He leans down and rubs his nose against mine, drawing a reluctant smile. “I don’t know how to do this,” I admit.
I don’t know how to do soft, sleepy mornings and gentle words. Maybe I would have, once. Maybe it would have been instinctive. But now my instincts keep telling me that this can’t last.
“Nothing this good ever lasts,” I murmur, and Tristan’s eyes squeeze closed.
“Maybe it doesn’t last,” he whispers back, “because it gets better.”
God, I hope so. I like this. Tristan dips his head, and my brief moment of morning breath-induced panic disappears as he presses a gentle kiss to my lips.
And my stomach makes a sound akin to the death rattle of a bear.
Maybe. But it’s really loud, and Tristan’s eyes widen. “We didn’t feed you last night,” he groans, and rolls off me, getting out of bed. “You need food, Bonded.”
I shrug, stretching out in the warm sheets. “I’m quite satisfied with how my evening turned out.”
Tristan grabs my hand, tugging me up. “And to have more nights like that, you need energy.”
Come to think of it, I am pretty hungry.
I steal one of his shirts, sneakily inhaling the smoky scent he’s left behind as we head downstairs. The rest of the pack are in the kitchen, Logan setting out plates.
His eyes grow wide as saucers as they move between me and Tristan.
“Morning!” he says brightly. Jax looks up from his coffee, a grin spreading across his face. Gray is frozen by the coffee, his eyes dropping down to my bare legs.
“Stop it,” Tristan levels Jax with a glare, and he raises his hands with a smirk.
“I didn’t say a thing. Shortcake, you lookravishingthis morning.”
Rolling my eyes, I move over to where Gray is standing. I remember this steel monstrosity. One of my many nemeses during the Trials.
Gray smiles when I scowl at it. “It looks worse than it is. I’ll show you how to use it, but I’ll make you a cup.”
I give him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
His hand brushes my cheek as he moves around, taking a cup from the cupboard and pressing a whole load of buttons on the machine. I’m reserving judgment. It sure as hell doesn’t look simple to me.
Sliding into a seat next to Jax, I jump when he leans in, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Mornin’, baby.”
Wow. There’s a whole lot of positivity floating around this morning. Logan beams at me as he sets down a plate. “You hungry? We have fruit, yogurt, cereal…”
In other words, everything that doesn’t require cooking.
“What about… um. Pancakes?” I ask, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I could make them. If you want.”
Jax groans. “Pancakes. Yes, please.”
Everyone makes noises of agreement, and Gray slides a cup of coffee in front of me, the steam rising up. “Milk? Sugar?”
I shake my head, taking a sip of the hot liquid. “This is perfect.”
Logan slips out of the room as I start to pull everything together, Gray and Jax helping me find the ingredients I need as I whisk up the batter. Gray adds some bacon to the grill, the scent permeating the kitchen as I split the mix in two and add some blueberries.
Tristan comes to stand next to me as I pour the hot mix onto the griddle, concentrating on getting perfect circles.
“Pancakes.” He grins. “I haven’t had pancakes for years. My mom used to make them for me when I was sick.”
I vaguely remember his mom from the Bonding Ceremony. “She was a good mom?”
