Page 70 of Bonding the Band

“What should I get?” she asked me.

“Definitely stracciatella and the chocolate.”

Nonna dished us up accordingly, and we sat tucked away in her tiny gelateria, inhaling our treats. We talked about nothingof consequence, learning little facts about one another: Beckett loved videos of dogs singing (which I knew but didn’t realize how often he watched them); I had a secret food blog, detailing the best spots everywhere we traveled; and Meadow once accidentally drank something questionable at a college party and tried to convince Clover that fairies were real.

Every time Meadow mentioned loving something, Beckett discreetly added it to a list on his phone.

By the time we got back to the pack house, Meadow was exhausted and climbed into bed with Hendrix and Arlo. Part of me had hoped she might stay with me tonight, but I understood wanting to sleep with more familiarity around her. Besides, Beckett and I had work to do with all of the things he’d stealth ordered to the pack house. Come morning, Meadow would knowexactlyhow serious we were about her.

Chapter 28

Meadow

California was far too hot for my Seattle-loving self. Between my rapidly changing body and the insane temperature, I was struggling. I had sweat in places a person should never sweat.

It didn’t help that I was sleeping next to two hulking alphas who gave off enough body heat to run a small generator.

Rolling over, I clambered out of bed, being careful to avoid disturbing Hendrix. I loved a good cuddle, but despite the late hour, I wasn’t able to sleep, thanks to the heat. They’d promised me extra AC vents when the omega suite was finished, but Hendrix’s room didn’t have that, so I was forced to toast.

Arlo, I wasn’t worried about waking while I climbed out of bed. I had straight-up kicked him in my sleep—accidentally, of course—and he hadn’t even stirred. He slept like a very good-looking corpse.

I needed to cool down, and on the odd day Seattle had gotten too toasty for me, I’d turned to ice chips. Hopefully they had something in their freezer, or I could always take a meat mallet to some ice cubes. As far as treats went, it wasn’t the weirdest, so I padded toward the kitchen and found their fancy ice machine chugging away.

Being famous really did come with perks, like perfectly shaped nugget ice on demand.

The house was silent, given that it was nearly three a.m. I stood by the kitchen island, happily chomping on my ice for a moment, looking through the fridge for other potential late-night snacks.

Whoever stocked the fridge had done an excellent job, even if there was a lot moregreenthan my tongue was currently craving. The pantry was full of chips, gummy candy, and chocolates—not the generic kind, either. They were fancy ones with multiple flavors. Rummaging through, I grabbed a few raspberry chocolates and took them with me as I ventured back to the bedroom.

Halfway there, I heard a string of curses coming from a room down the hall, the light gleaming beneath the door.

“It’s motherfucking defective!” an angry voice hissed.

Frowning, I turned on my heel and headed toward the voice, popping the chocolate into my mouth as I did so. Curious, I opened the door and stuck my head in to find Phin and Beckett sitting on the floor, pieces of furniture scattered around them as they stared forlornly at the wordless instructions.

It was a nursery! There was a crib against the far wall, and the entire room had been freshly painted—judging by the smell and the swipes of paint on their clothes and skin—a rich green with soft yellow flowers.

They were building me a nursery in the middle of the night. My heart stuttered as an overwhelming feeling of happiness came over me.

“What on earth are you two doing?”

Both of their faces whipped toward me.

“Um…aiming for a surprise?” Phin said.

“Did we wake you?” Beckett asked with a frown, clearly unhappy with the idea he could have disturbed my sleep.

I shook my head. “I was roasting and wanted some ice to munch on.” I held up my cup of ice with a grin. “You’re up so late.”

Beckett sighed, running his hand through his hair. “We weretryingto get the nursery set up for you, but I think we’ve been bested.” He looked so dejected.

I reached out, resting my hand on his shoulder and cocking my head as I looked over the pieces of furniture they were trying to fit together. Hmmm…

I grabbed the instructions, reading over them and glancing at the pieces awaiting assembly, and then nudged one oddly angled piece with my toes. “You put half of this upside down.”

Beckett groaned. “Son of a bitch.”

Without another word, the pair of them rearranged the bits of furniture and tried to pull them all together into one cohesive piece.

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