The two of us took a selfie with the champagne and I sent it to him. He didn’t answer, but he was asleep.
A timer went off and the music changed to something that saidNew Year’s Countdownstarted counting back, everyone joining in.
Five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year!
Before either of the boys could grab her, I took Fiona and kissed her. “Happy New Year, Mo Stóirín.”
“My turn.” Dusty pulled me to him and kissed me. His lips tasted of champagne as I got more happiness through the bond.
Fiona giggled as her guys picked her up and spun her around, nearly hitting somebody with her feet in the process.
I couldn’t help but laugh and Dusty put his arms around me.
“Where’s Lucky?” Carlos ran over to Verity’s large hockey players and danced around with a ball of air, Hale joining him
Lucky was interesting, but there were worse hobbies.
Carlos returned and planted a big kiss on Dusty’s cheek. “I have to give my not-husband a kiss, too.”
“Not-husband?” Dusty’s hand went to his heart. “I love it, I think we need T-shirts.”
Those two. I shook my head and tried not to laugh.
“That’s what the group chat named you. I think we need nicknames on our pack shirts. But I don’t know what everyone’s nicknames should be, I’ll have to think about that,” he replied.
We were getting pack shirts? That shouldn’t surprise me. Yes, this was my pack. Happy New Year’s to us.
“That was delicious, thank you,” I replied as we ate in the dining room. We’d all been hungry after the party, so Hale made pancakes.
Hale frowned at the leftover pancake on my plate. “I can make you something else if you don’t like pancakes.”
“It was really good. I'm just not very hungry.” I ate half of it, but my stomach felt a bit off. I hadn’t drunk much at Dimitri’s party. Maybe it was one of the spices in dinner. Perhaps I was getting a cold.
“I’ll finish it.” Dusty took the other half.
“Does anyone want to watch a movie or should we head to bed? We do have the game tomorrow, followed by the family brunch.” Carlos made moon-eyes at Fiona.
“Fiona is mine tonight, get your own.” I went over to Fiona, picked her up, and threw her over my shoulder.
She squealed in delight, feet kicking happily.
“You’re strong.” Hale nodded appreciatively.
“Good night, boys.” I waved and sent Dusty a little extra love, hoping he didn’t feel left out, or jealous.
“Have fun.” Dusty kissed my temple.
I carried her down the stairs and set her onto her feet. “Is that what you wanted?”
“Yes.” Fiona nodded.
We went to my room and I shut the door. I undressed her and myself, then put everything in the laundry basket.
“You smell like party.” Taking her hand, I led her into the shower and turned on the warm water. “I’d like to get my bathroom remodeled. I can cover it. I know what I want.”
“Sounds good. I think we should put a sauna down here, just a little one,” she added.
“That’s a good idea.” I held her to me as I remembered what Dusty said. “You should probably schedule a post-heat checkup if you haven’t already.”
