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No.
The first words out of my mouth are, “Wow, there are like, SO many nipples out right now.” At which point I proceeded to slap my hands over my fire engine red cheeks and consider drowning myself in the shallow end. Of course, the guys laughed like hyenas for a solid ten minutes before we could actually start lessons. Then we did fifteen minutes of water safety at the edge of the pool. Which leads me to right now. With me sitting on the ledge at the deep end whining because I’m too scared to jump in, despite there being three very handsome men there to catch me.
Kas pulls on my big toe gently. “Come on, my dry little duckling, we need to know you can at least keep your head above water. Although I don’t think any of us would let you out of our sights long enough to fall into water… but some of the bathtubs back home are pretty deep.” He smirks at me.
I giggle. “Did you just call me your dry little duckling? That’s weird.”
He chucks my chin softly. “Yeah, but it got you to smile and stop panicking, didn’t it?”
These men are terrible for my intentionally hardened heart. If I’m not careful, I might fall in love with them. And the thought of falling in love kind of gives me hives. Or… it did three days ago.
Jolting when his hand strokes my cheek, I nod. “Alright, let’s do this.”
* * *
Two hours later, I’ve successfully done five laps of the pool and my fingers and toes all resemble raisins.
I pop up at the end of the pool and see Kai holding out a towel for me. Letting him pull me up, I wrap my arms around his neck in a hug.
“I did it! Thank you, guys, so much for teaching me and being so patient. You have no idea how much it means to me.”
Kai hugs me back tight before letting me move to hug his brother as he says, “You don’t need to thank us, Sugar. We did this as much for you as we did to alleviate our own fears.”
Moving from Kas to Rook, I’m practically giddy with excitement. “Either way, you gave me a skill I always wanted but was never able to learn. I’m so happy,” I say, smiling up at all three of them.
Suddenly, I’m scooped up and thrown over Kas’ shoulder, causing me to squeal with laughter.
I can hear the smile in his voice as he says, “Come on, Swedish Fish, let’s go get some lunch.”
We all settle on Thai food for lunch because when I told them I’d never had it before, Achilles called it blasphemy and proceeded to order enough food to feed an army.
“Trust me, ma douce fraise, you live with five grown men now. We’ll finish it all and then ask you if you want dessert,” he says with a laugh.
I thought he was kidding. But they dig into the food the minute it arrives, and each has a second plate before I even finish my first. As soon as I took my first bite of Pad Thai, I let out a loud moan that had more than one of the Alphas in the room letting out a low growl.
I sheepishly shrug my shoulders and swallow before I speak. “Sorry. I didn’t realize how delicious it would be. I think Pad Thai and egg rolls might be my new favorite foods. I know this place isn’t home, so are there any good Thai places near your house? Where exactly is it?” I say, taking a drink of my Thai tea.
The guys all look at Rook, who clears his throat. “So… here’s the thing. Our pack house is in Lockwood.”
I choke at that, coughing and spraying orange liquid out of my mouth. Thank whoever built this house that they put in hardwood. “I’m sorry, did you just say you live inLockwood? Like… across the country, Lockwood? What are you guys doing here if you live there? You’re not working, right?”
The guys all look at each other with some sort of silent communication and eventually turn to Hades, who looks apprehensive as he faces me. Taking a deep breath, he locks eyes with me.
“I think it’s time we had that talk.”
ChapterSeven
UNTANGLING THE PAST
Hades
I’m sweatin’ like a sinner in church waiting for Blake to decide if she’s ready or not. The strawberry in her scent, which has been strong since she got here, is souring the longer we sit here. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to do this, but she needs to know what really happened. Not to mention all the lengths we’ve gone to in order to find her cute ass. Her minuscule nod has me letting out a sigh of relief. “Would you mind if we sat out back on the swing by the pool? It’s not too cold out, but I can grab a blanket if you want.”
To my surprise, it’s Kaspian that hops up. “I’ll grab you a hoodie, little popsicle. Hang tight for a sec.”
He sends a wink in her direction, earning him a beautiful giggle. I’m hoping after this long overdue conversation we can finally get to know each other again. Honestly, though, even if she’s not ready, that’s fine. I’ll wait forever for this girl.
Kas comes bounding back down the stairs with a hoodie in hand. “Come on, Frosty. Arms up,” he says as he drapes the hoodie over her head.
