“Damn straight, it’s an intervention.” Sabs jumps onto the sofa, making Larry yowl in surprise. He retreats to the safety of the crook of my elbow, giving Sabs a death glare. “Oh, can it, Larry. You’ve had enough of Kady’s attention these last few days.” Her focus returns to me. “You haven’t left the house since the whole kidnapping saga?—”
“Again, I’m so sorry about that,” Delilah mumbles. She’s apologized about fifty times already. “You know I didn’t think anything of the call cutting off until Warren called me and said security lost you, then I panicked.”
“Speaking to Warren is enough to make anyone panic,” I mutter.
“Since you got back, you’ve missed classes and haven’t drunk your morning espresso for two days in a row.” Sabs rests her hand on my knee. “All we know is that you were hanging outwith a group of alphas, all hell broke loose, and now you’re not acting at all like yourself.”
“What Sabs is trying to say is that we’re worried about you.” Delilah’s tone is much gentler. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but we’re here if you do or here to just keep you company.”
“You guys have busy schedules.” I flick my wrist. “Faye, I’m sure your pack wants to hang out with you this weekend. Delilah, I know you’ve got your book club meeting later, which you always bake for. And Sabs, why are you still here? You’d rather die than miss your weekly hot yoga class.”
“You’re more important than hot yoga and smutty books,” Sabs replies then claps her hands. “Stellas! Assemble!”
I snort as the three of them dash out. Seconds later, they return donning their own pink Stella robes.
“Ta-dah!” Sabs twirls, arms outstretched. “Now we’re all matching.”
I burst out laughing. God, I can’t remember the last time I laughed properly. Everything has felt so heavy over the last few weeks that I haven’t even stopped to smile.
“We’ve cleared our schedules.” Delilah drops her ass down at my side. “Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it. If you want to rot in front ofFriendsfor the third day in a row, we’re not letting you do that alone.”
“But the book club?—”
“The book club can skip their penis-shaped cookies for one week.” Delilah shushes me. “Besides, it’s a book where the FMC gets kidnapped by the mafia. I’m pretty sure the girls only picked it to fish for information about how you’re doing.”
The dirty book club Delilah is part of sounds like a lot of fun. They take turns picking and reading different smutty books.
“Their loss is our gain.” Sabs reclines back in her seat. “Though I do wish we had some of those cookies.”
“We can bake some?” Is this Delilah’s way of trying to coax me from the sofa? “Then we can return to watchingFriends, if that’s what you want?”
“Fine.” I roll my eyes, standing. “I suppose I can take a break from the screen for cookies.”
“I already baked a batch, just in case.” In the kitchen, Delilah pulls a container filled with uniced cookies from the cupboard. “We can decorate these while I make a fresh batch too. You can never have too many, right?”
We gather around the island while Delilah begins on fresh dough. She has it whipped up in no time, rolling it out on the counter.
“Take your pick, ladies.” Delilah sets down a huge box filled with penis-shaped cookie cutters. “We have all shapes and sizes.”
Sabs snickers, picking up one that’s so tiny, it looks like a noodle. “We don’t need Tyler Cockburn’s dick here.”
“Ew.” Faye grimaces while examining the molds. “He’s the last person’s penis we need to think about.”
Sabs flings the micro-peen mold away like it’s diseased.
“Hey!” Delilah scoops it up and stashes it in her apron pocket. “Different strokes for different folks.”
Sabs looks at her like she’s lost her mind before selecting an enormous cock mold with a huge knot. She grins as she makes a perfect impression in the dough. “That’s more like it.”
“Margie told me the Blandon Pack keeps trying to get past the gate.” Faye selects a modest-sized mold with a heart-shaped knot. “She threatened to expel them if they step another toe in Omega Village.”
For the other cookies, Delilah puts out icing tubes in various colors alongside a selection of sprinkles and chocolate chips.
“Gotta love Margie, keeping those pencil dicks out,” Sabs cheers. “Have they been in touch with you, Kady?”
“Tyler’s tried calling a few days ago, but I haven’t heard from them since.” I examine Delilah’s collection of edible glitter. “My father told me in a voicemail that his press team is liaising with them from now on. Now that he knows that our courtship was fake, he wants to ‘take control of the narrative,’ apparently.”
“Well, I’m pleased the whole fake pack thing is over. They served their purpose to get you out of the wedding.” Faye wrinkles her nose. “But they really do smell terrible, and we missed you at Halloween.”
