Page 21 of For All My Effort

That brought my attention to Sebastian’s face. I glared at the smirk on his lips.

“All right.” Han clapped his hands together, the resounding smack catching all of our attention. “Let’s take a breath. Jackson, did you order the food already?”

“Of course, I did.”

“Then maybe a tour is in order before the food gets here.”

“She’s not supposed to go up and down stairs,” Seb said.

Between my legs, Zeke turned around. He grabbed my arms, winding them over his shoulders before holding onto my thighs as he lifted me off the table. Despite the wetness between my thighs, Zeke pulled me as close as possible to him. Resting my chin on his shoulder, I was completely content, enjoying the heat radiating from his bare back.

I was still aroused, but that excitement was being overshadowed by my curiosity—just barely. Not only was I curious about the home I had supposedly been living in, I was also wondering if something had the potential to rejog my memory.

“Be careful,” Jackson snapped.

Turing around, I gave a finger salute that had the alpha glaring at me.

“Mind if I join the tour?” Han looked at the two of us, his scent spiking as if he was imagining something more. Was it just watching Zeke and I together? Or the possibility of the three of us?

“Sure.”

The first floor was what the alphas had coined, the family space. It had a dining room on the opposite side of the kitchen, hidden away from the living space and making it more private. A large wooden table with decorative black stained metal legs was the main focus of the room. Benches on the long sides and regular chairs on the short ones, it was set up for double the number of members of this pack.

Outside the dining room there was also a gathering room, which, according to Han, was like a living room but rather than the pack relaxing there, it was for whenever we had guests. There wasn’t a TV in this space, but it had a bookshelf full of boring literature and even a little bar full of alcohol that made me wrinkle my nose.

“Where’s the blender?” I asked, as Han was raising different bottles up for me to see. “Or something colorful. Everything is brown. Don’t you have any mixers?”

“This is mostly for show,” Han said like having dozens of bottles of hard drinks and wine was typical. “Your fruity little drinks are in the pantry back in the kitchen.”

I nodded, expecting the answer. I still didn’t understand what the purpose of this room was, but I didn’t say that as we continued the tour.

There were two bathrooms down here, both massive with their own little room inside for the toilet so there was a separation while someone showered. Was I slightly disappointed that there wasn’t a bath? Yes and no. At least the showers were massive, probably meant for three people at a time with the number of showerheads attached to the walls and ceiling.

Finally, we made our way upstairs. The second floor was full of offices. Han apparently was the only one that worked from home, but the others had an office for the times when their work followed them home. This floor also had the laundry room, which I’d thought was odd.

And then, the third floor. All the bedrooms and my nest were up there. This level didn’t have any windows, completely relying on the warm orange glow from the dangling fixtures to provide any sense of light. Now that I noticed it, all the lights had a dim sort of hue to them rather than the bright whites from the hospital, or even at the OC.

Up here, I loved the scents that had soaked into the walls. The second floor smelled good too, but there was also stress on that level. And the first was so open and mixed with scents of cooking and cleaning that it just didn’t hit as strong.

On this level, I was content to lay down on the hard flooring if someone just gave me a blanket and a pillow. Before I could suggest this, however, I heard a faint chime ringing up from the stairs.

It was an elegant noise, even if I could barely hear it. “What was that?”

“Doorbell. Food must be here already,” Han said.

My stomach took the opportunity to rumble in excitement at his words, making Zeke laugh who must have felt the demand for food against his back.

Zeke took his time down the stairs, careful not to jostle me too much. As soon as he landed on the first level floor, I wiggled to get down, absolutely desperate for the food I could already smell. I moaned, my stomach rumbling again for the greasy goodness.

All of my hunger seemed to disappear at the sight of the front door, open, my mates standing just barely inside the house. Between them, I could make out a female, a red bag under her arm that she must have used to carry all the food Jackson was holding.

It wasn’t that she was a female, or that she was exceptionally pretty with her tall stature, tight shirt that shaped around her breasts, and the perfect curl to the tips of her hair tucked under a hat. It was her smile, the way she was leaning toward them, her foot, crossing the threshold of the doorframe like she was expecting to be invited in.

I wasn’t even aware of Han and Zeke, the two attempting to pull me back toward the kitchen. Then Han stood in front of me, blocking my view, and making my imagination go wild—

What if she touched my mates?

I just seemed to snap.

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