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FOUR
Cleaningthe kitchen took much longer than cleaning the living room had, but I found a Bluetooth speaker on the counter, and hooked my phone up to it. With music playing loudly, I jammed out while I cleaned, and actually found myself enjoying it. It had been years since I did dishes, and there was something therapeutic about it.
Wolf-Rocco looked hungry, so I fed him a few questionably-aged casseroles that I found in the fridge. I didn’t give him anything that was clearly expired, of course, but everything was pretty questionable since there weren’t dates on any of it.
He gobbled down everything I put in front of him, which definitely made my job easier since I wasn’t going to eat the possibly-old stuff anyway. Werewolves had to be tougher than humans when it came to sicknesses, considering how awful his shifting had been. Thinking about the sound of those bones breaking was enough to make me shudder.
“Is it weird to tell a wolf he’s a good boy?” I checked, scratching Wolf-Rocco’s head as I scrubbed down the sides of the sink, my hips and head still moving with the beat of the music I had playing.
He nodded his head, but licked the inside of my wrist as if letting me know he wasn’t offended that I’d asked.
“Not a dog. Got it.” I leaned my face down, and he lifted his up. His cheek rubbed up against mine, and my lips curved up in a smile. “You do like to cuddle though.”
He licked my neck in agreement, and my smile grew.
There was a knock at the front door, which about scared the actual shit out of me. I jumped away from the wolf, swearing and dropping the sponge in the empty sink.
“Del?” Tea called out.
Dammit.
Biting back a sigh, I glanced at the clock as I headed for the door. It had been a few hours; plenty of time for them to eat, stop at my dorm to grab my stuff, and then come back.
I tugged the door open just as the lock on it turned, and my stomach clenched when I found myself face-to-face with Jesse, who was holding a key to Rocco’s house.
“How many people have keys to this place?” I asked, as a greeting.
“All of us have keys to each other’s houses,” Jesse explained, gesturing to the homes on either side of Rocco’s.
Yeah, that was going to have to change. I could be pretty cool with the werewolf shit, but I drew the line at giving other people open access to my living space. I needed my privacy to feel secure.
“We’ve got your stuff,” Tea exclaimed, slipping past Jesse with two massive duffel bags over her shoulders. All of my breakable equipment was in the hard suitcases, so I knew it would be fine.
“Just leave it at the bottom of the stairs. I haven’t figured out where I’m going to put everything,” I told everyone quickly, not wanting them to go upstairs. While I didn’t care whether or not there was a mess, I didn’t want them walking all over the space I’d probably be living in.
That would be my space.
I guess maybe I was already as territorial as the werewolf they said I was going to have to become.
Whether or not that was a good thing, I didn’t know.
All five guys and both girls carried my shit in, leaving it at the bottom of the stairs as I directed. Elliot made a path in-between all the stuff so I could get through. I stood off to the side awkwardly, my hands still soapy and wet from doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen.
“It looks so much better in here,” Teagan remarked. “If you ever want a job cleaning my place, just let me know.” She winked, telling me she wasn’t serious.
I snorted. “Right. That’s exactly what I want to do with my music degree.”
“As if Tea would ever hand money to someone to do something she could do herself,” Jesse teased. “My girl’s way too cheap for that.”
She grinned. “You know me too well.”
“Hell yeah, I do.” He swatted her on the ass, and I ignored the rising discomfort in my chest.
“Alright, let’s give Del some space. Everyone out,” Elliot announced, waving them all back toward the front door. “We’ll stop by in the morning to see if there’s anything we can help with. I’ll take care of finding a sub for Rocco at work and making sure his family’s aware of what’s going on.”
I shot Elliot a grateful grin before he shut the door.
The lock turned behind them, and I grimaced.
