Page 157 of Knot So Social

I choke and hold up both hands. “Absolutely not!”

When Joel smirks, I realize he was just stirring me up. I slap him with the paper napkin on my side plate, which is of course totally harmless.

Jeremy snickers and Alessandro smiles at the twins with affection.

“I don’t even know your last name,” Joel admits sheepishly, plucking the napkin from my fingers.

“I don’t think you need to be known by my name,” I say, floored he’s even suggesting it.

“Oh,” Alessandro wilts. “I thought we’d be the Boss Pack.”

Reminds me of our conversation when he said he started following my accounts and I freaked out. I cover his hand on the table with mine and squeeze. “You were thinking about it?”

He nods, eyes widening with hope.

“Hey, I like that.” Joel nods thoughtfully.

“It’s cool, but why “Boss” for the pack name?”

Alessandro whirls around to answer Jeremy. “Because that’s Willow’s online brand. Haven’t you seen it?”

“Get out of town!” Jeremy’s eyes snap wide open. “She’s famous? How did I not know this?”

Of course, Alessandro won’t settle until he’s whipped out his phone and shown the others my media empire. The twins marvel over it and would’ve spent the next hours watching my videos if I didn’t call them back to order.

“Well, that settles the name then,” Alessandro says, grinning ear to ear.

I shake my head. It’s not like anyone’s changing their names, so let them have their fun.

“What’s next on the agenda?” Joel asks, attention hooked back on me.

“Wait,” Jeremy says, brows furrowing. “Do I need to be writing minutes for this meeting?”

I shake my head, laughing. “Let’s just eat. Thank you for the food, Jeremy.”

Joel tousles Jeremy’s hair roughly. “Yeah, nice work, bro.”

Jeremy shakes his hand off with a huff of annoyance and smooths his hair back into place.

I fight a smile with zero success as Alessandro passes me the dish of crunchy fried chicken. It smells so good, I take a bite before placing the drumstick on my plate.

Crunchy batter and super tender chicken soaked in buttery herbs melt on my tongue.

“Hot dang,” I mutter. “Thi’ iz so good!”

Jeremy grins. “It’s our mom’s recipe.”

I put another piece on my plate, and then a third, growing bold. Alessandro adds a fourth when he thinks I’m occupied. Within a minute, my plate’s so loaded up I’m afraid the dishware might snap.

I stare at the pile and clear my throat to get rid of the quiver. Any more kindness and I might fall apart completely. “What is this, feed the omega day?”

Alessandro looks me dead in the eye and says, “You’ll need your strength to handle us, cara mia.”

I drop my fork.

Joel glares across the table as he collects my fork and fits it neatly back into my grip. “Only if she wants to handle anything.”

A dangerous gleam enters Alessandro’s dancing eyes, and his perfect lips tweak up. “Hmm. From what I’ve seen, she very much likes to handle things.”