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“Anyway,” Zeke said, “I’ve got to get back to my table. But stop by the Quest Investigations office on Monday and we’ll get it sorted.” He smiled at them both and then darted away.
“I can’t believe it,” Finn said. “I’m not broke anymore. I’ve gotoptions.”
Gany’s heart tumbled and landed somewhere between his feet. “Of course. You’ll probably want to get your own place now and—”
“What? No! It just means I won’t be a parasite. I cancontribute. I still want to be with you. See where we can go, what we can make of this thing between us. Besides…” He scrunched up his nose. “I kinda think the pups might have imprinted on me as their alpha, so there’s that.”
His heart now floating somewhere over his head, Gany laughed. “I got an email from TD yesterday. I forgot to tell you about it because I was hip deep in chocolate sponge at the time. He asked if I wanted to lease the house. It looks like he and Lonnie will be on location for longer than they thought and then they’re moving to Toronto for a new TV series. His only worry was about the pups.” Gany lifted on his toes and kissed Finn. “But it looks like that’s taken care of.”
“So you want it? This life? Me?”
“Honey, you couldn’t be more perfect if Pygmalion had sculpted you just for me.”
Finn bent down, but stopped before his mouth met Gany’s, his gaze lifting to scan the ballroom. “We probably shouldn’t steal the newlyweds’ thunder by making out in the middle of their reception. Come on.”
He laced his fingers with Gany’s and tugged him through the door into the kitchen—where Frang and the rest of the crew were clustered around a prep table that held plastic tubs full of mangled cake and frosting. All of them looked up guiltily, buttercream and raspberry on their lips.
“What?” Frang said. “Nobody else wanted it.”
“This is only from the top of the pile. We kept it separate from the stuff that touched the floor. Although,” Hector popped a spoonful of cake and frosting into his mouth, “with weres,” he said around the chocolate and buttercream, “thereisno five-second rule.”
Gany lifted a brow at Peyton and Melina. “What’s your excuse?
Melina fluttered her eyelashes at him. “We had to scope out the competition, didn’t we?”
Gany shook his head, laughing, just as the door to the main kitchen swung inward and Eros burst through it.
“Ganymede, look! I can’t believe it. Your name is off the bonus quest list and I got all the points for it! I’m almost even with Hestia now and I didn’t evendoanything.”
“You did something, Eros,” Gany said with a smile. “You left us free to make our own choice. Just remember that lesson when you make it back up to Olympus.”
Eros’s dark eyes welled and he turned away.
“What’s wrong?”
He sniffed, swiping under his nose with his sleeve. “You saidwhen, notif. You really think I can make it?”
Finn draped his arm across Gany’s shoulders. “Redemption is possible, as long as you learn from your mistakes.” He glanced down at Gany, and the affection in his eyes… Gany’s heart did a backflip. “It helps if you’ve got somebody at your back. Somebody who believes in you.”
“Hmmm.” Eros peered down at his phone again, then back up at Gany. “Where I can meet somebody like that?”
Gany shrugged. “Between Fates, oracles, werewolves, witches, demons, and who knows what else, there might be someone out there who’s perfect for you too.”
“If you— Hey! Is that cake?”
Eros shouldered in between Gage and Dakota, who offered him a spoon.
Finn kissed Gany’s temple. “Does this mean the gods’ll leave you alone?”
“It should.” Gany glared at Eros’s backside where he was bent over, shoveling cake into his mouth. “Because I’m not screwing around anymore. If any of them so much as poke their perfect noses into my bakery, I’m going straight to the Fates and lodging a complaint.”
“Good. Because I don’t want our lives to be overshadowed by the past—not yours, not mine, not my father’s”—he jerked his chin at Eros—“and certainly not theirs.” He smoothed Gany’s curls off his forehead and kissed him softly. “Here’s to restitution, redemption, and fresh starts.”
“I’m game if you are.” Gany returned the kiss, but then ducked his chin, heat rushing up his throat. “As long as, you know, you might need to wait a while before I’m ready for morephysicallythan we’re doing now.”
“Sweetheart, take all the time you need, all the time in the world. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy to wait forever.”
