Page 27 of Vegas Baby!

We’ll come for dinner

If you stress her out, we’re staying at the hotel

Luke:

OK

Jesse had a protective streak a mile wide, and it worked well for someone in his career choice, but it wasn’t often that I got to see it in our personal lives. Even with all our years of friendship, he wouldn’t hesitate to call me on my shit or intervene for Ava. I didn’t want to stress her out. What I wanted was some space to talk to her. I needed time to come back to the person I had grown into since I’d moved away and show her that I was ready to support her.

Luke:

I’ll cook

I didn’t know how to make a lot of things, but I remembered in the months before I had bolted, Ava’s favorite had been teriyaki salmon bowls. I could probably handle a decent recreation. A quick trip to the nearest Asian grocery store got me everything I needed.

The salmon was broiled, the rice was warming in the cooker, the cucumber, carrot, and daikon radish was sliced, edamame deshelled, and the homemade sauce was ready and waiting when everyone arrived.

I was setting the table when the apartment door opened. Ava’s tentative smile disappeared instantly, the color draining from her face. She spun on her heel and stepped out into the hallway.

What the hell?

I took the salmon from under the broiler and set it on the stove so it wouldn’t burn before going to check on her, the others crowded around.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She took another step back, her hand clapped over her nose and mouth. “The salmon,” she mumbled.

Oh, shit. “You used to love salmon.”

“I do.” She gulped. “I did. The pregnancy made me really sensitive to the smell. I haven’t been able to eat it for months.”

Fucking hell.

I should’ve checked before making it. The whole apartment smelled like salmon. I dashed back in and flipped on the hood fan, turned on the ventilation fan in the bathroom, and opened the windows. I put all the salmon into a container and shoved it into the freezer, and then put the pan into the sink so I could rinse off all the oils.

“We have one more night at the hotel,” I heard Bryce say. “Should we go back there?”

Goddamnit.No. The whole point of this was to show Ava I was on board with things. I couldn’t let him take her away again.

“Want some help?” Jesse asked.

“I guess.” I shrugged, hope draining away along with the soap suds off the pan.

“You didn’t know,” he said softly. “We can go out for dinner.”

I nodded stiffly while he packed up all of the toppings I had prepared and set them in the fridge. “I didn’t even notice it smelling that strongly.”

“That’s because you got nose-blind to it while you were cooking. It was a nice gesture, though.”

“Can I please have some time with her tonight?”

“That’s a question for her, not me. If it makes you feel better, she seemed excited on the way home that you were making food for her.”

It did make me feel better even if I wasn’t able to feed it to her. Alphas were supposed to provide for their omegas.

“Go out and ask her if you can take her somewhere. I’ll finish the cleanup.”

I diverted to my room and changed my clothes. The last thing I wanted was the scent of salmon stuck to the fabric if it was going to make her queasy.

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