“Take a seat, River.” Torin gestures toward a chair at the head of the table, a plate of pasta sitting and waiting for me. Everyone is sitting around the table. There’s an empty spot to the left of me that Storm takes, and on the right is Holden.
My Kismet.
Beside Holden is Nash, then Roman.
“Guess we can work on our project in person now. It’ll make it easier,” Holden says playfully, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile.
“Yeah, guess we can,” I answer nervously, picking up my fork and stabbing a couple of the rotini noodles, eating them. Holden does the same.
“Damn, this is good.” Holden mumbles while chewing.
“Torin’s an amazing cook,” I add.
See, I can make conversation. I can be normal.
It continues that way. Everyone makes small talk while we eat. Each of them includes Roman, Nash and Holden in the conversation, which makes me happy. Their scents surround me, and I yearn for them, for more.
My mind drifts. I was planning to go back on suppressants after this heat. Do I still want to? My mind says yes, but my body disagrees. It wants to be with my pack, to bond with them.
I push my plate away, having eaten as much as I can.
“Did you get enough?” Holden asks, his eyes concerned with the amount of pasta I ate.
“Yes. I can’t eat another bite.”
Nash clears his throat. “Can I ride with you, River?” My eyes go wide, shooting over to Storm.
“Sure, I can ride with your brothers. It’ll give us a chance to talk more. Callux can ride with you too. That way we can load the Hummer with the bags.” Storm smiles, and I stiffen.
Relax, River. You can do this. Just remember you’re okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. That part of your life is gone.
“I’d love that.”
Chapter 41
Nash
Sitting beside her in the car, I am nervous as hell. Callux drives and Torin takes the passenger seat, leaving me and River side by side in the backseat.
“Weird, huh,” I whisper. I know the two men in the front are trying to give us privacy, but they’re still pretty close; they can hear everything we’re saying.
“Extremely,” she says while softly picking at the hem of her shirt. She’s nervous; I can feel it down in my fucking bones. Though, I can’t say I blame her after everything she’s been through. Not to mention, I am pretty nervous too, and I don’t think it has anything to do with the guys in this car.
Talking to her was so easy on the school messaging app. Then it hits me. I was just being myself, I was just being there for her and talking, and that’s what I need to do now.
“River, what did one wall say to the other?”
She glances over at me, tilting her head to the side as she scrunches her nose. “No clue.”
“I’ll meet you at the corner.”
She laughs. Not a, “I’m trying to make you feel good laugh”, but a genuine one. It sounds amazing. I’ve wondered what it would be like hearing her voice, if she would find humor in my corny ass jokes in real life, or if she was entertaining them on the screen, and now I know.
“I love your laugh.” She blushes, her face the cutest shade of pink I’ve ever seen. “Want to hear another one?”
“I’d love it,” she says softly, her hand dropping from her lap to the seat, so close to mine. All I want is to take her hand in mine. But I won’t. I have to take this slowly. She’s been through a lot and needs to know that we’re here for her.
“Why did the scarecrow win an award?”
