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“Helen,” Milo repeated. “Unfortunately, you’ll have to learn after the fact that I’m the much better catch between the two of us. I’m younger. More stamina,” he whispered. “Better looking. Stronger.” He flexed his arm, making Helen snicker. “And by far, the more social of the two of us. People love me, Helen. They tolerate Fletch.”
Helen leaned into Fletch, glancing up at him from beneath her lashes.
“I think I’ll stick with the older model beside me.”
“I’m three years older,” Fletch growled at both of them.
“Which means I interrupted your rest, old man. I should let you guys get back to sleep. Fletch has a tendency to get grouchy if he doesn’t get enough sleep,” Milo whispered loudly.
“Does he?” Helen glanced up at Fletch again. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Oh, there’s all kinds of things I can let you know about my big brother. Maybe, we can chat more when the sun comes up? I promise not to bore you.”
“I’d love that,” Helen agreed. “And thank you, Milo. You’re a good brother.”
Fletch should have known Helen would pick up on the fact Milo was trying to distract her from whatever had caused her to awaken with a scream on her lips.
“Anytime,” he promised. “I’ll see you guys at breakfast.”
With that, he headed back into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him. Fletch watched it close then turned to Helen.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head.
“No.” She let out a shaky breath. “Not yet.”
“Do you think you can go back to sleep?”
He knew she wanted to say no but thought she might be holding back because she didn’t want to keep him up.
“I can’t, either,” he admitted instead of waiting for her to answer. “Hungry?”
“Yes. Do you know if they have milk? I used to love milk.”
“Yes, there’s always plenty of milk in the fridge.”
Fletch rose from the bed and tossed the duffle to Helen before grabbing a pair of gray sweats from his bag and stepping into them. He watched as she pulled out a pair of black sweats before tugging a long-sleeved gray shirt over her head. He held out his hand and led her out of their room and downstairs. He wasn’t surprised to find a light on in the kitchen. With a houseful of people, there was always someone up. He was surprised when he walked in and found Laramie Holloway at the table with little Ruby in his lap. They were both munching on cookies with tall glasses of milk before them.
“Busted, baby bear,” Laramie murmured, and Ruby laughed.
“Fetch keeps owr secret.”
“You know it,” he agreed. “Especially if you share some of those cookies and milk with the two of us.”
Ruby inhaled, her big eyes landing on Helen and narrowing as she seemed to take a read of his mate. After a long moment, she nodded.
“You can share. I decided I yikes you.”
“Well, thank you,” Helen said as she took a seat in the chair Fletch held out for her. “I know I’m going to like you, too.”
Ruby nodded. “I yikes cookies.”
“No more for you, baby bear. Mama Em will kill me if she finds out I let you eat this late.”
Ruby giggled. “She kills you with kisses. She yuvs my Yaramie.”
“Too late, anyway,” Laramie mock whispered. “We’re about to get busted again.”
