“IfI change my mind, this will be quite an adjustment.”
“But you’ll handle it. Because you’re Bec-motherfuckin’-Brown. Nobody gets in your way.”
“Except for me, apparently.”
Izzy makes apffft-ing sound and puts her empty glass on the table. “Just kick yourself in the ass and go sexify your men.” She pauses. “But I don’t want to hear a word about it.” Izzy shudders.
It’s then that Sephie and Demeter both slide their pibble-mix bodies off the couch and trot away, heading upstairs.
“Nooo! Babies!Don’t leave meeee…”
Bec and I share a look and start laughing together.
We may have all just met, but I don’t know that I ever felt that I had truer friends in my life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“And then she asked me if I’d been baking.” Will gives a slight wince as he tells the story of how he and Izzy met. But I’ll be honest, the dude does smell like vanilla. Kind of like a sugar cookie. I mean, his scent is mixed with the scents of his pack, but it’s easy to spot which one belongs to him.
Kind of like how Adley smells like each of us now, but her sweet, floral, orange blossom scent rings out above the rest.
“That’s all right, mate. It all turned out for the best, didn’t it?” Asher is the calm and cool one, smooth with his British accent and good looks. I recognize him from some movies a while back, and from running in some famous circles in L.A. back when I still played ball. I’m sure we’ve been to some of the same parties, but I never talked to the guy.
“Definitely the best.” Will sits back down on the couch, another beer in hand.
Despite the video game consoles and gaming PC hooked up to the big TV on the wall, the part of the basement we’re in isn’t exactly a “Man Cave” or anything. Hard to be that when the woman you’re with is probably a more voracious gamer than her men. But it’s really cozy, and makes me hope that our renovated home will have a similar vibe.
The colors are lighter down here than in the rest of the house, but still match. Light grays, whites, very few black accents. There are two couches down here, both facing the TV, both plush with built-in recliners.
Matthew reclines on the far end, sips his beer, and laughs. “They had it easy. Will had no history with Izzy, and Asher’s history with her was good. Me, on the other hand? I was an absolute idiot.”
This piques my interest, but Ezra beats me to my question. “What did you do?”
“I ran away from her. Like, literally. Not a word, just gone.”
Ouch.
“But she forgave you. Obviously.” Ezra points out the obvious.
“She sure did. Luckiest guy in the world over here.”
That’s debatable. I mean, I’m sure each pack feels that way, but it’s tough to look at another pack and think, “Boy, are they lucky bastards!” when you feel like you’ve won the lottery of life yourself.
“Adam tells us you’re rebuilding that old house on the farm land Adley’s uncle owned.”
I nod my head as I look at Will. “Yeah, that’s going to start soon. We’ve got the architect coming tomorrow afternoon, then we’ll start moving stuff out of the house this weekend before the plans are completed. Get a head start.”
“Count us in to help.” Matthew downs the rest of his bottle and sits forward, pushing the reclining leg rest in.
“Absolutely. Could do with a bit of exercise. We’re all sitting on our arses a bit too much lately.” There’s humor in Asher’s tone, and I grin.
“We’d appreciate all the help we can get.”
“There’s a lot of stuff in that house,” Adam says evenly. “I don’t think Adley’s uncle liked to throw anything away.”
“You guys should have seen the trailer that was on the land a couple of months ago.” Ezra’s head shakes. “But at least that’s gone now.”
“Yeah, this way, Adley and the animals have a place to stay while the house is demolished.”
