“Look, I fully admit that I came here expecting to hate him.” Sabs shows me her palms. “And a part of me still does for what happened last year, but he doesn’t seem like atotalgrade-A asshole.” She reclines back. “Wherever you are in a room, he’s always watching you. And not in a creepy stalker way, but in anI’ll jump in front of a car to save youway.”
“I see it too.” Faye nods. “Not just with Jagger, but with all of them. They really care about you, Del.”
“That may be the case, but I still can’t bring myself to trust Jagger,” Kady mutters. My stomach drops in disappointment, then Kady reaches for my hand, her voice softening. “But I trust you, Del.” Her blue eyes seek out mine. “I trust your judgment. If you think Jagger is good for you and believe that he’s your scent match, I’ll support you. If you can learn to trust him, we all can too.”
Emotion swells up in my core, and a happy tear slips down my cheek. “Thank you.” I scrub my face with my sleeve, laughing while sniffling. “So you don’t think I’m a total idiot for believing what he says?”
“You could never be an idiot, Del.” Kady smiles at me. “You can’t help who your scent matches are, and for what it’s worth, I do believe they want to make you happy.”
Having their approval feels like I’m jumping over the last hurdle to muster the courage to start opening up again. I’ve been fighting my connection to Jagger because of my fear of getting hurt, but in doing so, I also haven’t allowed myself to trulyfeel any of the joy. Finding your scent matches and courting is supposed to be a fun and exciting time, so maybe I can start to enjoy it now.
“Plus, no one will ever hurt you with Nash by your side,” Sabs snickers. “I can’t believe the size of his hands! They look like they could crush someone’s skull like a bug. How do you even fit those fingers in your?—”
I’m spared from answering Sabs’s question by Jagger calling out that dessert is ready.
Kady sniffs the air. “I can’t smell any burning this time, so that’s a good sign.”
We head in to see that they’ve laid out cakes, tarts, a variety of fresh fruit, and cream puffs on the table.
“We didn’t attempt to make anything ourselves this time,” Jagger informs us.
“Wise choice,” Kady scoffs.
“Oh!” Faye squeals, gravitating straight to the massive, six-tiered chocolate fudge cake with a perfect mirror glaze. “That cake looks like heaven on a plate.” As Nash hands her a mammoth portion, she looks like she’s about to pass out from sheer excitement. “Cole keeps trying to swap out chocolate for healthier snacks, but mmm…” She groans as soon as she takes a bite. “How can dried nuts and kale chips ever come close to this?”
Kady selects a lemon tart. “These are my favorite tarts at Springflour Bakery.”
“Haven’t you heard? It’s not Springflour Bakery anymore,” Tae remarks.
“Don’t tell me it’s closing!” Sabs almost drops a cream puff. “Where else will we get our cookie fix when Delilah is too busy to bake?”
“I’m never too busy to bake.” I chuckle.
She winks. “You may be now that you’ll have a pack taking up more of your time.”
“Don’t worry, the bakery is not closing.” Tae appeases her worries. “But it has changed its name.” He retrieves a cardboard box with the bakery’s new logo, putting it down proudly.
Sabs’s eyes bulge. “Delilah’s?”
Jagger looks at me. “You didn’t tell them?”
“It must have slipped my mind.” I look down at my nails.
“There’s a story here!” Sabs is practically jumping up and down. Perhaps feeding her sugar isn’t such a good idea. “Spill it!”
“Jagger bought Springflour Bakery,” I confess shyly. “And changed its name.”
“You bought her a bakery?” Kady gapes at him.
“Well, kinda. I… Well…” Jagger flounders. “I helped out a struggling business owner and negotiated a name change as part of the deal. That’s all.”
“That’s the kind of grand gesture you read about,” Faye swoons, licking chocolate fudge off her top lip.
“Any omega from Stella House will never have to pay for anything there either. Now or in the future,” Jagger declares. “I’ve already made sure Dora knows.”
“You arranged that?” I gasp.
He shrugs like it’s nothing. “I know how important your sisterhood is to you.”
