She tossed a small pillow at his head.
It had been eight hours since we arrived home, and we remained inside until Austin and Wheeler finished scouting the property for rogues. So instead of the walk I’d promised Maizy, I braided her hair while Lexi painted her nails. Lynn kept herself busy cleaning the house—Fox had pulled out some drawers and tracked mud throughout the downstairs rooms. Before dinner, I’d convinced her to take a nap and let me handle feeding the pack. I cooked up a macaroni casserole, buttermilk biscuits, steamed broccoli, and fried ham steaks. It seemed like just the thing to get everyone relaxed and ready for sleep.
Denver walked in with a plate of leftovers and plopped down beside me.
“You’re going to pop if you keep eating,” I said.
“Then I’ll die a happy man,” he mumbled with a mouthful of casserole.
Trevor tucked the small pillow April had thrown at him beneath his head. “You have a stomach like a black hole. I don’t know how you can eat all that and stay fit.”
Denver licked his spoon. “Are you checkin’ me out?”
“I’m not gonna lie. You’re definite eye candy. But I like my men a little more serious.”
April laughed melodically. “He loves the rough men in the romance novels. The mysterious guys with all the swagger.”
Trevor’s cheeks flushed.
“Men like that don’t exist,” Denver said matter-of-factly. “Women write those books because they don’t want to deal with the reality that their hero has dirty laundry, belches, and doesn’t worship the ground they walk on.”
“Reno worships my ground,” April said with a bright smile. “I never imagined I’d end up with a biker who’s a private investigator and carries a gun, but he’s better than any of these book boyfriends I’ve read.”
“So then why do you still read them?” Trevor asked.
She picked at something on her black pants and curled up her legs. “Because I’m in love with romance. I love the idea of it, and I love reading about couples who find it with each other. I like seeing it in this house with Jericho and Izzy.”
“What about Austin and Lexi?” Denver brushed a few biscuit crumbs off his thin green T-shirt. It had a wide V-neck and a couple of pieces tumbled inside, making him pull it up at the bottom to shake them free.
Trevor laughed and sat up, one arm draped over his knee. “That couple is an X-rated movie.”
“I disagree,” I said. “What those two have is fire, and it burns hot. The romance is in the way Austin looks at her when she’s gone off on one of her laughing fits, or the way Lexi looks at him whenever he puts Maizy on his shoulders and takes her outside for a walk. They’re not as expressive with their romantic side in front of the pack because of their strong personalities, but there’s a whole other fire simmering beneath the surface. Those two together are epic.”
“Yeah, and where does Church fit in?” Denver abruptly said.
I straightened the blanket, embarrassed by the question.
How could I respond when I didn’t know the answer myself? We were two lives that crashed into each other. Had I never injured my leg, he wouldn’t have given me a second glance. Who’s to say he wasn’t having regrets about his intent to court me? I’d never asked the mated women in my house how they’d felt in the beginning of their relationships—if they’d immediately known they wanted to be with that man or if it had been an uphill battle. Lexi and Austin had always loved each other from what I understood, and April had needed to get her life in order before settling down with Reno. During their separation, Reno never stopped talking about her. I knew that despite her being human, they were meant for each other. Did they know, or was it only obvious to everyone else?
Was I so blinded by desire that I couldn’t see the obvious—that a man like Lorenzo could never love me back? Lorenzo Church kept many women and mated none of them. What made me think he would choose a lame wolf over another with stronger attributes? A woman who had known a man before her first change and had given birth to a son. It was too much to hope anyone would accept.
“Ivy?” Denver snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Maybe you need to go to bed. Do you want me to carry you upstairs?”
I narrowed my eyes. “No one in this house will carry me anywhere.”
“Yeah?” He set his plate on the floor. “Can you walk up those stairs by yourself?”
I had my doubts. Going down stairs took effort, but I wasn’t sure I could make it up after the day I’d had.
“The fire is warm. Why should I leave?”
Denver stood up and ripped the blanket off me. “Swallow your pride and let me carry you.”
When he tucked his hands beneath me, I screamed out, “Stop it!”
“What’s going on in here?” William interrupted. “Denver, you need to step back. That’s enough.”