“So your plan is to check out the local businesses?” I asked from the beanbag chair. I’d grown to love the cozy feel and ambiance of hanging out in the game room.
She crunched on another chip. “I’m going to open up a bakery.”
I clapped. “Woo-hoo! It’s about time.”
“I want you to run the candy store and I’m going to run the bakery.”
My jaw dropped. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“You know that store inside out, April. I want to give it over to you. Charlie left me the business and money, but maybe it was just because I’d been there the longest.”
“You can’t do that.”
She laughed and crunched on another chip, licking the orange dust from her finger. “Oh, can’t I? Look, I’m the one taking the risk with the bakery. I have no idea if these immortals are going to want cookies, and I plan to keep it open twenty-four hours a day, which means I’ll have to hire someone who can bake. I’m thinking about a Vampire because they don’t need to sleep. Austin says ‘hell no,’ but he’s not the boss of me.”
A throat cleared in the doorway and Austin leaned against the doorjamb. I caught Lexi biting her lip as he gave her a loaded glance.
“No Vampires,” he said firmly.
“Austin, I need someone I can depend on who doesn’t have a family to go home to, who can work all hours and—”
“Ladybug, I’m not having my woman working in the middle of the night with a Vampire. They may not require blood to survive, but it’s too much temptation for them to work in close proximity to someone as tasty as you,” he said with a dark laugh.
There was that chemistry, quietly zinging back and forth between those two like Ping-Pong balls.
“Who’s up for horseshoes?” Denver yelled out from the hall.
Austin moved aside when Denver appeared in the doorway and reached for the top of the doorframe while cocking his eyebrow. His dark blond hair looked messy, like he’d just woken up. He gripped the frame and it punctuated the muscles in his biceps.
“It’s too cold to play outside,” Lexi complained.
“I smell bullshit,” he said. “Sounds like you’re afraid of losing.”
Her face tightened.
“C’mon, Lexi. Put on your big-girl panties and see if you can swing with the men.”
She angrily rolled up her bag of chips and Denver sauntered off with a wide grin.
“Lexi, you’re just going to get yourself worked up,” Austin said. “Last time you gave me the silent treatment for two days.”
“That’s because you took his side,” she said sharply, walking toward him as I rolled over to stand up.
Austin grabbed her ass and kissed her hard. While they swapped tongue, I gathered my crutches and managed to climb to my feet.
“I took his side because you were cheating.” He lightly patted her backside.
“How do you cheat at horseshoes?” she said gruffly, wiggling out of his arms and vacating the room.
Austin shook his head and centered his eyes on mine. “By screaming every time it was his turn to throw. Denver bought a bag of earplugs this morning, so I have a feeling this is going to get ugly real quick. Want to join?”
“Sure.”
When I made it to the hall, Austin took the crutches from me and handed them to Wheeler, who headed downstairs. Then he threw me over his shoulder, and with a squeak, I held on to his back.
It was weird, but that’s how they moved me around the house—like a sack of potatoes. I could walk on the crutches just fine, but anytime I got near the stairs, one of them would appear and end up carrying me up or down. I accepted their kindness without question. It was evident that Shifters respected women, looked after them, and had healthy relationships with the girls in their pack. They heeded their advice and treated them as equals. The only hierarchy going on had to do with the Packmaster, but Lexi said she was an alpha female and had some pull.
Over the past few weeks, I’d been growing out my platinum hair. I’d decided to change some things and give myself a fresh start. On the night of the fire, Trevor had found my purse in the back seat of his car when he arrived at the restaurant. It had slid beneath the passenger seat and only the strap was poking out. So he sent it over to the house along with my phone.
Yeah. Sent.
As much as I pleaded with him, Trevor refused to visit me at the house. So Lexi drove me into town quite frequently and I’d meet up with him for coffee at the bookstore or lunch. No matter how many times I kissed him and told him how much he meant to me, he’d pull away as if I’d rejected him by choosing to stay with Reno’s family.