“I know you don’t drink coffee but you’ll like this one.” Mav leans his head on my shoulder.
“It’s not that I don’t drink coffee, I’ve just never had it before,” I tell him, raising the rim to my lips. I take a cautious sip. Mmm. This is good. It’s sweet.
“What do you mean you’ve never had coffee?” Dom looks at me like I’m crazy.
How many different ways can you interpret that?
“I mean, I’ve never had coffee before. Well, I did once but it was black and only because I’d gone two nights without sleeping. It didn’t taste alright. This is good, though,” I add in an attempt to lighten the darkness that storms their eyes. It doesn’t necessarily work but there’s no follow up questions.
“It’s a caramel latte,” Maverick tells me. “The only person here who drinks their coffee black on a regular basis is Dom.”
Then it’s my turn to look at Dom with an incredulous look. He shrugs, unapologetically.
Luc tells me to sit down. He pulls a tray of croissants out of the oven. My stomach rumbles in anticipation. It’s gotten used to having breakfast again.
“Where’s J?” Dom questions, taking a seat at the counter beside me. “We heard a car go out.”
“I sent him on some errands. If we’re leaving then we need supplies,” Alec says casually but I see him watching me from the corner of his eye.
My head snaps to the side. “What do you mean leaving? Where are we going?”
Everyone falls silent.
“If you’re not safe here, Rory, then we won’t stay,” Alec says, shooting the guys a look of annoyance at them for not answering me.
“You all are not leaving. You said Luc wasn’t safe back there!” My gaze swings to Luc.
“We’re not going back there, Butterfly. We bought a house,” he tells me, softly.
“What?” I say stunned.
“It was before we met you. We had plans to move somewhere completely new. We were just staying here until the renovations finished and I was healing,” Luc explains.
My head spins, trying to process all this information.
“You have a house?” I confirm, just in case my hearing just went to shit. “Where?”
“An hour or so from Jace’s parents. It’s about one hundred acres. The closest house is a few k’s away.” Alec’s fingers tap on the counter at a rhythmic pace.
“Baby?” Maverick prompts when I’ve been quiet for too long. Concern lines his ice blue eyes.
“Just…processing,” I eventually say. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, feeling a little hurt.
It must show on my face because Maverick’s eyes widen almost comically.
“Fuck, Rory,” he says panicked. “We didn’t mean to keep this from you.”
He pulls into a tight embrace, lifting me off my feet. I wrap my legs around his waist, making me just slightly taller than him.
“That idiot wanted to surprise you,” Maverick jerks his head towards his twin. Mase gets up and wraps his arms around me clinging to Mav like a koala so I don’t fall.
“I’m sorry, Angel.” Mase words are muffled against my shirt.
“It’s okay,” I tell him but neither of them pull away. I look over Mase’s shoulder and mouth ‘help’ to Alec, Dom and Luc.
They share a look, shrug and just drink their coffees. I roll my eyes and settle into my twin's embraces.
It’s not until Luc reminds the twins that I haven’t eaten that they let me down.
