Page 66 of Outnumbered

“Because you finally told us what you wanted without us asking first and because you stood up for yourself. I really am sorry we tormented you. That wasn’t my intent.” He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tightly. “I promise we won’t do that ever again, okay?”

I nodded and swallowed hard, not able to speak.

“Shall we watch the romcom you added to the watchlist yesterday?” Branson asked.

“What about that new action movie instead?” I suggested. I wasn’t really in the mood for relationship drama, even one with laughs and a happy ending.

“Sounds good to me,” Riddick agreed.

Nico ran down the stairs, a staff in hand, and shouted, “Barrier breach!”

Our relaxing evening was shattered and we all shot to our feet.

“Stay inside,” Rhys ordered us as he and Deryn headed for the front door.

Jolie and Triston ran out from the kitchen and she pointed at us. “Stay.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “I swear they still view me as five sometimes.”

A few minutes later, they returned, scowling, but without any injuries.

“What happened?” I asked.

“A werewolf sent by Dan,” Rhys answered.

“He’s a newer pack member,” Deryn said with a shrug of his shoulder.

“Is Dan okay?” I asked.

Nico and Fox walked in carrying several pizza boxes.

“It was just a delivery,” Deryn explained. “He just forgot to text us to let us know that it was being sent over. I swear he’s getting senile in his old age.”

“Be nice to your dad,” Jolie said and shook her head. “You know he’s been busy.”

“Well, looks like the snacks we were gathering aren’t necessary anymore,” Triston said with a chuckle.

“But those drinks are definitely necessary!” Jolie yelled. “Help me grab the beers, Ember.”

I followed and she hugged me tightly. “Things good now?”

“They’re better.” I cringed as I added, “I yelled at them.”

She smiled and squeezed me. “That’a girl. Put them in their place. It’s necessary from time to time.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “Well, hopefully there won’t be need of that in the future.” Yelling definitely wasn’t something I wanted to be common for us.

She scoffed. “You clearly don’t know those boys.”

I squeezed her back and said, “I appreciate your support. Honestly, I was really close to coming to you for help, but reminded myself that I need to take care of things on my own. That ended with me yelling and ultimately things turned out alright, but I need to figure out a healthy way to address them in the future.”

“That is a very tall order, but I appreciate your willingness to try to find it,” she said.

We made it into the kitchen, grabbed the cases of beer in the fridge, and carried them out to the living room where everyone was spread out on the couches and had started eating.

Jolie handed me a slice of pizza as the guys started opening their beers.

“This is really good pizza,” Branson praised.

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