Shit, I gotta up my cardio. How the fuck do those short legs move that fast?
I finally catch up as she is throwing our suitcases into the back of a minivan, not unlike the one I drive at home. Without looking up, she passes me Shaggy’s carrier. “Here, hold him for just a minute. I need to put the seats down.” Then she’s scrambling over the luggage she just loaded, and the two seatbacks in front. Before I can even check on the bun, she has the entire rear area flattened out and is spreading out a newspaper she must havepicked up from the service desk. Grabby hands snatch the cage from me, and then she stares at my face, eyes flicking up to the hatch before meeting mine again. Oh, shit, she wants me to close it so she can let Shaggbutt out. Shit.
Closing the hatchback door, I see her reach over the luggage and rummage through a pocket on the inside wheel well, pulling out a large net that she stretches between herself and our suitcases, effectively trapping them in. As soon as that’s done, she pops open Shaggy’s carrier, and a tiny black nose pops out, whiskers twitching in annoyance. Her voice is muffled as she sweet-talks the angry little ball of fluff. Apologizing for taking so long to let him out to stretch.
By the time I get around to the front seat, he’s slowly making his way out, nosing at her hand, probably looking for treats. Her voice comes out tense. “Sure, sorry, bud. I’m just…Yeah, I think I have something around here. Probably just pellets, but I’ll message Thicc and make sure he picks you up some cilantro for when we get there. Just another hour or so, I promise.” He thumps again before looking at me. He then turns his bunny butt my way and leans heavily against her folded legs. I guess I’ve been officially dismissed and am free to drive. As much as I want to ask her to put her seatbelt on, she needs some time to calm down and to feel like she’s back in control.
Chapter 26
It’s gonna take a while for my heart to slow down. Too crowded, too many people, too many smells, and while Teddy said he forgives me, I did threaten his pack last time I saw him…they still deserve it. Or at least Steve. Fuck, Garret isn’t even into Teddy that way, so at least I don’t have to kick his ass. It’s not like I’ve met Steve, but in the pictures they sent, he wasn’t too much more than a walking skeleton. He looked like somebody put an overshirt on a coat rack and called it good. But Sam was nice enough until I upset Teddy, and Kelly seems sweet the few times we’ve talked.
It would make Greg happy if I moved up to the front seat and put on my seatbelt, but I need to be around Shaggy right now, even if he is pissed off. Greg and I have been together for four months now, give or take, and I love him. But there’s still something about Shaggy that just helps me calm down. He’sgiving Pretty Boy the cold shoulder right now, or cold bunny butt, as the case may be. Sometimes I think if he were human, he’d be the kind of person who’d ask to speak to a manager five minutes into any interaction. I love the little bastard, but he’s kind of an asshole. Ok, he’s opinionated. Which isn’t necessarily bad—but let’s be honest—it makes me question the self-preservation of anything this small with this much “fuck you” going out into the world.
It’s mentally and emotionally exhausting traveling, but I’d still rather be here than on the way to see my family again. We’re out of the parking lot and driving down a long, two-lane highway of flat nothing when Greg speaks up again. “Why don’t you lie down and rest, Sarah? Give Shaggy some snuggles, and just close your eyes. I know you’ve been stressed, but I promise not to kill us in an accident this close to our stop.” He ends on a soft chuckle and his right hand appears between the front seats, feeling around for me without taking his eyes off the road.
Shaggy lets out a startled squeak as I scoop him up and lie down, putting my head within reaching distance for Greg. His fingers stroke across my hair for a moment at an awkward angle, and I close my eyes. A few minutes pass in silence before his voice drifts back again. “Get some sleep, Shortcake; I’ll wake you up when we get there.” Then the radio turns on quietly, and I can just make out a quick beat before he starts singing along to “Dear Maria” by All-Time Low.
I want to argue against the nickname, but I can’t make my mind filter through the cotton to get the words out. Shaggy wiggles loose and head-butts me in the chin before flopping on his side against my neck, and then I’m out, listening to Greg’s melodic voice.
We’re not in Kansas anymore, Shaggy. Not that I would know Kansas from Carolina, but I’m feeling a little out of my depth as gentle fingers card through my hair. My mind doesn’t want to come back online, and I don’t know if it’s the strange location, being overly warm from napping in the sun, or just conking out in a moving vehicle. But my brain feels all muzzy and slow.
“Hey, Love, we’re here. You wanna get Shaggy back in his carrier and go say hi before they think we’re doing something fun in the back of the van?” His voice is soft, with a light chuckle as he continues to pet my head, curling his fingers to scratch at the base of my neck before pulling back. I let out a whine of protest that the scritches have stopped, suddenly realizing why Shaggy likes that so much.
Sitting up and trying to wipe the sleep gunk out of my eyes, I’m startled by a soft thump. Apparently, Shaggy was lying half across my throat, and kind of slid off when I sat up. The extra bunny heat is probably why my head feels so messed up, but the culprit is just glaring at me. He finally decides I’ve suffered enough and hops over to his carrier to crawl inside. He probably needs his travel litter box since he just woke up. Regardless, I take the moment to latch the door closed without having to wrangle him.
