Page 126 of Talk About… Rivalry

Taylor: Maverick… watch your tone

I laughed and tucked my phone away. Honestly, it sounded like he was telling me to get more.

So I did. I shopped with complete and utter abandon. My cart was filling quickly, but I did keep ten particularly special items in the front as my contribution to our challenge.

The rest was simply a fun little bonus.

I had to admit, this idea was brilliant. As I picked out each item I could already picture where I’d put it in the packhouse.

Nothing matched. There was no theme or aesthetic. I found a cute cactus, a vintage style ghost reading a book canvas, and an array of other things that made zero sense.

Yet, I loved them all.

“Five minutes, pack!” I heard Leo’s voice bellow unashamedly through the store. He had to have screamed for it to reach me and I cackled when I heard Taylor yelling back.

“No, I’m not ready!”

The sheer panic in his voice was hilarious, but I also understood. I’d barely made it halfway through the store, even though I skipped the kitchen aisles because I saw Leo there twenty minutes ago.

I hurried down the next few aisles feeling like I was on some unhinged gameshow, eyeing everything as I rushed, then stopping long enough to snatch something and move on again.

When the final text came in, I was breathless, exhausted, and ridiculously happy.

Knowing they’d be ready to go I forced myself to weave my way toward the front, glad they had signs pointing the way.

I lost any and all composure when we all arrived, every single cart, including Maverick’s, full to bursting.

“No turning back now,” Maverick mumbled. “I don’t want to hear a word, Sidney.”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one throwing shade when we started,” I teased, purposefully not looking into their carts so I could genuinely be surprised later.

We all went to separate lines, checking out at the same time to speed up the process.

“I’m ordering dinner in, this show and tell is going to take all night,” Bennett said as he dropped the final bags in the back of the SUV. We had things stacked under seats, in the back, and between us.

As we started the drive back, I slumped against Leo. He pulled me closer and tangled his fingers with mine.

“Are you happy? Did this bring you joy?” he asked, voice serious.

“Actually, it did. I think this should be an annual thing now.”

Maverick turned to me and gave me a smug smile. “I like that you’re planning our future, sweetheart.”

“I feel like this needs a toast. To Pack…” Taylor cut off. “Shit, what pack are we?”

“Whitaker,” Bennett said. “Sidney already belongs to that family, and I’ve carried the Sinclair name for far too long.”

“To Pack Whitaker!” Taylor finished, his voice full to bursting with excitement. My golden retriever mate enjoyed this just as much as I did.

“You know,” Maverick mused. “I thought I was going to be miserable. But that was more fun than I expected.”

“See, this is why you listen to your omega.”

“My omega,” he mused. “Damn straight you are.”

We didn’t say much else as we drove, all content to sing along to the radio and anticipating the big reveal when we got home.

The only issue was that we’d stuck bags in so many places to fit it all, we had no idea whose bag was whose.

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