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"Dakota, oh!" Nico exclaimed, then recovered quickly. "Welcome home. Dinner's almost ready."
"Thanks. I'm gonna go grab a quick shower," he said, and my eyes followed him until he disappeared inside his room.
"Nice save, there," I said, turning to look at Nico, and he shook his head.
"How do you think Ryk will react?" he asked, and I grinned.
"I can't wait to see," I told him, and Nico shook his head before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Can you set the table?" he called, and I picked Moon up, placing him on the couch.
"Stay here. I gotta go help Nico," I told him before heading to the kitchen.
By the time I finished setting the table, Dakota returned from his shower dressed in sweatpants and an old t-shirt that looked very soft to touch. I loved comfy clothes, on myself and on others.
"Oh, that smells delicious," Dakota murmured, and Nico smiled, pleased. Nico truly did enjoy feeding people, didn't he? It sucked that he hadn't gotten to share this caretaker side of him in the demon realm, but I was glad he got to do it now.
"I'm gonna go get Ryk," I said, leaving them in the kitchen and walking to the base of the staircase. "Ryk! Dinner's ready!" I called. I didn't need to raise my voice to be heard by him, but until we told Dakota the truth, we had to keep up the pretense.
At least knowing Dakota was our mate gave us the right to tell him the truth about what we were. We would still need to figure out the right time to do it, and also how without scaring him to death.
"Oh, is Dakota home already? I didn't realize," Ryk said as he arrived at the top of the stairs.
"Yep, he's in the kitchen with Nico," I said, deliberately not telling him anything else. Ryk hurried on ahead of me, and I followed close behind, not wanting to miss his reaction. You could always trust Ryk to give an entertaining reaction.
"Hey, Dakota!" he greeted, then stopped short. "Yes!" he exclaimed, raising a fist in the air, and making Dakota laugh.
"Uh, hey, Ryk. What's gotten you so excited?"
"Uh... I'm just glad you're home. I was getting hungry." Ryk scrambled to make an excuse, and I had to bite my lip hard to keep from grinning. Maybe I should've told him after all.
"Oh, well, I'm here, so let's eat," Dakota said with a smile, wet strands of his hair falling over his forehead. My fingers itched to reach out and push them back, but I held myself in check. While we had decided to 'compete' for Dakota's affection before, things had changed now. It didn't have to be a contest anymore because we were all mates. We could all be together. It felt like a dream come true, but I supposed that was what fated mates were.
As we ate, my eyes kept being dragged back to the three men seated around the table. I'd always kept my feelings for Nico and Ryk buried deep inside me since I'd always assumed nothing would come of them, but now that our bond had been revealed, the bindings I'd put around my heart were starting to weaken.
Dakota
Something was different tonight, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Everyone seemed like they'd had a giant weight lifted off their backs. They looked more relaxed, and I'd caught even Star smiling a few times.
What had happened while I was at work? Had they heard some good news? I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to pry. They would tell me if they wanted to, right?
"After dinner, let's watch a movie!" Ryk said, and Nico raised a brow at him.
"We can't do that, Ryk. Dakota has work tomorrow," he reminded, and Ryk slumped in his chair, a disappointed look on his face.
"Oh, right."
"I can watch a movie." The words were out of my mouth before I realized. I just couldn't bear to be the one who put that look on Ryk's face. He looked the best when he was smiling, like he was doing now.
"Really?" he asked, his eyes lighting up as he sat upright.
"Yeah. I'll go to bed right after. One day of a little less sleep won't kill me," I said with a grin, and Ryk cheered.
"Let's finish our dinner first," Star said, and Ryk nodded, quickly stuffing his mouth full.
Shaking my head, I continued eating, as my eyes flicked from one man to the other.
It'd been almost a month since they moved in with me, and yet I felt like I didn't know them all that well at all.
