I hate that he throws me off so completely that it’s evident in our every encounter.
If I thought dinner last night was awkward, I was wrong.
Breakfast is on an entirely different level.
Hawk barely looks at me, while Magnum scoots his chair closer to mine, repeatedly commenting on how I should eat something.
My nerves are shot, and even if the food smells delicious, I can’t bring myself to actually eat any of it. That’s just asking for an upset stomach.
Moretti mostly stays focused on his phone, but my anxiety rises all over again as he puts it away and assesses the table. “He’s right. You haven’t touched your food.” He nods at my plate before his eyes meet mine. “You can fill out the forms on the clipboard in the pantry if you have any special requests or food aversions.”
“I’m good.” I smile tightly. “Just not very hungry this morning.”
The overwhelming urge to nest washes over me from nowhere.
Moretti continues to stare directly at me, and I squirm in my seat. Magnum tosses his arm around the back of my chair, and I ache to bury my nose in his chest to hide from Moretti’s prying eyes.
Maybe I came off the suppressants too quickly? How badly could they really impact my health? I mean, I’ve been on them for way longer than the doctors recommended, and I’m okay.
Moretti finally nods, his eyes cutting to Magnum. “I assume you have more than the clothes on your back?” He arches a blond brow, gesturing at Mag with the pointer fingers of his interlocked hands.
“I do,” Magnum says, running his fingers through my hair.
Does the man have a death wish?
Could this be any more awkward?
Holy shit.
Am I going to have a panic attack over breakfast?
That would be embarrassing.
“That works out perfectly,” Moretti says. “You and I will head out to handle that. I’d like your opinion on something, anyway. Vanessa, darling, do you have something to fit with what I asked you to wear tonight?”
“What’s tonight?” Magnum asks, glancing between us.
“Vanessa and I have a date.” Moretti sounds entirely too pleased to deliver that tidbit of information before I had the chance. “If you need to grab something new, Hawk will accompany you shopping.”
I shake my head. “I have something.”
Going out right now sounds like a nightmare I want no part of.
“Well, you and Hawk can spend a lazy day around the house,” Moretti says, planting his hands on the table. “Don’t worry, darling. I promise to bring your boyfriend back in one piece.”
Magnum follows me into the pack bedroom, and everything in me wants to drag him into the nest and not let him leave.
My impulses are all out of whack, and I know that. I just don’t have the first idea how to make them chill.
Magnum takes off for the nest, and I follow. He mentioned that he needed to grab his coat before he could leave with Moretti, and I want to talk to him before he goes, even if I have no idea what to say.
He pushes open the door to the nest, heading inside. I have the overwhelming urge to ask him to take his boots off at the door, so he won’t walk across the plush carpet in them.
He crosses the room in a few large strides and climbs the stairs to the den nest while I’m still taking everything in.
The left wall has floor-to-ceiling cupboards, likely filled with extra blankets, pillows, and other nesting supplies.
Straight ahead is a small alcove with a bench seat that takes up the entire space. It looks out over the large picture window in the center, and there are two angled, smaller windows on either side.
