"You've had time. You've been avoiding it."
She's not wrong.
"I'll figure it out," I say quietly. "Soon."
Stacey studies me for a moment, then nods. "Good. Because I didn't drive three hours to watch you spiral about real estate."
"Why did you drive three hours?"
"To make sure you were happy." Her voice goes serious. "And you are. I can see it. You're glowing, Jess. You've got that look."
"What?"
"The I'm living with four hot alphas and my life is chaos but I've never been happier look."
My face goes scarlet. "Stacey!"
"What? It's true!"
Sergio laughs. The sound rumbles through his chest where I'm pressed against his side.
"I like her," he announces. "She can visit anytime."
"Please don't encourage her."
But I'm smiling when I say it. Because Stacey's right. I am happy. Deliriously, impossibly happy in a way I didn't think was possible four weeks ago when I ran from my wedding.
We stay at the bar until the sun sets and Stacey has hustled half the bar out of their beer money. Carlos drives us home, his truck rumbling through the darkening streets, country music playing low on the radio.
"Best day ever," Stacey declares from the backseat. "Small-town bars are my new favorite thing."
"You're not even drunk," I point out.
"Don't have to be drunk to have fun. Just have to be excellent at pool and willing to take money from overconfident alphas."
Carlos catches my eye in the rearview mirror and grins.
When we get back to the house, Stacey helps me make dinner while the pack does pack things in other rooms. We cook pasta and drink more wine and talk about everything and nothing.
We're halfway through dinner when Stacey brings it up again.
"So seriously. The house. What's your plan?"
Before I can answer, Carlos sets down his fork. "Already handled."
I blink at him. "What?"
"Your mom's house." He leans back in his chair, casual but watching my reaction carefully. "We fixed it. Pedro coordinated with contractors. Nacho handled the insurance claim. I supervised the work. Sergio paid for everything."
My mouth falls open. "You did what? When?"
"Been working on it for two weeks." Carlos shrugs. "Started the day after the flood. Couldn't have you worrying about it on top of everything else."
"But I never asked you to do that."
"That's what pack does." Sergio's voice is gentle from across the table. "We see a problem, we fix it. You don't have to ask."
Tears burn my eyes. Stacey makes a satisfied sound beside me.
