I try to slow my heart beat that ramped up when Mason scared me.
“You need a bell.” I point my finger at him when he walks around to our side of the counter, unfazed by mine and Luc’s close proximity. Maverick’s rocking on his heels looking very,very, not innocent. Though that may be the huge grin on the twin’s faces.
The rest of the guys trail in after him. Jace slides in and wraps his arms around me. He kisses my nose.
“Little bit of flour,” he tells me before nuzzling his face into my neck.
“Bullshit,” someone coughs.
I struggle against Jace when he rubs his five o’clock shadow into the sensitive part of my neck.
“J,” I growl, squirming. I feel him grin against my speeding pulse. I look up away from Jace when I hear Alec flick the kettle on.
“What were you guys doing?” I ask the group who disappeared except for Luc.
“Getting firewood,” Dominic informs me, coming to stand beside Jace and I. “There’s a fire pit out the back we thought we’d light later.”
“Your conversation with Luc looked intense,” Jace whispers beside me. I glance across, seeing concern in my best friend’s grey eyes. God, I missed them.
I shrug, not ready to talk about it. I love J but when he’s one of the people I’m considering being in a relationship with…I can’t talk about this with him.
Alec leans against the bench, opposite us. His fingers tap onto the countertop.
“Did you want to read for a bit while we wait for the cake?” Alec asks, not quite meeting my eyes.
“Yeah, for sure,” I say, enthusiastically, relieved for the distraction.
Alec finally meets my gaze and smiles at my grin.
“Are you making tea?” I ask, moving out of Jace’s arms over to Alec.
“Yeah, do you want one?” Alec asks. He gets out his cup before awaiting my response to grab another.
“Please.”
Once our teas are ready, Alec and I excuse ourselves and go to my room, stopping to get Alec’s kindle on the way.
We get settled on the bed and Alec downloads the book onto my kindle so we can read it together but on separate devices.
“Is there anything you won’t read?” Alec asks.
I pause to think about it before nodding. “I can’t read self harm. I don’t know why but I just can’t.”
Alec gives me a knowing look. “I normally try to avoid bully romances,” he admits.
“Me too,” I tell him, smiling. He returns it, looking less nervous. I drag my doona up my legs to rest my tea on it. Alec does the same.
Alec rests his phone on the doona. “I set an alarm for when the cake should be ready.”
“Thanks.” I gently bump my shoulder against his.
He surprises me when he laces our fingers together before picking up his kindle with the other hand. I can’t help the flutter of butterflies that swarm to my stomach.
Oh. My. God. Clearly I need Alec to pick everything I read because he chose an amazing series! I’m hooked immediately. The characters are fresh with instant chemistry in a way that isn’t love at first sight but the connection’s there.
I look over a few times and see Alec seems to read at the same pace as me so we’re reading everything at the same time. I’m a pretty quick reader so I’m glad Alec appears to read at a similar speed to me.
I’m so stuck in the story, I barely hear the door open. Maverick comes in and shuts the door behind himself.
