“Oh, wow, is that a brownie covered in vanilla ice cream and hot fudge?” Jasper exclaimed from behind her.
Wait—behindher? Wasn’t he behind Murphy?
What the hell?
Nessa broke away from Murphy, turning back toward the booth. There, sitting on her bench, was Jasper, all but salivating over her dessert. Tank was seated beside Hunny, an arm draped over her shoulder as he glared at her soda like it was poisonous.
“How did you get over there so fast?” Nessa asked Jasper in disbelief.
“I’m sneaky when I want to be,” Jasper replied, gazing eagerly at the brownie.
As he reached for her spoon on the table, Nessa snagged her plate, narrowing her eyes on him. “Don’t you dare, Jasper.”
“You can order your own dessert if you’re hungry,” Murphy told him with a smirk, plucking the spoon out of Jasper’s hand.
“Yeah,” Nessa agreed. “I’m sure they have—hey!” she exclaimed with a whine, watching as Murphy took a bite of her food. “That goes for you, too, you heathen.”
Murphy frowned as he chewed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed the brownie piece down. “What if I want to share with you?”
“Fine.” She took her spoon and pointed it at him menacingly. “But by share, you better mean I get half of this, or you’ll make me angry.”
“You won’t like her when she’s angry,” Jasper whispered in mock horror. “She’ll Hulk out on you.”
Nessa groaned. “There will benoHulking out on anyone.”
“Scoot your ass over,” Murphy commanded Jasper, nudging Nessa back into her seat when Jasper moved to make space. She’d barely sat down when her mate squeezed into the spot beside her, placing her right in the middle of a shifter sandwich.
With anyone else, it might have felt unnerving, but despite Jasper’s rambunctiousness, he had a rather calming aura about him that she found relaxing. It reminded her of what Murphy had said on their date—how calm and quiet his little brother had been years ago. There was obviously more to the shifter than met the eye.
Colter and Zeke pulled two chairs over from a nearby empty table, taking up positions at the table’s edge.
Nessa put her food back down, situating it between her and Murphy. Trusting him not to take advantage of their deal, she handed over the spoon as a peace offering.
“So how’s it going?” Murphy asked cryptically, cutting into the brownie.
Nessa licked a piece of fudge from her lower lip. “I think I was overreacting, but thank you for coming by, just in case.”
“I was going to head over soon anyway. This was just a good excuse to get here earlier,” he teased her, stabbing another piece from the brownie with the spoon. He held it up to her lips expectantly.
Face flushing, she opened, letting him feed her in front of everyone. It felt like such an intimate gesture, but when the conversation at the table didn’t falter, she relaxed and settled against Murphy’s side, letting him feed her another bite. Supposedly, open expressions of bonding were incredibly normal for shifters. And it was somewhat comforting.
“I’m starving,” Jasper interrupted, holding up a hand to flag down their server. The woman noticed him immediately, straightening her uniform and fidgeting with her bun as she rushed forward. She even swayed her hips, sending Jasper a flirtatious smile when she reached their booth.
“Hey, sugar, what can I get you?”
Colter grinned and Zeke shook his head, the two males going unnoticed even though their chairs were clearly in her way.
Jasper looked at her nametag. “What do you like best, Jolene? Whatever’s your favorite, I want that.”
“Really?” Jolene blushed, pulling out a notepad from her apron. “I like our Meat Lover’s.”
“Jasper loves meat,” Tank said gruffly, snacking on Hunny’s remaining slices of pizza. That’s when Nessa noticed that her own pizza stone was completely empty.
Her brows rose in surprise. When the hell had these guys eaten the rest of her pizza? And how hadn’t she noticed? Bewildered, Nessa studied each of the men, wondering who was responsible. No one met her gaze.
Were they sure they weren’t part raccoon shifter or something? Because, apparently, they were shifty as hell with hoarding food.
“We’ll have two large orders of that and two large cheese pizzas. Another large pepperoni, as well, please,” Murphy told Jolene quickly. “If you have a couple pitchers of water for the table, we’ll take that, too.”
