Mostly what I wanted was to burrow myself in a blanket pile made of his hoodies.
“Ready to go home?” Meadow asked.
“Definitely. I need a nap.”
Before I could even pull out my keys after we left the ice cream shop, I noticed a sleek black car parked blocking traffic next to my pink beauty.
The window rolled down and Avery popped out. “Get in the car, angel.”
“Excuse me?” I angled down to see Logan in the driver’s seat. “What the fuck are you guys doing?”
“Lovingly kidnapping you,” Avery announced with a bright grin. “Hop in.”
I turned back to Meadow, but she didn’t look particularly concerned. “Go on, if you want. I can drive your car home.”
“We’re holding up traffic, mama.” Logan’s gravelly voice rolled down my spine.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered as I passed Meadow my keys and crossed the sidewalk where Avery flung himself out of the car to open the back door for me. Except, then he redirected me to the front, buckled me in, and hopped in the back himself.
Relief infused every cell as I took my first breath inside the car. It didn’t fully fix my exhaustion, but it was pretty close to how it felt when I downed a triple espresso.
Avery leaned through the gap in the front seats and kissed my cheek. “Missed you.”
My stomach clenched at the sweet brush of his lips. “What are you guys doing here? How did you even know I was in LA?”
“Logan has his ways.” Avery smiled innocently.
Logan rolled his eyes. “You make it sound so fucking ominous. I overheard a phone call, and then we saw your car.” He reached out for my hand, and my whole body lit up at the contact. I couldn’t help but remember the last time he’d gotten his hands on me, or the multitude of filthy things he’d said to me over our calls, and my bits were very interested in an encore performance with him and Avery.
“That takes all the fun out of it.” Avery pouted. “How are you doing, angel?”
I shrugged, trying to sink lower in my seat.
“How was Seattle?”
“Exhausting. It was nice to spend time with my dads, but I don’t think I’m cut out for being a full-time caregiver.”
“Want me to pay for someone?” Avery asked.
“That’s sweet, and if it was for one of my other dads, maybe, but Pappa hates strangers touching him. It’s already a fight with his appointments.”
“Parker would probably be like that too,” Avery told me. “He’s a big baby when things are outside his comfort zone.”
Avery chatted away about what they’d all been up to while I was away, and I listened with half an ear, soaking in their scents and pondering the relief they brought. Was one of them the father, and that was why my body was waving internal pom-poms? Meadow had felt a million times better when she’d gotten back into proximity with Hendrix, but they’d also been bonded. I didn’t remember any of them giving me the bite mark on my throat, but we’d been hot and heavy, so the details were a little blurry. Meadow had also told me being around her other alphas helped at the time, too, because of the scent match.
Was that what this was?
Was I obsessed with them because of a scent match?
“You look like you’ve got a million things running through your head,” Logan said softly.
“Weight of the world on these pretty little shoulders,” I quipped, smiling awkwardly and trying to lighten the mood.
I had to tell them. There was no way around it. Presumably, once I hit the third trimester, the little bean would actually be visible to the outside world. It would be easier if I didn’t have to make a peep and could just show off my bump as an explanation, butapparentlyBean didn’t want to make my life easier.
What if they were mad?
I didn’t want to do this by myself. Meadow and her pack wouldn’t turn me away, and I was excited for Little Bean to have Forest and his future sibling as besties, but being packless with a baby would be depressing as hell. Not as bad as being with thewrongpack, of course, but these guys didn’tfeelwrong.
