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They both snorted, Jesse answering. “You’ve not had it with her or you’d feel the clawing need we have for her too. I agree not today, but I want my kitten. I want to make her mine and now and be hers forever. Now.”
“Let’s just take the next few days to process and we can reassess,” Jackson offered. “I hate to say it, but she wanted a full moon date with Jared, and I think she should have it. I think we need to work out a schedule and—”
“I think that would put too much pressure on her that shehadto do stuff with us and wouldn’t be realistic with her work,” Jesse cut in. “We’re just going to have to man up and realize she will take extra care more than most women and she’sworththat. I have no problem letting Jared have his night with her, and we have to remember we love each other too, not just her.”
“And talk. We don’t do a lot of talking like this, and we do need to grow up some to deserve her,” I added, both of them giving me surprised looks. “Oh, blow me. You’re minutes older than me and half the time dismiss what I’m saying as being the baby. Fine, but no more of that when it comes to Larissa. We’re equals and each with her, so we all get a say in what’s going on with her.”
“That’s fair,” Jackson admitted. “It might be harder to implement than just snapping our fingers, but it’s fair, and I’m willing to try to make this work.”
Jesse agreed and I let out a sigh of relief, feeling at least we hadthispart settled.
Now we just had the rest of everything and a witch when we never wanted to be familiars. No big.
Yeah right.
The food came and Larissa finished with the spirit, looking a bit overwhelmed and confused.
I grabbed some of the containers and went over to her, my heart aching when there was deep sadness in her eyes. “Let’s grab a blanket and have a picnic outside. I still want our full moon date too.” I shook my head when she opened her mouth. “No sex or decisions, just enjoying the night.”
“That sounds perfect,” she admitted, bobbing her head. “Okay, I’ll get the blanket and you get drinks.”
Deal. I went for them and met her at the back door, heading away from the house to the area we walked to a lot that would have a great view of the moon.
She set out the blanket and we sat down, kicking off our shoes and getting comfortable. The silence was a bit awkward, but I decided to ignore it, opening the container and using my chopsticks to pick up a bite.
I held it out to her. “Beef lo mein is one of my favorites.”
She hesitated but then leaned in and took a bite, nodding it was good as she moved her hand over her mouth.
“So, we know a lot about you, but there’s something you need to know about us before the money thing becomes an issue.”
She nodded, opening an iced tea and handing it to me before getting one for herself. “It felt weird to tell you guys. I mean, it feels weird to have that kind of money. Nothing was ever mine and… I just wanted to help and be safe.”
I smiled at her and opened another container. “I like chicken and mushrooms too.”
She let me feed her another bite and her eyes flashed shock, moaning it was good. Nice. I liked we had similar tastes.
“Our mom didn’t have a lot of power and couldn’t even get a familiar. She thought if she had a daughter and gave her up to a powerful witch, it would change her life.
“Instead, she got male triplets after hooking up with a random human. Her family was furious, and she tried to give us up, but they wouldn’t hear of acting so disgraceful and making the family look bad.
“But they didn’t care about us otherwise. We were aninconvenience. To them, to Mom, to all the plans they had. So we were basically treated like useless strays she was stuck with.
“She very much only did the bare minimum on everything so she never got in trouble. We had clothes but not like other kids. Same with toys and books and any of it. The more we were out of the house and out of her hair, the more peaceful our lives were.
“As long as we stayed out of trouble and out of her way she didn’t care much. But if we needed something or there was a problem at school, she was…”
“How bad?” she asked when I didn’t continue.
“Nothing like what you went through,” I admitted, holding out another bite for her. “She was emotionally abusive, and Jackson took the brunt of it, hardening himself in many ways because of it.
“The older we got, we figured it was easier to keep the peace by doing chores and fixing stuff around the house. That’s how we got into construction.
“We knew the moment we were eighteen, we were out, so the second we could work, we did, and we started saving every penny we could. We thought about sports and maybe scholarships, but none of us were great in school.
“Not bad, but we wanted freedom and a real way out more than taking that chance. Besides, we like what we do. I prefer more of the outdoors stuff, but I like working with my hands.”
She opened her mouth like a cute little bird when I went quiet again. I chuckled and fed her some sweet and sour pork. Her eyes went wide. “That’s my favorite.”
