Page 106 of All Packed Up

Oh shit.

It wasn’t like Arlo learned how to flirt in the time he’d been dating Tate. They’d fallen into each other’s lap and hadn’t questioned it, so there was really no wooing involved, at least not the smooth kind with witty retorts and flirty looks and teasing touches.

He’d have to settle for plain awkwardness and hoped it worked in his favor.

“I’m sure I do. It’s too wet to do anything, so we might as well get started now. I hope you guys like soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

“Hmm, my favorite,” Nic drawled.

Rolling her eyes, Wendy went over to the freezer and pried it open. “Since you have a skillet, we could cook all kinds of things over the fire. Well, depending on what you have…”

She hummed as she rummaged through the freezer, and Arlo could not help the way his gaze traced her frame. In simple leggings and larger tee, probably belonging to one of the guys, she looked like comfort personified. As she reached up to the freezer, the shirt caught on the swell of her ass, and he wasn’t the only one to notice. Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze and found Tate, right next to him, doing the same thing. When he smacked the alpha on the arm, Tate jumped, startled, and sent him a glare.

“What?” he mouthed.

“Be polite!” Arlo moved his lips to form the words, trying not to laugh.

Griffith put an end to it, stepping up behind Wendy to clear his throat and close the freezer. “We can worry about that when we get desperate. I’m hoping the power won’t be out long enough for it to matter. But just in case… let’s not waste the cold air in there.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. Oops,” she said with this cute little smile, ducking her head. How Griffith didn’t melt into a puddle on the floor, Arlo didn’t understand.

“We can get the soup started and then I can gather some more firewood,” he said. “The longer it cooks, the more flavorful it’ll be.”

“The cornbread really doesn’t take that long, but I can help you get the soup ready.”

“Oh, I want to help too!” Wendy interjected. “What else am I supposed to do all day?”

She… had a point, and all of their gazes traveled to Griffith. “Well… what do you wanna do?”

“What do you have for me to do?” she countered.

Griffith sighed and motioned her forward. “Fine. You can chop some veggies.”

She preened, following him into the kitchen, and Arlo shrugged before following. He turned to face the others, walking backwards with his arms raised.

“I’m going to get some work done, but after that I’ll be back down for dinner,” Nic said, turning to make his way upstairs.

“Well, I guess that leaves just me…” Tate sighed loudly, dramatically, before he flopped down on the mattress. “Alone!”

Arlo rolled his eyes before finally turning his back on the living room and his mate to enter the kitchen.

Griffith was handing Wendy ingredients for the soup, which she piled on the cabinet. Arlo grabbed a few and began washing the veggies, while they took care of the rest.

At first, everything was fine. He washed, Wendy chopped, and Griffith focused on filling the pot with the ingredients. They were a capable trio, and—

“Do you always cut carrots like that?” Griffith asked.

Arlo tilted his head to the side and eyed Wendy’s chopping skills. Her carrots were clean and chopped in little disks. Like they should be.

“What does that mean? How do you cut carrots?” Wendy asked, setting the knife down and looking up at the alpha with a frown.

Arlo tried not to laugh as he watched them.

“Like this,” Griffith said. Then he continued to chop a whole carrot into three sections before quartering each section and then dicing.

“Who cuts carrots like that?” Wendy asked, crossing her arms.

“Everyone!” Griffith argued.