Page 50 of Packed Up In Vegas

I was put in charge of keeping the soup in motion while we warmed a handful of cans on the stove to feed everyone, and Miles sliced cheese and buttered bread, arranging them neatly on the electric griddle.

“That’s so handy to make enough for all of you at once.”

“Takes a few rounds with it to satisfy all the appetites, but certainly quicker than a frying pan.”

We chatted about nothing of consequence, mostly the touristy bits of Vegas I had seen before everything had gone to hell. He didn’t entirely relax, tensing up at odd moments, but it felt almost like the first time we’d met.

Miles stacked the completed sandwiches on five plates and moved the soup pot off the burner for me. “Why don’t you collect the others and I’ll set the table?”

“Yes, sir.” I grinned at how easily he flushed.

I had no clue where the rest of the pack were in the house, but figured it would be safest to start with their bedrooms. Diego and Kai weren’t in the nest or in Kai’s room, so I stopped outside Amir’s door, knocking and waiting for a response.

It swung open and I froze in place as his bare torso filled my vision, a light dusting of black hair on his chest, and then dragged my gaze up to his face, where his eyes were narrowed.

“What?”

“Um, Miles and I made lunch, if you wanted some.”

He looked me over, head to toe, heat ghosting over my skin. I was only in one of my tank top and booty short sets I’d packed since we hadn’t gone clothing shopping yet and I didn’t trust anything I couldn’t try on. I couldn’t quite tell if he liked the outfit or not with the sharpness in his eyes, though with the way he lingered on my curves I could only assume he didn’t hate it.

“I’ll be down in a minute.” He shut the door without another word, a gust of delicious cedar wafting over me.

Well, that was one very confusing alpha down at least. Now I just had to find the other two. I wasn’t totally familiar with the floor plan of the pack house yet, but I reasoned if I got lost for too long, someone would eventually come looking.

I plucked open one of the doors to the balcony overlooking the courtyard and poked my head out. “Are you guys out here? I’m not coming out to look; it’s too hot.”

“We’re here, precious,” Diego called back.

I whimpered as I went downstairs and stepped out in the heat, weaseling myself into the strip of shade along the wall. I skirted around until I found the two of them sitting at the patio table, a bottle of water in front of each.

“Why are you guys out here?”

“Giving you time to hang out with Miles,” Kai replied.

“Could’ve given me a bit of warning instead of vanishing into the night.”

“We vanished into the morning.” Diego stuck the tip of his tongue out at me before lapsing into an easy smile.

“Did you two have fun?” Kai asked.

“I feel like he’s even more nervous than I am,” I confessed.

Diego chuckled. “Yeah, Miles is like that. He finds a thousand things a day to worry about.”

“All the more reason it’ll be good for him to have an omega in the house,” Kai added.

It was too fucking hot out here, so I grabbed each of them by the wrist and dragged them up. “The grilled cheese is going to get soggy if you don’t hurry up.”

“You’re not supposed to be cooking for us,” said Kai.

“Miles and I made it together. All I did was stir the soup.”

Kai scooped me up bridal style and I squawked as my feet left the ground. “Since you put in effort on that, you’re not going to put in any effort to get to the food.”

“You’re gonna make me so lazy. Treat me like one of those little purse dogs and I’m gonna get all yappy and bitey.”

“You can bite me anytime you want, precious.” Diego grinned, pulling open the doors to the kitchen so Kai could navigate me inside.

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