“Why?”
Kai growled as Jude stole some of his food. “The house smelled. Would have appreciated a heads up about that.”
“Whoops.” Jude’s grin widened, and he pulled up a chair. “I’ll help you finish this and then you can help me carry all of this back to the house. I might have gone a little overboard.”
“Alittle?”
“I didn’t know what an omega after a heat spike would need!”
Kai looked through the bags as Jude helped himself to the drinks and food. “Flowers, treats, snacks, books, stickers, and—Why do you have glitter?”
“Okay, so...”
“No. No way. What is all this crap?”
Jude held up the last bag with a cheeky smile that only meant trouble. “Sonnet told me she loved crafts and glitter. I figured we could all have a night of it. Look at everything I bought for us to do!”
“Jesus, you’re nuts.”
Jude barked a laugh, handed the bartender a tip, and together they hauled his insane amount of groceries off the beach. Neither of them bothered to text Felix or Zayden to be picked up. Not yet.
When was the last time Kai spent any time with Jude?
They used to be inseparable.
“What kind of crafts?”
Jude grinned. “I knew you’d be interested. I got stuff to make bracelets, paper hats, and the good glue so we could bedazzle some t-shirts.”
“I regret asking.”
Bedazzle. That seemed like Sonnet.
She was so different, so strange. Pink hair, a sparkly phone case, sprinkles in her coffee. If she had strode in on a unicorn with fairy wings, Kai wouldn’t have been surprised.
Jude bumped his shoulder into Kai. “You’re smiling.”
“No. I’m obviously scowling.”
“It’s okay to smile. You don’t have to be allergic to happiness. I mean, look at Zayden. He’s starting to smile again, too.”
“Don’t talk to me about Zayden,” Kai growled and stopped walking. “He doesn’t deserve to be smiling.”
When Jude turned towards him, the sun was setting right behind his head, giving him a halo effect. But his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve punished Zayden enough?”
“Ha! He should be punishing himself.”
“He has been, Kai. He has been.” Jude dropped the groceries gently onto the sandy beach and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “He hasn’t been acting like our alpha for ten months because he’s been punishing himself for what happened. So how can he do anything to be better, to earn your forgiveness, when you keep kicking him while he’s down?”
He deserves it.
Maybe.
Maybe?
Maybe Jude has a point.
Suddenly, it all made sense why Kai hadn’t spent any time alone with Jude. He always tried pulling shit like this.
