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Boy, when I'm right, I'm right. For a Friday, this day could not have been more busy. Usually, Jerrick prefers to not have a ton of meetings on Friday's and instead prefers to allow enough free time that we may be able to go home a little early on occasion. Not this week though. He'd heard word that Dillan Doherty was going to accept Pen2Paper Press' offer, so the whole day has been meeting with department heads to go over any last minute details to make sure everyone is on top of their duties. He didn't even break for lunch, so, I had to run out to grab it for him, he was so busy. Which meant that I was busy, too. Now it's the end of the day, and I'm ready to go home, crawl in bed with a pint of ice cream while I watch a movie, and fall asleep early.
I'm typing up Jerrick's end of the week recap email to send out to the office when the sound of tapping heels draws nearer to me and stops in front of my desk. Before looking up, I know who it is. My pulse picks up and that tell-tale smile starts pulling at my cheeks again as Brooklyn's lavender and mint scent hits me.
"Hey, cherub," she says in a quiet, sweet voice. The husky tone of it doing nothing to calm my rapidly increasing heart rate.
"Hey, Brooklyn," I whisper back, smile still firmly on my face.
"You know, you can call me Brooke, sweets. All my friends do," Brooklyn–Brooke–chuckles.
"Miss Whitlock?" Jerrick calls from inside his office. She winks at me and walks in, closing the door behind her but not before Jerrick shouts out to me next. "That's all for today, Summer. Have a great weekend." Part of me wants to stick around to walk out with Brooke, but I don't know if there are any fraternization rules in the office, so I decide against it. That doesn't mean that I don't pack my things at a snail's pace, though.
When I’ve packed all my things as slow as I can, I decide I can’t delay leaving any more. I shut my computer down for the weekend, grab my purse, and head to the elevators. It’s late enough in the day that most everyone has left already so I ride down to the main floor by myself. On the way down, I lean heavily against the elevator walls and shut my eyes, exhaustion hitting me hard.
The ping signaling the arrival of my floor has me groaning and exiting at a sluggish pace. “Summer, over here,” a slightly husky voice calls from the front desk security station. Confused, I glance over and raise my brows at Ava standing there and talking to Carl, the night security. His shift must have just started.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask Ava, walking over to where she’s leaning against the raised desk.
“I figured we could stop and grab some food before our movie night. I’m thinking Mexican,” she says with an inflection that makes it sound like a statement and a question to see if I’m okay with it, too. I completely forgot that we had plans tonight though. As much as I want to blow her off and go straight to sleep, I don’t want to disappoint her. Even though I know she wouldn’t be upset with me. Besides, I could use some girl time, and I am really hungry. It’s not like we’re going clubbing; we’re just watching movies.
“As long as you won’t be mad if I fall asleep in the middle of the movie,” I grin at her.
“Deal,” she laughs back at me. “Let’s go get some chips and salsa then.”
We’re about to head out, when she speaks again, just not to me. “Hey, Brooke. What are you doing here?”
My head shoots over to the elevators to see Brooke walking out with Jerrick beside her. She says a quick goodbye to him and walks over to us while Jerrick heads out the revolving doors. “I’m working with Pen2Paper Press now,” Brooklyn answers Ava but looks at me as she does.
“He accepted the offer?” I ask giddily.
“Yeah, cherub. He did. Looks like we’ll be working together for the foreseeable future.” The look in her eyes makes my cheeks warm. I try to turn my head a little so Ava can’t see what a blushing virgin I must look like while I try to will away the heat in my face.
I’m not sure it works because she’s looking between me and Brooklyn with the biggest shit-eating grin on her face.
“What are you ladies up to tonight?” Brooklyn asks.
“We’re just doing a movie night. Want to join?” Ava asks Brooke in a goading way that suggests she knows exactly what Brooke’s answer is going to be.
Sure enough, Brooke beams at the invitation. “If that’s okay with you?” She looks at me, and I nod.
But then worry filters through because we had planned on doing it in my apartment. But I don’t want Brooklyn to see the squabble I live in. Plus, there isn’t really room for three people. There was barely going to be room for me and Ava to sit comfortably.
“Erm… I’m not sure my place will fit us all,” I mumble, a little embarrassed saying it out loud.
Brooklyn doesn’t look at me with an ounce of disgust or pity though. Instead, she offers a solution. “Why don’t we do it at my pack house then? I know the guys will love to see you,” she tells me. Oh, Goddess. Just what I need. To be in a house with all four of them with my heat so close. What could possibly go wrong?
“That sounds perfect!” Ava agrees enthusiastically. “We can grab dinner on the way,” she says as she hooks her arm through mine and drags me out of the building.
That’s how I find myself in Pack Whitlock’s beautiful house, surrounded by the five most important people in my life since coming to Chicago and eating Mexican food while Hudson flips through the horror movie selection on TV.
“We’ve got the Beta Butchers franchise, Paranormal Pack, Killing the Alpha’s Advisor…” he lists off as he passes them. When he’s gone through most of the selection, he turns to me. “Whatcha think, pretty girl?”
I smile at the nickname, proud of myself for not blushing this time. I think I’m too tired to be embarrassed at this point. “Beta Butchers sounds good,” I say with a shrug. Honestly, I really could care less because I’m eighty percent sure I’ll be asleep the second the lights get turned off and the movie starts.
“If everyone’s done, I’m going to clean this up,” Maverick asks and starts collecting all the trash from dinner after we all nod.
“I’ll help,” Ava offers. From the moment we got here, I was surprised to find how comfortable she was with the pack. There wasn’t an ounce of awkwardness when we came barreling in with food and disrupting their game night. Mason, Maverick, and Hudson were all gathered around the living room TV playing some video game I’ve never heard of. When we walked in and they saw the food and then me following in behind Brooklyn, they quickly discarded their game with huge smiles on their faces. Like the interruption was a welcome one, and it warmed my heart and melted away my nerves to see their excitement. There was a lot of joking thrown around between them and Ava, who I learned they met at The Hog’s Head when Brooklyn got into a little tiff with another alpha and became fast friends. I was surprised that I haven’t figured that out yet with the amount of times they’ve been into the bar in the past few weeks.
“Come sit next to me, cherub.” Brooklyn holds her arm up for me to snuggle up against her if I want to. She keeps her face open and warm, letting me know she won’t be offended if I say no. But Goddess, I don’t want to say no. I want the contact, the physical connection. So I throw back a shy smile and crawl my way across the large sectional couch we are both sitting on and tuck myself under her arm, burrowing as close to her as I can. She wraps one arm around my shoulders and her free arm comes across my chest, squeezing tight and making me feel protected and cared for. I let out a sigh of contentment, close my eyes, and soak in the warmth radiating off her. She purrs so softly that I don’t hear it, but the vibrations rattle in her chest, and I’m asleep in an instant, drifting off before the movie even starts.
