Matt chewed innocently, reaching for the coffee pot. “Alpha tax.”
“That’s not a thing,” Tristan said around a mouthful of waffle.
“It is now,” Matt said, stealing one of Tristan’s strawberries.
Jesse watched the exchange, barely suppressing a grin. He’d never seen Matt like this—a little smug, a lot obnoxious, and at ease in his own skin. For once, Matt wasn’t being alpha. He was just… Matt.
Jesse sat down, taking a couple of croissants from the plateful Dave offered him. Bryce had got up to help himself to more bacon, while Tristan was sharing the rumor a movie theater was going to open in town.
“Movies are losing money these days. No way anyone’s going to bankroll one in a place like Elk Ridge. Not unless they’re money laundering,” Dave said.
“Does it matter if they are, so long as they show movies?” Tristan asked. Hard to argue with that.
Bryce evidently disagreed. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that, Tristan James Howe.” He was dressed for work, that uniform still doing unpleasant things to Jesse’s insides.
Matt pushed Jesse’s coffee across the table at him before walking over to Bryce. Without a word, he pulled him in close and hugged him, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.
When he pulled back, Bryce’s eyes were suspiciously bright. Jesse glanced away to give him privacy, something flickering sharp in his chest. It was like pack wasn’t just about loyalty and hierarchy, but love.
Bryce, recovering swiftly, swiped one of Jesse’s croissants before he saw it coming.Damn, he’d relaxed here. Also, it seemed like Matt’s obnoxiousness was catching.
Jesse scowled. “Do I look like I want to be fucked with?”
“Looks like you already were,” Bryce said with a wink.
Jesse nearly choked on his coffee. Fuckinghell, Bryce. He slammed his mug down, about to snap back, when a movement from across the table caught his eye.
Matt was watching, amusement curling at the edges of his lips. Not interfering, not offended that his sex life was the topic of conversation among his pack, but just enjoying the show. The light in his eyes was different from anything Jesse had seen before—not controlled alpha or careful leader. Just Matt, watching Jesse squirm and loving every minute of it.
Their gazes locked, and something flipped over in Jesse’s chest, hot and sudden, as they shared a moment that was just for them, in the middle of the pack.
And then Matt raised his mug to his lips and took a slow sip before turning to Dave. “How’s the fence coming?” he asked.
Dave launched into an update, one of a number of simultaneous conversations being held around the table. Jesse let the voices wash over him, concentrating on the warmth of the mug in his hands. It was weird, this rhythm of pack life—the way things overlapped, tangled, but somehow fit together.
“Hey, okay if I trade patrols next Saturday?” Tristan asked, glancing between Matt and Bryce with a hopeful grin once Matt had finished talking to Dave. “It’s Axel’s birthday, and we’re going into Denver to one of those ax-throwing places. We figured it’d be fun to let him feel like a Viking for the day.”
Jesse had no idea who Axel was, but clearly the others did.
“Find someone willing to swap and you’re golden,” Bryce said. “Can’t be me—I have a date.”
“Is there a night youdon’t?” Tristan asked. He glanced across the table at Jesse. “Would you mind, Jesse? I promise I’ll pick up one of yours.”
Jesse’s brain stuttered as he stared at Tristan. The mug in his hands was suddenly heavy and awkward, seeming to leach its warmth by the second. “I’m not—” he started.
Matt cut across him. “Jesse’s not pack,” he reminded Tristan.
And why did that hurt?
“But you and he—”
Jesse couldn’t be sure, but it looked to him like Bryce had stamped on Tristan’s foot under the table, judging by the way he winced and bit off whatever he’d been going to say. “Oh,” he said instead. “I’ll go find Christian and ask.”
He slid away from the table, and as he reached the back door, he looked back at Jesse. His eyes were questioning and puzzled.
Jesse sat very still as members of the pack came and went around him, clearing away their breakfast things, bidding one another goodbye as they headed out to work. Matt cupped the back of Jesse’s neck with his large, warm hand. He’d already told Jesse he had to go to work today, so now he just pressed a kiss to Jesse’s lips.
“You know where everything is,” he said. “See you tonight.”
