He believed that one hundred percent. “You can have whatever food you’d like, Nolan.”
Nolan blinked hard at them, eyes damp. “Thank you. I— I never thought any of us looked bad, no matter what our shape was, but the alpha and his friends…” He sniffled. “Thank you.”
Con looked at Rye with panic in his eyes. He hated when people cried, and Rye knew it was because he would start to tear up too.
His brother felt things very deeply.
“Here. Have another sammie,” Con said.
Nolan laughed but took the sandwich and broke it in half. “I’ll split it with you, Con.”
Con grinned and grabbed it. “Yay!”
Rye rolled his eyes at War, who snorted back at him. “We’re in so much trouble.”
Smiling at his brother and his mate, who seemed to be in perfect accord, Ryder nodded. “Oh, yeah. I can totally tell.”
Chapter
Six
After a few days with Ryder, Nolan was pretty sure he didn’t want his brother to come home.
That wasn’t true. He loved Race dearly and knew he couldn’t just stay here at Ryder’s house, but he did like it. It was fun. Con was a blast to hang out with. There was tons of cooking and laughing between the three brothers. There was running as bears. There were a ton of things to explore.
Then there was Ryder, of course. Ryder was wildly happy-making.
He loved the way Ryder smiled at him, watched him, and it was hot not creepy. It made him tingle. It made him want to preen.
Totally not creepy.
“Hey, Nolan?” Ryder shot him a smile that seemed more than a little worried and he blinked.
He was standing in the kitchen, staring at nothing, spoon in his hand.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I was making tea, and then I got to thinking…”
“The smell of honey can do that to a bear, I’ve noticed.” Ryder came into the kitchen, and offered him a smile. “No stress. I was a little worried.”
“Oh, don’t be.” He felt really embarrassed now. “It’s all right. I was woolgathering.”
“I don’t mind.” Ryder moved close to put a hand on the back of his neck and drew him in, kissing the top of his head. “I like honey, too.”
Nolan waved the spoon, his cheeks heating up so much that he thought they might just combust. “I have noticed that you like it. Would you like some tea as well?”
“Mmmm.” Ryder’s smile went hot somehow, his gaze holding Nolan’s. And he lifted the honey-covered spoon to his mouth and licked it. “I’ll just have the spoon.”
Oh wow, he was gonna just explode. He really was. He’d thought he wouldn’t ever be ready for this after what had happened with his last alpha, but Ryder made him feel safe and made him feel wanted. In such a short time. Nolan hoped he wasn’t reading the signs wrong, but he wasn’t sure how somebody could read something like what Ryder was doing incorrectly.
It was time to act.
Feeling incredibly daring, Nolan dipped his finger in the honey and covered his bottom lip in the sweet sticky mess and lifted his face. “Would you like more?”
He didn’t know what he was going to do if Ryder turned him down flat, because how embarrassing would that be?
Ryder didn’t, though.
