“She had three pancakes. And an orange.” Jake never misses a trick.
“And an apple.” Theo chimes in, but he sounds distracted.
I snort as Oscar deftly steals me away from a pouting Max. He looks out of the window over the top of my head – and his body stiffens, just slightly, but enough for me to feel the tension.
His quiet murmur is just for me. “You don’t have to go, you know.”
Sniffing, I pull back. “Don’t be silly.”
He studies me. Oscar always feels like the movement of the ocean on a calm day to me. Behind his black glasses, his dark eyes seem to see straight through me. “I mean it.”
I frown. “Is something wrong?”
Because they’re all acting… weird.
“Ready.” I can tell the moment Brett steps into the kitchen. “Hands off my omega, Oz.”
He sounds amused. But there’s an undercurrent to his words that has that tension between them ratcheting up. Oscar’s hold tightens, instead of loosening. “Your omega?”
“For today,” Brett says easily. “Kennedy?”
“It’s fine,” I whisper. Although I’m not sure why I’m reassuring them. Why they all look so… stiff? “We’ll be back soon. Lots to do before tomorrow, right?”
Oscar watches me again, with that small crease between his brows that only appears when he’s trying to fix a problem. Then he turns to Brett.
Brett doesn’t move, but he straightens. “Problem, Oz?”
God, his dominance levels are strong. Instinctively, I flinch back against Oscar. His hand slips into mine, squeezes. “I don’t know. Is there?”
A low noise sounds in Brett’s throat. “Careful.”
Whateverthisis, it passes. Oscar’s head lowers. “Bring her back safely.”
Brett only rolls his eyes before he turns, not even acknowledging the others. I find my tension leeching away, replaced by bubbling laughter as Jake scoops me up. The stubble that he can’t seem to get rid of scrapes against my neck as he buries his face in my skin. Squirming, I laugh again, but it turns to a shiver as his lips brush over the sensitive area.
Jake sets me down, but his hands slide to my face. “You know how much I’m gonna miss you, right?”
I swallow. “I know.”
Then his fingers lift my chin. “But you’re gonna do amazing, Kenny. All of you will.”
“And we’ll be waiting for you,” Max murmurs behind me. His lip is tilted up when I turn, and he wiggles his eyebrows. “Jake and I have a secret project to work on while you’re gone.”
“On the house?”
Jake only mimes his lips zipping closed.
“Kennedy!”
I just –just– hold back my flinch. They won’t let me go if they see it. And it’ll end up in an argument.
“Kenny,” Theo says quietly. He’s watching me. He always does, green eyes following me wherever I go.
It’s funny how Theo’s eyes make me feel safe. He and Brett are almost identical, but Brett’s pale green eyes don’t give me the same feeling.
They make me feel…hunted.
“Yeah?” I pull away from Oscar with reluctance, heading to the doorway where he stands. “We’ll be back later. We’re having dinner with your mom and dad, right?”
