into the kitchen, where the rest of the pack is waiting. The scent of garlic and tomatoes reaches my nose, along with warm bread.
Topher smiles at me as he stirs a pot. “Hey, baby.”
Jackson, who had been in the middle of pulling out shallow pasta bowls—because of course, they have bowls specifically for pasta—sets the stack on the counter and comes over to me, cupping my face and pressing a soft kiss to my lips. Then another.
His forehead touches mine. “Missed you today, baby girl.”
It makes my stomach flip, but I cock my brow and grin up at him. “You just saw me last night.”
He hums against my lips. “Too long. I want your face to be the first thing I see every morning. You should move in with us.”
I freeze at the statement, my stomach lurching at the idea. But I can’t tell if it’s anxiety or excitement. All I’ve wanted is to be with them, to live with them, to build our life together. But this is fast, right? Far too fast after seven years apart, after me being heart broken and sick for that entire time.
I’m not sure I can just leap in with two feet again.
Ford presses into my back, his lips finding the nape of my neck. “I think that’s a fucking great idea,” he murmurs.
“Thirded,” Davis agrees, his thumb pressing into the ring Ford just recently slid onto my finger. Of course, he’d see it right away. I’m sure most of them have.
“You gonna move in with us, baby girl?” Jackson asks against my lips. “You gonna let us take care of you?”
I swallow thickly and shake my head slowly. Words. I need to use words. I need to tell them I’m just not ready for this, but is that the truth? Fuck, I don’t know.
An arm winds its way through the crush of alpha bodies and carefully works to extract me. “Stop pawing all over her,” Asher chides. “You’re making it hard for her to think.”
I scowl at him even though it’s the truth. “Excuse me, Ash, but I am more than capable of keeping my head around all of you.”
He smirks at me, silently calling me on my bullshit, while everyone else snickers or laughs and Ford straight up says, “bullshit.”
My scowl deepens, but Asher pulls me into his body, his lips finding mine in a sweet kiss. “Hi,” he whispers.
“Hi,” I whisper back.
He kisses me again and then releases me. “Think about the invite, angel. We’d love to have you here where we can keep an eye on you.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t need you to keep an eye on me.”
Davis hums, his hands sliding onto my hips and tugging me back into his body. “The last time we stopped watching you, you disappeared on us for seven years, beautiful. You can’t blame us for wanting to keep you close.”
I can’t. Not really. If our roles were reversed, I’d be feeling the same. But I can’t stop the spike of hurt that stabs me. It still sounds like they’re blaming me, like they don’t understand the heartbreak that I felt that made me run. Not to mention that my grandmother made it clear I didn’t have any other option. The only thing I thought I could do was leave.
Asher frowns. “Stop it.”
“What?”
His finger motions around my face. “Whatever you’re thinking in there that’s making your face to that, stop it. We aren’t blaming you, Vee. We know the reasons you left. We understand them. We aren’t trying to make you feel guilty for leaving.”
“It just…” I swallow thickly and look away. “Sometimes it feels like you do blame me. Like I should have been smart enough or trusted you enough to wait for you to talk to me. Like it’s my fault we lost all this time.” My gaze drops to the tips of my boots. “I tried, you know, to stay at the party. I tried to tell Gladys that I needed to talk to you. I tried to trust you. She wouldn’t let me. Shoved me in the back seat of the car so hard I hit my head. By the time I was aware enough, we were already gone. And then when we got home… That article was out.” I flick my gaze up at the sound of the pot sliding off the burner. Topher moves around the island, coming to stand with us. “And it was there in black and white that you didn’t want me. Maybe I could have made a different decision. Maybe I could have gone to the cabin instead of the bus station, but… I’m not the only person at fault here.”
“Of course you’re not, baby girl,” Jackson murmurs. “We know that.”
“Then start acting like it, please. Stop making comments about how you might lose me, or how I might run off again. I’m here and I’m trying, even though it might literally kill me if this doesn’t work out.”
