Page 35 of Crushes and Confections

“Je n’ai se pas,” I said with a sigh. “He left a message yesterday and all it said was to give him a call. I don’t even know how he found my new number.”

I’d known Luc since I was a boy, he was an old family friend and our family’s attorney. He’d dealt with some of the messier paperwork of my parent’s decision, and while he was a good man, I wasn’t in a rush to be pulled back into anything connecting me to home.

“Let me know when you plan to call him back,” Vance said. “I want to be there.”

A wave of gratitude washed through me. “Thank you. I just want to try and focus on our pack before dealing with it.”

“I like the sound of our pack,” Vance said as we finally reached our destination.

Both of us quickly exited the car, going to open the doors for Riley and Claire. I helped her down from Riley’s truck, the feel of my hands on her waist and her hands on my shoulders as I helped her out of the cab, testing my resolve once again.

“This is unexpected,” I mused as I looked out over the small pond. The afternoon sun was hitting the water just right, the light sparkling over the surface as the soft breeze stirred the water. It was cool enough outside that it didn’t look the least bit inviting to dive into. Had it been summer, I might have reconsidered with how beautiful it was. But knowing the two spontaneous mates we were courting, I’m sure they had a plan.

“It’s our place,” Claire said simply. “We wanted to share it with you. I can see those worried expressions on your faces but there’s no need, Riley and I do this a lot.”

Riley was already pulling a fire pit from the back of his truck while Vance helped, the sassy beta instructing him how to hold it and where to go. I watched an amused smile form on my husband’s lips. He wasn’t used to being bossed around, and this beta did it so casually. Riley was going to be in for a turn of events once we finally took what was ours.

“You said you wanted to court us, and we wanted to make sure you knew that we like to keep it low-key too. Not every date needs to be super fancy. It’s one of the perks of being in Holiday Hollow. You’ve seen the small-town charm, and now you get to enjoy the hidden gems. This one is the first of many,” Claire said excitedly. Her cheeks flushed from the cold and the thrill of showing us something so important to them.

How could we do anything but love it with that level of enthusiasm. The fact she was willing to share something they both clearly cherished meant she was indeed, all in.

Vance and I stood back as Claire and Riley set up four camp chairs and brought over a cooler. When Riley pulled out campfire forks, I almost lost it.

“I have a feeling we’re about to eat junk food, and they’re going to love every moment of it,” Vance laughed quietly.

“It’s nice that they appreciate the big and little things in life,” I countered, taking a deep breath as I looked away from the campfire forks. They both seemed to thrive on quality time, and my mind was whirling with ideas on how to spoil them. The pair wouldn’t want us to spend money on expensive gifts often, they’d prefer us to do things like this.

“Then it’s time we experience Holiday Hollow from a local’s perspective,” he agreed.

“Yes, exactly,” Claire said, startling us both. Sometimes her movements were so quiet we wouldn’t have known she was coming without her scent. And that was currently being whisked away by the breeze. “There’s a lot more to this town than you think. Now grab a seat.”

We did as we were told, even taking a roasting fork when they handed it over. Riley was an expert at making a fire and had it roaring in minutes, which was very impressive. The two worked like a fine-tuned machine with each other which was a joy to watch, and they didn’t hand out the treats they packed until the fire was nice and hot.

“This is a Claire and Riley specialty,” Claire announced as she put a strawberry on my skewer and hers while Riley did the same for Vance and himself. She plucked a big jar of marshmallow fluff and swirled the strawberry in it. “Now, put it in the fire.”

The air filled with the smokey scent of the fire, the sweet roasting strawberries, and the intoxicating aroma of our future pack. Maybe Vance was right. It was time to let blockers go so we could intertwine our scents with theirs, mark them for the town to see.

In time I’d do it.

I froze as Riley brought his marshmallow to his mouth and took a bite, licking the sticky sweetness from his plush lips. Then Claire let out a little moan of pleasure that had my attention snapping to her. Vance’s hand gripped my thigh as we watched them devour their treats, trails of marshmallow being tracked by their pink tongues. This was a new level of torture I hadn’t anticipated.

“Adding this to my kink list,” Vance said roughly. “You two are going to kill us.”

“That’s the plan,” Riley countered with more than a little sass.

“This is only phase one,” Claire said with an equally mischievous grin. “We’ve got a whole Holiday Hollow experience planned.”

That had me pausing. “Aren’t we supposed to be courting you?”

“You’ll do more than your fair share of courting in the future, alpha,” Claire said, the designation sending a thrill through me. “What we need to know first is how comfortable you both are with going out together in public. We are your official modified welcome wagon now, but I know the two of you haven’t really been out much since you moved here.”

“If you had, I would have stalked your asses sooner,” Riley said pointedly.

“You would have stayed steadfast in your resolution to support your best friend first,” I countered. “This way, you still got to have your moments with Vance, and Claire and I got to find our way through our misunderstanding.”

Claire smiled a sweet smile that had my chest swelling. “Touché.”

“What do you think, Ady?” Vance asked me. “Are you ready to get out there and really experience Holiday Hollow like a local?”

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