Once the furious fluff is contained, I slide out of the driver’s side rear door and stretch. I probably could have done it in thecar, but it’s a lot more satisfying out here. Plus, having Greg come up behind me and wrap me in a warm hug and bury his face in my hair is a huge bonus. By now he knows better than to go for my neck. That way lies sexy times, and we’re standing in somebody’s driveway. Despite his earlier joke, I don’t think he wants them to find us in any sort of compromising position.
He pulls me tighter, just holding me against him as we both stretch. “I’ll grab Shaggy if you want to go knock. We can get our luggage in a bit. I don’t think anybody’s gonna steal it this far out in the middle of nowhere.” I can feel his smile against the side of my face, and he rubs his jaw against mine. Treading dangerous territory to getting jumped in Teddy’s driveway.
We compromise in that I help him maneuver the carrier out of the van and get the door closed, then go up the steps onto a large wrap-around porch. I don’t see a doorbell, which feels strange, so I just pull open the screen door and knock on the wood one behind it.
Teddy opens the door, a huge smile on his face, and ushers us inside. He gives me a super quick hug, patting my back twice before pulling away, then offers his hand to Greg to shake. I help him set down Shaggy’s carrier on the floor so he can reciprocate. “Good to see you again, man. How was the flight out?”
Greg opens his mouth to reply, but before he can say anything, a waifish beta walks through an archway at the side of the room—a big, red, hound-dog of some sort trotting behind her. “Oh, hey, you’re here! It’s nice to finally see you in person.”
Her smile is huge as she strides across the room and wraps me in a hug before I can protest. Only letting go when Teddy intervenes. “Pixie, sorry. Sarah isn’t the hugging type. You know, like Steve…she doesn’t like to be touched.”
She looks almost devastated with embarrassment. “Oh my gosh, I am so, so sorry. Sarah, I didn’t even think about it. I just hug everybody…I can’t even blame it on being a Southern thing.I just didn’t think ’bout it. I’m sorry.” She backs up a couple of steps, hands going behind her back before her head tilts to the side and she looks around.
It’s a hell of a shock when she opens her mouth a moment later and yells up the stairs behind her. “Hey, Garret, Penis-colada, get down here, we got com’pny.” Greg chokes back a snort of laughter behind me as Teddy buries his face in his hands.
A rumbly Southern drawl comes out of the same archway that the beta appeared from. “Did I just hear someone bellowing about dicks out here? Oh, hey. You’re here.” Sam walks over like all of this is normal and offers his hand to me and then Greg to shake.
A moment later, the twins come down the stairs. Garret has eyes only for Kelly as he wraps his arms around her and nuzzles against her head, but Steve is fuming, bending a small book back and forth in his hands as he stomps our way. “Did you just call me penis-colada?”
Both the twins have bulked up since they moved here, at least from what Teddy’s told me over the last couple of months during our weekly video chat. But Kelly doesn’t seem deterred as she smirks at the glowering alpha. “Oh, come on…you smell like vanilla and coconuts. Just get a little pineapple air freshener and you’re set. Really, are you mad that I called you that or that you answered, Steve? ’Cause that part was all you.”
Her expression suddenly turns thunderous as she reaches over and snatches the book out of his hands, glaring at the cover and what appears to be some obscenely happy pirates. “Gosh darn it, Steve, I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet; don’t tear it up. I swear, I’ll catch up this weekend, but work’s been nuts.”
Steve goes all shifty-eyed for a moment, looking between us all and then dismissing the rest of the room to focus on Kelly. “I thought you got caught up last week? What the hell? Ok, then I need to tell you that in this book, Luffy…”
His voice is drowned out as Kelly, still holding on to the book, throws her hands over her ears and starts singing, “La, la, la, I can’t hear you! We agreed no spoilers! La, la, la!”
Thank fuck that Sam finally steps in. He brings one hand down on each of their shoulders and Kelly’s off-key song finally cuts out. “Children, I swear…this is not how we act in front of guests. Steve, don’t be a dick.” Steve’s face falls as he stares up at the big alpha. “And Kelly, stop teasing him; you know he’s more sensitive than he lets on. Now, both of you, I left lunch cooking on the stove. Steve, can you go make sure it’s not bubbling over? Sugar, I’m gonna need you to go get dishes down for everybody and set the table.”
He leans over and gives Kelly a kiss on the forehead before she walks back through the archway she came from moments before. Sam turns back to the sullen man standing beside him. “Little Alpha, can you please keep an eye on her? I trust you not to let her climb up on the counter. She might need some help getting the extra plates down from the top shelf.”
He gives the now-smiling Steve the same forehead kiss that he put on Kelly and then turns back to us, while the smaller man saunters towards what I’m now assuming is the kitchen. “Garret, would you mind putting Jake out to play for a bit while they’re getting settled in with Shaggbutt?” All eyes turn to the big dog that’s been sitting beside Teddy, watching the entire scene unfold. As soon as he hears his name, he perks up, headed for the door we just walked through. He comes to a sudden halt, tail flopping uncontrollably beside Greg as he tries to peer into Shaggy’s carrier.
