“Nah.” She smiles, laying her head on my shoulder. “It was Lincoln. Honestly, you thought my pack was bossy!”
“Shut up, you,” I say, resting my head on hers. I’m squealing like a bitch, and jumping a mile when I forget about my cheek and it touches her head.
“Don’t want to say I told you so.” Bailey smirks, her voice like a triumphant purr.
Of course, that’s the exact moment Lincoln and Noah walk into the kitchen after a shower and change of clothes. Noah squats, nodding briefly at Bailey before his hands come up to cup my face again.
“Jesus, you did set me up?” I slap at Bailey.
But it’s Noah who answers, his bedside manner back to appalling. “I’m not letting you get on the plane if it’s fractured, Lennon.”
“It’s not!”
“How about you let Noah be the judge of that, dove,” Lincoln adds, helping himself to a scotch before he comes and squats on the other side of me, rubbing my shoulders.
“Bailey will have one of those expensive cooling masks. I’ll wear that while we’re flying.”
“I’d put money on a fracture, for sure,” Koda says, sitting up on the edge of their kitchen table. “Lincoln said Wendy had fists like Thor.”
“She did,” Lincoln says, “but Lennon was our beautiful winner.”
I go to say something to Lincoln but get side-tracked when Noah uses his thumbs to check my cheek. The right side is okay, the left side nearly breaks Lincoln’s hand when I squeeze the crap out of it.
“Oh, darling, I’m sorry,” Noah whispers as he keeps prodding the tenderest part of my face. A quick kiss on my nose followed with a burst of his peppery scent, and he rocks back on his heel before coming in close to have another look and feel again.
Lincoln places his drink on the ground before we all kind of shuffle again, and I end up sitting in Lincoln’s lap while Noah starts peeling off the bandage on my arm.
“May as well do a full check, dove,” Lincoln says, handing me his glass of scotch for me to hold, while he brushes my hair.
Bailey hops up, giving us the privacy she knows I’d want. She’s always been aware and considerate of other people, so often in tune with my moods before I even know what they are. I watch her with Reno, the both of them cuddling up to each other while he gives her a taste of the pasta sauce he’s been busy making for us all.
“I really want to go home,” I whisper to both Noah and Lincoln as a wave of exhaustion hits me at the same time as a deep longing to be in my own space. I know it’s because I’m sitting here watching Bailey and her pack enjoy their life.
Noah squeezes my leg. “So do I. I’m worried, Lennon. The altitude could cause additional swelling,” he checks his watch before looking back at me again. “Valak and Gabriel will be another hour. You keep an ice pack on your cheek, take a couple of Tylenol and keep something in your stomach for longer than thirty minutes and I’ll say you can fly. What do you think?”
I stretch up, all but climbing onto his arms. “You’re the best.” He pulls me up, then Lincoln’s at my back and the three of us kind of hug it out. “You too, Lincoln.”
Noah swings me up into his arms while Lincoln sits down on one of the chairs at the table. Once he’s sitting, Noah hands me over to Lincoln. Leaning against Lincoln, the both of us watch Noah as he looks through his bag, pulling out what he needs and returning to us.
With another soft kiss on the lips, he slides one of his hoodies on me, zipping it right up. The gorgeous man even flicks up the hood for me, poking all my hair away before giving me a dozen sweet kisses on my forehead and one on my sore cheek.
“Let me get you some Tylenol. Lincoln, you look after our girl.”
Once he steps away, the only thing I see is Bailey. She’s standing frozen like a statue, right in the centre of their kitchen, her elegant lips open wide.
“What?” I ask, staring at her, wondering if I missed something huge. It wouldn’t be the first time tonight.
But Bailey shakes her head, a sassy smile starting to spread over her face. “Girl, you’re so fucked!”
“Excuse me?” I sass back, sitting up straighter.
“You are so gaga for this pack,” Bailey says, her elegant nail pointed my way.
And that’s when I seriously start thinking about getting off Lincoln’s lap and going to slap some sense into my bestie. “So?”
“I freaking love it!” She squeals while doing a little star jump before she bursts into tears.
42
