“That’s the correct choice, right?” I asked, tightening my grip on her ass.
“Only if you want to entice me,” she responded cheekily.
“I want gray sweatpants, too,” Cam blurted out.
“I guess we should get up,” Josie said, sitting up with a pout. “And clean up?” she said, but it sounded like a question.
Cam reached up to cup her breasts, rolling his thumb over her nipples. Josie whimpered as she leaned into his touch.
“Don’t clean up,” he growled.
I smirked, knowing Cam wanted his scent on her and, based on Josie’s smile, she didn’t want to get rid of it, either.
Ben walked back with an armful of clothes. He had on sweatpants but no shirt, and Josie eyed his chest hungrily. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants but skipped the t-shirt for now. I wanted my mate to look at me like that, too.
Josie snagged the t-shirt, though, and put it on. It came down to her upper thigh, and I knew we were all torn between her staying warm and wanting to stare at her bare skin.
We stayed in bed until the smell of pancakes reached us. Cam carried Josie to the kitchen table, and another surge of jealousy went through me. Then she reached out to brush the hair out of my face and the jealous beast was soothed.
She jumped a little as Ben set a large plate of pancakes down on the table with a huff, his irritation finding me in the bond.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching out to grab Ben’s hand. He immediately softened.
“Nothing,” he responded, placing a couple of pancakes on her plate.
Josie raised her eyebrow at me and I shrugged. She took a bite of the pancake and her eyes widened. “Woah, these taste just like…”
“Don’t say it,” Ben bit out, angrily putting a stack of pancakes on his plate.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Cam growled, lifting Josie and putting her on his lap. She rolled her eyes.
“Sorry,” Ben said, his cheeks reddening. “It’s just… how the actual fuck do these taste identical to the pancakes at Wildflower Cafe?”
Josie bit her lip to keep from laughing, and I realized what the problem was. Ben had been trying to recreate these pancakes for close to a year.
“You cracked the recipe?” I asked, grabbing some for myself.
“I used a mix!” Ben fumed as he took a bite of food. “The box says Value Bargain Discount Company’s Pancake Mix. What kind of brand name is that, anyway? Those words all mean the same thing. Here I was, whipping egg whites and using vanilla bean paste and organic buttermilk when they were using a freaking box mix all along?”
Josie covered her mouth to stop her laughter, and Cam buried his face in her hair for the same reason.
“We’ll offer even better pancakes at our bakery, yeah?” Josie said with a grin after she’d gotten her laughter under control. She leaned across the table to grab Ben’s hand.
“You want to move forward with the bakery plans, then?” Cam asked as he played with Josie’s hair.
“Yeah,” Josie responded happily. But Ben looked between Cam and me with hesitation in his eyes.
“I think it’s a great idea,” I said, smiling at him.
“Of course, it is,” Cam said. “You two will be great. I’ll miss working with you, though,” he said to Ben.
Ben relaxed back in his chair, his relief palpable through the bond. “I’ll miss it, too.”
“I thought I could try to take some college classes if that’s, you know, an option after all of this,” Josie said softly, looking down at the table.
Cam gripped her chin, shifting her in his lap so she was looking at him.
“We’ll make it happen. And you’ll be great at it.”
