Eli’s eyebrows hike up. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in my time around Omegas, it’s that meals can’t be skipped during times like these.”
The truth is, I don’t know how in the world I forgot to eat. I know better. I always know better. My body doesn’t forgive mistakes like that anymore, not with my cycles the way they are. Food isn’t optional, it’s preventative care, especially when I’m buzzing like I’ve been with that faint, restless hum under my skin.
But the kitchen got into my bones. The countertops. The space. The permission Walker gave me to make it mine for the foreseeable future, until I can get all of my orders done before I crash into my heat.
I got excited. I got focused.
I got stupid.
“I know, I know,” I groan as I lean back against the cushions of the booth. “I just couldn’t wait to get into a decent kitchen,especially after I had already fallen behind on my orders. It completely slipped my mind.”
“Uh-huh,” Knox says playfully as he nudges me.
I giggle and swat at him. “What? I didn’t do it intentionally. Meanie.”
He clutches his chest. “Oh. You wound me with your words, Sunshine.”
“Sunshine, huh?” Eli asks with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Does that mean I can call you ‘Alley Cat’?”
“Alley Cat?” Knox asks.
Eli nods in my direction. “Lia here’s a really good bowler. She walked into the bowling alley a few days ago while Amber and I were playing. We convinced her to play with us, and she whooped my ass.”
Knox chuckles. “Is that so? I love a good bowling session, especially with the lasers and the black lights and everything. They still do that at the bowling alley?”
Eli grins. “Every Friday night. Amber calls it ‘Twinkle Bowling.’”
“We should definitely go twinkle bowling this weekend,” Knox says as he motions between all of us.
“Do what now?” Walker asks as he walks up with a tray balanced on his fingertips.
The smell of food jerks me out of my mind again and I watch as he places plates in front of us. We’ve all got the same thing: a nice, juicy steak with roasted red potatoes, sautéed broccolini, and a peppercorn sauce to drizzle over everything. There’s also a basket of bread and butter, as if we don’t already have a veritable feast on our plates.
It smells divine, and suddenly, my mouth is filling with saliva.
“Whoa-ho-ho!” Knox says as Walker tucks the tray beneath his arm. “I didn’t know you had steaks on the menu.”
I furrow my brow as I look at Walker. “We didn’t order.”
“I know,” he says as he motions to the tray beneath his arm. “Eat. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait, but Walker?—”
He whips around, his voice firm in a way that stills me instantly. “Lia. This isn’t on the menu. You don’t need finger food right now, which is what we focus on here at the restaurant. You need something that will actually hold. I’m going to go put this tray up, and then I’ll be back.”
The pieces click into place, and by the time he’s sliding into the booth next to Eli, I realize what he was doing.
“You cooked this,” I say.
Eli spreads his napkin on his lap while Knox tucks it into his collar.
Walker, however, just shrugs. “I cook when I need to. Now, eat.”
Something in my chest tightens as the three Alphas around me dig into the food. Of course he cooks. Of course the man who runs his family’s legacy vineyard and carries the weight of his reputation on his shoulders knows how to feed people as well.
I can’t resist it any longer. I pick up my fork and take a massive bite of the potatoes.
“Oh, yeah,” I groan as the buttery Parmesan goodness hits my tongue. “Walker, this is amazing. Thank you.”
