Adler and Drax share a real smile this time. Maybe by the end of the day, they’ll be making friendship bracelets…
“Thank you!” I throw my arms around Laz’s neck. “And what about the rest of the family?”
“It’s not my news to tell.” He lets out a deep sigh. “But you’ll have to tell them.”
“I will.” I hug him again. “Soon.”
“Now that’s out of the way, who’s hungry?” Faye claps her hands, busying herself over at the island, where there are mountains of food stacked up. “I got a lot from Delilah’s bakery. Help yourselves. There’s more than enough here.” She moves over to Laz and kisses his curls. “I’m so proud of you.”
“But don’t touch the fudge cake,” Damon warns, practically baring his teeth. “That’s Faye’s favorite.”
“It’s okay,” Faye laughs, although from the way Damon’s protecting it like a guard dog, I don’t think anyone would dare. “It’s a massive cake.”
Ren pulls the entire cake over to her with a fork, and I swear, I’ve never seen her smile so hard. “It’s all yours, gorgeous.”
Cole chews his lip. “Unless you’d prefer the carrot cake? That looks great too.”
“I prefer my cakes vegetable-free.” She screws up her nose then licks her lips at her chocolate bounty. “I really am happy to share, though.”
“Oh, we know.” Laz smirks. Relief fills me, knowing his dirty joke is a sign that he’s starting to loosen up again.
“Hey!” I pretend to retch. “I don’t need to hear about what you guys get up to in the bedroom!”
“Please.” Cole motions to my guys, who are all hovering around the island. “Make yourselves at home.”
“Here.” Damon thrusts a plate into Adler’s hands with an unnecessary amount of force. “Eat.”
Adler chuckles nervously, like he’s been caught in a hostage situation, while Drax hums while loading up his plate, enjoying Adler getting some heat.
“How about we move outside?” Faye suggests, Cole already moving to open the large doors that lead onto their private beach. “It’s a gorgeous day.”
“Maybe play some volleyball?” My palms are itching to get back to it. “I can beat you again, Adler.”
“You’re never gonna let me live that down, huh?”
“Nope.” I wink at him. “Never.”
“You’ll soon learn just how competitive Sabs can be,” Cole says. “She’s been beating us all for years.”
I stick my tongue out. “And I’ll continue to.”
“Hey, isn’t your friend named Delilah?” Luca examines the boxes from the bakery as he helps Faye and Ren gather some of them up to take outside.
I wave an apple strudel. “So youhavebeen paying attention to what I say.”
“To you?” Fuck, Luca’s cute when he smiles. He has the sweetest dimples, ones I have not yet properly appreciated. “Always.”
“Jagger Knight bought the bakery and named it after Delilah when they started courting again,” Faye explains as we head out into the sunshine. “Every omega in Stella House now gets free food there for life, but I keep slipping cash into Dora’s tip jar because I feel so bad about not paying.” Dora is the adorable owner of the bakery who never accepts anything from us. “Oh, and Dora loves my gram’s new hand lotion too, so I keep giving her more every time I’m there.”
“That seems a fair trade, but Jagger will be mad if he finds out,” I tut, wagging my finger at her. “He loves spoiling Delilah,” I add for the benefit of the guys.
“I can’t believe she’s withtheJagger Knight.” Luca places the sandwiches on a picnic table. “He’s making his own music now, right?”
“Apparently,” I reply. “Delilah says what he’s working on is amazing. Although she’s a little biased. She keeps trying to get him to do a private show for us, so hopefully we can hear for ourselves eventually.”
“We all need to get together again soon.” Faye picks up a chocolate chip muffin. “It feels like it’s been too long.”
“Yeah, I ruined our last brunch.” I smile apologetically, rubbing my claim mark that serves as a reminder of when all my friends hurried to be with me in Stella House post-bond. “Sorry about that.”
