Colby looked at the clothes. At the card. At Tristan, beaming like this was the best day of his life. And something shifted, quiet, but deep. He wasn’t just tolerated. Hebelonged.
TRISTAN
Tristan hadn’t expected coming home with shopping bags to feel like a victory lap, but Colby was grinning as they piled them inTristan’s room. They’d had a late lunch at the diner, where Tristan’s favorite customer, Ms. Taylor, had insisted on being introduced to Colby and had asked them to join her.
Once the lunch rush was over, Jason, Riley and Sam had sat down with them. It had turned into an afternoon of laughter. And cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes.
And now, the house was filled with the scent of chili, and it was almost time for dinner. Tristan was giddy with happiness.
They grabbed drinks and headed for the back porch, where Colby dropped onto the steps with a satisfied huff, stretching his legs out like someone who’d just run a marathon. And maybe he had, in his own way.
Tristan hovered a second longer, just watching. The tension that had threaded constantly through Colby’s shoulders had faded. Not completely gone, not yet, but eased. He was sitting there in borrowed jeans and brand-new boots, the gray hoodie in his lap like a trophy, and for the first time, he didn’t look like someone expecting the worst.
“You okay?” Tristan asked, sinking down beside him.
Colby leaned his shoulder into Tristan’s as if it was second nature. “Yeah. You?”
Tristan nodded, bumping back against him. “Yup.”
Chaos chose that moment to crawl into Colby’s lap—half goat, half heat-seeking missile—and Colby just sighed like this was the price of admission.
“You think you can train her to heel?” Tristan asked, watching Chaos make herself comfortable on Colby’s lap. Honestly, he understood the impulse.
“Dunno. I could probably bribe her with toast.”
Chaos began to eat the tag on Colby’s new hoodie.
“Or maybe not,” Tristan muttered as Colby gently—then rather more firmly—dissuaded her.
They sat for a while, shoulders touching, the last warmth of the sinking sun on their faces. The screen door creaked open, and Bryce stepped out, holding a mug of coffee like it was the only thing keeping him upright.
He eyed the new hoodie with a smirk. “Not pink? I’m guessing Tris let you pick this one.”
“Excuse you,” Tristan said. “I happen to have excellent taste. And they didn’t have it in pink.”
As he and the arbiter of bad taste squabbled in the sunshine, Colby leaned against Tristan, laughing gently. And Tristan thought this was how it should always be—home, with his two favorite people close by and the rest of the pack not far away. Even the damn goats (trademark Matt) were behaving.
When Bryce went back inside, Colby stayed where he was, warm and solid at Tristan’s side. Tristan rested his head on Colby’s broad shoulder, and their hands found one another’s without hesitation.
The porch was quiet. The sky was softening to a deep indigo.
And for once, Chaos didn’t try to eat anything.
Chapter Forty-one
COLBY
Colby sat on the porch in the late afternoon sunshine and tried to relax. Tristan was at school, and everyone else had scattered after breakfast, to do whatever they did. Colby had been left behind with nothing but silence and sunlight and too much space in his head.
He’d tried to stay busy. The outbuilding was cleared, and Christian was waiting on lumber for the next stage, so that was off the table. Instead, he cleaned the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher. He did laundry and cleaned Tristan’s bathroom and the hall bathroom, right down to folding towels that hadn’t technically needed it.
He didn’t know how to stop moving.
Halfway through the afternoon, Jesse had shown up and taken him out to meet the horses, who’d need to get used to the new wolf in their midst. It had all gone well, until Missy’s foal got curious.
Colby had been lying there, tail wagging low and friendly, trying to look as non-predatory as possible. The foal had responded by trotting over and sinking his teeth into the tempting, bushy tail.
Colby yelped and leapt forward, but the foal had braced his long legs and pulled back, obviously thinking this was the best game ever. He looked set to spend the rest of the afternoon trotting along behind Colby, huffing happily through his nostrils as his teeth remained firmly clamped to his prize.
