Page 38 of That's the Way Rejection Goes

“Alright,” I nodded. “And sorry to spring all this on you. I know you’re not much of a talker and I’m not very eloquent… so I appreciate it.”

Ace just smiled. “No problem.”

“Well?” another voice called from the far end of the barn. “You two get anything figured out?”

I turned around to see Matt striding toward us. His boots were unlaced, and he had a coat draped over his shoulders like a shawl. It was clear he didn’t intend on staying out in the cold for long.

“I think so,” I called back. “We’re gonna put the walls up first so we don’t freeze our asses off out here. And after that we can start fucking around with the chicken shit.”

Matt stopped, a grin curling over his lips. “Simple and to the point. I like it.”

“I figured once we get out of the cold, we can worry about everything else. But those chickens aren’t gonna be here for another couple of months at least and that gives us plenty of time to have a functional space for them.”

“Have you raised chickens before? You seem familiar with this.”

“Nope. I’ve never seen a chicken that wasn’t on a plate.”

“You must be a natural farmer then,” Matt nodded. “Not me. I fucking hated dirt when I first got here.”

“I like getting dirty and doing heavy lifting. It makes me feel alive.”

“Sounds like you’re cut out for this kind of life then.” He glanced up at Ace, giving him a nod. “Looks like we found the help we’ve been needing.”

Ace nodded back. “I guess so.”

“Sam’s gonna have us supplying his entire food supply here soon if he keeps sending us help.”

“Maybe once we get the barn and the chickens taken care of, we can talk about expanding that house,” I added, putting my hands on my hips. “You two could use a little more space.”

“Yep, we’re keeping him,” Matt said, throwing some shade Ace’s way. “I’ve been telling him that for months.”

“It would be nice to have room for more than a loveseat, right?”

“Fuck yes. God, I want a sectional so fucking bad…”

Ace just shook his head. “I wanted help, not more projects.”

“Why not both?” I grinned up at them both. “Looks like I’m gonna be in town for a while, anyway. And if Sam is as serious as Erick and I, then we may never leave.”

Matt walked up to me and hooked his arm through mine, pulling me back toward the house. “Alright, so tell me about this whole triple mate thing. Are y’all a throuple or what? I need the details.”

I glanced back at Ace over my shoulder, but he just gave me a wink.

“I’ll do my best,” I answered. “Although Erick would be better at this than me.”

“You’ll do,” Matt said. “Now give me the details. I want to know everything.”

I took a deep breath and started to share what I was comfortable with. Meanwhile, Matt and Ace led me back to the house and Matt served us a fucking fantastic lunch despite the tiny size of their kitchen. As I piled my second helping onto the plate, I realized something.

A guy like me could get used to life in Shifter Grove. The place was great.

Chapter Eighteen: Sam

“Come on,” I said a week later as I pulled the SUV into the parking lot of the nearby park. “It’s not that cold.”

“It’s literally ten degrees out,” Erick scoffed, huddled up in his jacket like the inside of the car wasn’t damn near tropical. “I don’t know if my paws can stand the cold.”

“I don’t think I’ve run more than once in snow and definitely not in this frigid shit,” Calum grumbled.

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