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Bailey extracted her mom from him, pulling her back to her seat, and he couldn’t help but notice how different she looked. She wore a long, black jumpsuit of sorts, flowy and classy looking, with her hair down and swept to the side with some pearl hair adornments. She looked demure and polished, dressed perfectly for a fancy dinner party. It was hard to believe she’d been spread on his desk naked only a few hours ago. Calmly, she moved around the room, her voice muted and soft as she spoke. He’d never seen this professional side of her, but what did he know? Everything she did continued to surprise him.
The noise in the room hadn’t ebbed with Moira’s greeting. No one seemed to even notice, and the longer he stood there, the faster he realized why. Every older adult there was drunk, even his dad. Red’s arms were wrapped around his mom’s shoulders, pulling her close as he whispered in her ear every so often. His mom laughed loudly, chiming in on stories from their childhood that Nubia was telling. Moira and Tayon egged them on, comparing their own stories in Aisling. It seemed like all the mates in the room had grown up together in these two packs, meeting a few times when they were younger, and that was the topic of interest tonight.
“Hey, cuz. You should grab food before our parents get drunk hungry and leave nothing behind. You gotta try the steak thingy Bailey’s parents brought.”
Zhair handed him a plate, nodding towards the table where all their parents sat. “The wine they brought with them…it’s put all of them on their asses. Even our dads and Ajax. I don’t think they realized how potent the fancy, expensive wine is. It’s kind of hilarious actually.”
Filling his plate while he listened to the conversations at the table, he shook his head. He hadn’t seen his dad this drunk before. He was smiling, his eyes half-closed as he laughed loudly.It really was kind of funny to see them let loose. He was so used to his cousins being the wild ones.
Lana joined him in the kitchen, laughing at their parents. “I think I’m going to suggest cards. Or dominoes. I want to see them fight over winning.”
Almost on cue, Bailey crossed into the room, holding up two decks of cards and a pack of poker chips. “All my life, I have heard how good Ajax is at cards. You can’t tell me he’d beat everyone here.”
“Hell, no. I taught him everything he knows. Deal ‘em out. I have a score to settle.” Red’s booming voice crossed the table, and excitement ran through the room as Ajax and Axel argued over who was a better player as well.
What was impressive was the quick way Bailey emptied the table of food and plates, leaving only the few bottles of wine that still had liquid in them. Then, while he finished off his plate, he watched as they dealt out the first hand. Almost unnoticeably, Bailey set down shot glasses next to each person, and bottles of whisky, bourbon, and rum appeared on the table beside the dwindling wine.
She poured shots, almost intuitively knowing who liked what, then encouraged at least two rounds before walking away. She smiled smugly at him before winking, then grabbed Lana by the arm, whispering in her ear, barely loud enough for him to hear.
“They’ll never know you’re gone. Get out of here. I’ll cover for you.” When Lana squealed almost silently, before hurrying away, she cocked her head at Zhair. “Don’t you have a party? Now’s the time.”
His grin was less obvious, but he winked at Nassau before pushing through the back door, out of sight from all their parents. The second he set his plate down, she grabbed his wrist, pulling him behind her.When they stopped in the big living room, plopping down on the huge couch, she pulled a blanket over legs and patted the seat next to her.
“Come on, wet blanket. We are on adult babysitting duty tonight.”
He snorted at that, dropping down next to her. “Thought you were going to be good.”
“Oh, I am. This is my absolute best behavior.”
“Getting our parents drunk?”
“That is all on them. They need to loosen up anyway. Everyone here acts like fuddy-duddy’s, and my mom is a social butterfly, loves entertaining. They’ll be playing cards for hours and will never notice anything your cousins do…or anything we do. See how good I am?”
She leaned against him, snuggling under his arm to lay her cheek on his chest, and he pulled her close, his arm possessively around her body. Then she pulled the remote from some hidden spot and put on a movie with the volume low. He didn’t know what it was, nor did he care, because she was right. This moment here was better than no moment at all.
He leaned into her hair, breathing in her scent, something he couldn’t quite identify, but was distinctly her. “Good behavior does deserve rewards.”
“Mmmmh. I love rewards. Almost as much as I love punishments.”
He smiled at that, remembering the way her ass looked earlier that day when he smacked it, reddening easily under his hand.
“We can’t go to bed till Lana and Zhair come back. I promised to cover for them for at least two hours.”
He didn’t care how long it took. He was happy she was so close to him, so ready to share her space with him.
“Okay, but the deal is, you have to talk some. Not just me. I have questions, and I want you to answer them honestly. And I’ll do the same.”
He grunted at that, not sure what she wanted to know. He was a simple man.
“Hmmmm. Okay, let’s start with the easy stuff. Birthday, age, favorite color? Mine’s April 8th, I’m an Aries, of course. I’m twenty-two, and I love all colors really, but if I had to choose one, maybe sapphire blue. Oh, and favorite food. Mine’s gotta be a good crusty bread with butter, maybe a marinara to dip it in, and some cheese on the side. Like a strong white cheddar. I know that’s not very Italian of me.” She glanced up at him hesitantly. “Now, you.”
He sat for a second, taking that information in, and not just her favorite things, but the fact she wanted to know any of this. It was insane if she never wanted to see him again.
“March 9th, twenty-four, and it used to be a deep forest green, but now I’m leaning towards a stormy blue, like the skies when a wild thunderstorm rolls through.” He lifted his finger to trail along her cheek, and her eyes widened before she laughed.
“That’s cheesy as hell, but I love it. Okay, so that makes you a Pisces. Makes sense. Ava’s a Pisces too. Wait…food?”
He shrugged. “Anything that’s put in front of me. But I won’t say no to some good beef stew.”
