This vacation would be good for him, just as it would be for Sonnet, too. Hopefully, she was strong enough to endure his bad attitude and figure him out.
When they came inside, Jude tried to steal a bite of food before he was swatted away. “Go take a shower,” Felix said. “You’re dripping with sand and smell like seaweed.”
“Dibs on taking a shower first,” Kai cut in, booking it to the bathroom down the hallway.
Sonnet laughed and placed her hand on Jude’s shoulder. “You can use the master bathroom. The bathtub is amazing! There are some salts and scents, too, if you like those kinds of things.”
Jude beamed. Of course he would. Being given permission to use her space, even if this house was just a rental, was a big deal. Felix’s alpha felt the hope and happiness of it all,at her slow acceptance, and Jude wasted no time racing to her bathroom, shouting a quick insult at Kai as he passed.
“Wow!” Sonnet walked into the kitchen, looking at all the produce. “I’ve never seen so many fresh colors before! It all looks so beautiful.”
“You’re impressed by the ingredients?” Felix laughed, hooking his arms around her waist and hoisting her up onto the kitchen island. He remembered she said in the very beginning that she didn’t like to cook and wasn’t good at it. “What did you use to make to feed yourself?” He asked out of curiosity as he placed the scrubbed oysters back into the fridge to rest as he started on the shrimp cocktail.
Sonnet kicked her legs back and forth and smiled shyly. “You’re not going to like my answer.”
“Let’s hear it anyway.”
“Well, instant mashed potatoes were my go-to with a frozen bag of chicken nuggets. The frozen aisle at the store is where I shop.”
Felix winced and gripped his chest. “Ouch. You’re killing me with that answer.”
She laughed. “To be honest, Summer and Scarlett are the ones who fed me. And my parents. I used to eat with my parents twice a week, and then Summer and Scarlett were taking me out a lot to different places, or Summer would host dinners at her apartment.” She looked down as if fondly being transported into the past. “My mom was pretty devastated when I told her I wouldn’t be around for dinners for a while.”
“I understand. I still remember my grandparents’ faces when I told them I had formed a pack, and we were starting a band and moving to Chicago. I thought my grandma was going to die from heartbreak.”
“Aw, that’s so sad!”
“It was.” Felix stepped away from boiling his shrimp and grabbed his phone. He turned it to show Sonnet a picture of his two favorite people in the entire world. “They’re both very proud of me, now. They raised me after my parents passed when I was young.”
Sonnet’s eyes softened with pain and understanding. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
“Don’t be, sweetheart. I was too young to remember. They passed away from a car accident, but my grandparents kept their love alive, so I’ve never known anything else.” Felix tucked his phone away and smiled. He felt so relaxed talking to her. “Maybe after this vacation, I can take you up to meet them. They live on a farm in Maine, and I think you’d really love it. Jude would, too. He’s been asking to see them again since I last brought him up a year ago, but that’s only because he loves my grandma’s food. She’s the one who taught me to cook and bake.”
“I would love to meet them. Do they have any farm animals?”
“Yes. A mean old Donkey named Hank, lots of chickens, and last I heard, they also bought some goats and rescued a pony.” Felix shook his head. “They always have animals. It’s because of my grandpa. He’s soft for all the rescues.”
“Ah, so that’s where you get your soft soul from.”
“What do you mean?” Felix asked, dropping the shrimp into an ice bath.
“I’ve just noticed how, out of everyone, you’re incredibly kind and humble. Actually, you’re a lot of very good things. Intelligent, respectful, and creative. An old soul!”
An old soul?
That was a perfectly good way to describe him, but the last time someone did, it was thrown out as an insult to his character. Juliana’s insult, in fact, who deemed him boring and meant for a woman of seventy rather than twenty. But whenSonnet said it, she did so with such affection and warmth that it made him melt.
He didn’t know how to respond, so instead he gave her the basket of mussels and had her scrub them clean as he moved on to making the cocktail sauce. She beamed, happy to help in some way, and he was beaming too, happy to have her company.
She handed him the cleaned mussels before awkwardly shifting on the counter. “Before I meet your grandparents, it would probably be smart for all of you to have dinner with my parents. Honestly, I thought my mom was going to crash our vacation to investigate you all. She’s one of the kindest people I know, but also the most stubborn and protective of her family. A real Mama Bear. She’s so much like Summer, but a bit more poised and elegant.”
Felix laughed. “Your sisteristerrifying, but we’ll absolutely get dinner on the books after our trip. It's only right for us gentlemen to meet your parents.” He began patting his scallops completely dry with paper towels and seasoning them. “If Summer takes after your mother, do you take after your father?”
“Well…” Sonnet sighed, her exhale heavy and filled with a burden he couldn’t understand. Felix said nothing, letting her lead the conversation based on her comfort level, and focused on searing the scallops. Finally, when she spoke again, her delicate and sweet voice was consumed by what he could only describe as shame. “Summer is like both of our parents. Dad is very organized, driven, and analytical. His real estate business is very successful, and he’s very proud of that, but also very strategic and resilient when it comes to keeping it afloat as the market goes up and down. Summer is kind of like that. And Mom, well, she’s just so dignified and intelligent. She comes from a very successful lineage and has a large trust fund, but she’s the most humble person I’ve met. She knows how to work a room and uses her class to her advantage. I don’t know how she doesit, takes control without faltering, but Summer does. And I’m…” Sonnet tugged on her pink hair and forced a smile. “I’m just me.”
Just me?
She says that like an insult, but who she is, is why she’s meant to be with this pack.
