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Felicity was at their table a few minutes later to take their order then sped off to get their drinks. Kenzie watched her move through the tables like a pro, drop off their order and fill their drinks. She carried the drink tray with one hand, not spilling a drop.
She had always had huge respect for servers. She tried it once when she was sixteen and broke more dishes than she actually served. The manager fired her after only a week working there. Her mom had taken her out for ice cream to cheer her up.
When Felicity came back, she gave them their drinks, then sat down next to Chris who was sitting across from Kenzie and Marshall. He scooted over to give her more room, only smiling at her sigh of exhaustion.
“Oh my gosh that feels so good. I haven’t had a minute to sit all morning.” She leaned back and smiled.
Chris wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Well you’re always welcome to sit with us. How’ve you been doing?”
She sighed, “Great. So ready for the summer to be over though. Working here is killing my social life. Zach has been such a jerk about me working here, so I broke up with him. But I miss my friends.”
Chris gave her a squeeze and she leaned her head on his shoulder, “Keep your chin up kiddo. It’ll be over before you know it.”
Marshall chuckled, “He’s right. And Zach was an ass anyway. He didn’t deserve you.”
She beamed a bright smile at them, “You’re right. I am way too good for him. And summer won’t last forever. Thanks, you cheered me up.” She gave Chris a quick kiss on the cheek before hopping up, “Your food will be right out.”
She started to walk away then turned back quickly, “By the way Kenzie, Mom said to invite you and Aiden over for dinner on Saturday night. She wanted me to tell you because then Aiden can’t say no. Five o’clock!”
Then she rushed off before Kenzie could reply.
“She’s so bubbly. I wish I had that much energy.” She smiled at the teenager’s enthusiasm. She already had a soft spot for her.
“Have you met Aiden’s parents, Ben and Julz?” Chris asked.
“I did actually. The other day when Aiden brought me here for lunch, we ran into them and ended up sharing a table. They are pretty amazing. His whole family is.” So far, almost everyone she’d met were great. It was making it so easy to want to stay. The only reason she hesitated was because of Uncle Jake and her house. She loved her little slice of serenity, and she didn’t want to leave her uncle alone.
She would have to speak with him later today. There was so much she had not told him.
Chris nodded, “They are great people. Ben is my father’s best friend, and a great friend to me as well. They both helped me so much after Rhiannon passed. Julz was a godsend with Marshall. He and Aiden grew up more like brothers than friends.”
Marshall smiled, “We got each other in quiet a bit of trouble too.”
“Doing what?” She could imagine the two of them causing all kinds of mischief.
“Well, this one time in third grade Aiden got in trouble for talking out of turn, so we filled the teacher’s desk with cockroaches.”
“That’s gross!” She didn’t even know what else to say.
Chris laughed, “That was the least of it. One of the boys in their class tried to flirt with a girl Marshall liked in middle school, so they toilet papered his house. The kid’s mom stormed into my office and nearly took my head off. They spent the entire weekend cleaning up the mess.”
“Oh yea. That was awesome!” Marshall was beaming with pride at his childhood antics.
She shook her head with a smile on her face, “You were delinquents. I would not have hung out with you two at all.”
Marshall nudged her with his shoulder, “Aw why not? It was all in good fun. We never hurt anyone or did something we couldn’t fix or clean up.”
She shrugged, “I was a book worm. I didn’t really have many friends and I was really shy. Then after I shifted for the first time, Mom started homeschooling me, just to be safe. I was kind of a boring kid.”
She saw Chris and Marshall exchange a solemn look before Marshall replied, “I wish you had grown up here. I can’t imagine how hard it was growing up a wolf without anyone around who could truly understand. I hate that you didn’t have friends to share your life with.”
“It’s okay. I still had an amazing childhood. I was a happy kid, just quiet. But I always had Mom and Uncle Jake. And once I could shift, I would go running for hours. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I kind of had an attitude problem in my teens, so it was a good way for me to chill out.” She smiled at the memories.
It really had been a great way to grow up. She could admit that she’d been pretty lonely sometimes, but it wasn’t so bad. She looked at Marshall and Chris, studied their faces, their expressions. She already cared about them so deeply after such a short amount of time. Sometimes she did wish she’d grown up with them, but she’d had a good life and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Marshall smirked, “Most teenage wolves have a little bit of an attitude problem. And occasionally a fighting problem. But it’s completely normal for us. Our tempers run just a little bit hotter than a human.”
“Did you fight a lot?” He was a big guy, with muscle stacked on top of muscle. She couldn’t imagine he lost very often.
