Page 76 of Freed

“First, we need a guest list. You text Erica and Lexi, and I’ll text her mates, plus Cody.”

“Isn’t this bad timing, though?” she asks in concern. “With Casper and those other two guys from the sanctuary missing?”

“I think you’ll be surprised how much everyone needs an afternoon to relax. We’ve all been through a lot lately, and it’s not like we have any leads to follow to look for them.”

Slowly, she nods, then she starts clicking on her phone. “I guess you’re right. When are we doing it?”

“Tomorrow at eleven. Tell them we’ll provide the food and drinks. They just need to bring their swimsuits and towels.” She nods as her fingers click away, and I turn to my phone to do the same, typing out a message in a group chat we started with her friends’ mates. Since all of us guys have an omega for a mate, we thought it would be good to stay in close contact in case anything ever came up. I also send a message to Cody. Once that’s done, I pull up the grocery store app, glad that even in Starfall Haven, we can get grocery deliveries.

“Okay, they said they’re in,” Cherry says excitedly, just as my phone pings as I see messages pour in from the guys saying they’re in, although there is nothing from Cody yet.

“Alright, now how about food?” I ask as I settle beside her.

“Be sure to get lots of snack food,” Hunter says as he steps into her bedroom and sits on her other side.

“Okay, chips, dip, salsa. What else?”

“How about a veggie tray?” Cherry asks. I wrinkle my nose, but she quickly reminds me, “Not all of them are meat-eating shifters. Erica and her mates probably eat vegetables.”

“Fine,” I huff as I add that to the cart. I also add in a bunch of sugary snacks and some cheese and cracker trays.

“What else?” Cherry asks.

“We need some real food. Like hamburgers and hot dogs,” Hunter says, and I nod, adding all the needed ingredients to the cart as he fires them off.

“Alright, I think that’s it. Should I get anything for dinner tonight?”

“Do you think we could make homemade pizza?” Cherry asks, surprising me.

“Sure we can. Is that something you’ve done before?”

She nods, looking a little sad. “Yeah, with my family when I was younger. We never ate out. We always ate at home, but pizza nights were my favorite. We’d have a bunch of ingredients on the counter, and then we all made our own pizzas together.”

“Okay, we’re definitely doing that tonight,” I say, already adding stuff to the cart.

“Did you watch a movie together while you ate it?” Hunter asks.

She nods, smiling at him in happy surprise. “How did you know?”

“Just a guess. We should do that too. Any particular type of movie?”

“Not really, just whatever we could agree on.”

“Okay, take a look at what I have here, and let me know if I’m missing anything,” I tell her as I hand her my phone.

She starts to laugh as she scrolls through the list. “You have way more here than we need.”

“But is anything missing?” I press, wanting it to be a happy memory for her.

“No, it’s perfect. Thank you, Chase.” She squeezes my thigh then turns to Hunter, doing the same. “Thank you, Hunter.”

I click the order button, then shove my phone into my pocket as I look at her.

“Now what shall we do while we wait for the groceries to arrive?” A grin pulls at my lips and her eyes widen slightly with excitement.

“Oh, I know!”

I reach up and cup her face as I ask, “What do you want to do, pretty girl?”