Page 43 of Stealing Sloane

“But you shouldn’t have to.”

“Hey, let me help too,” Sloane said as she came up behind them. “Lily, did you lug all this all the way over here? You should go sit down and relax.”

“For crying out loud, I’m not an invalid,” she complained.

“We know, Grams.” Jacob sighed. “It’s just … you spend all your time caring for everyone around you, but who takes care of you, huh?”

“Go and spend time with your family,” Sloane added. “Shoo!”

Lily’s expression softened. “All right, I guess I’m outnumbered.” The corner of her mouth tugged up and she winked at him. “You two make a great a team, by the way.” With that, she turned on her heel and left.

Jacob frowned, wondering what that wink meant. Surely Lily didn’t suspect?—

“Look at us, working together to bully a nice old lady.” Sloane chuckled. “C’mon, let’s get this food out before Stella comes over here and starts ripping the baskets apart.”

As soon as they laid out the food, everyone came over to fill their plate. Sloane opted to sit next to Stella and Cliff on a picnic blanket under a tree, and while Jacob’s first instinct was to follow her, he instead found a spot next to Austin.

“This is nice,” Jacob remarked. “Just like those days in summer when we visited.”

“Yeah.” Austin took a bite of his fried chicken and swallowed. “Sometimes I miss those days. Though not the part about being a kid, you know what I mean?”

“You mean having a bedtime and homework? Yeah, definitely not.” He laughed then took a swig of lemonade.

“Say,” Austin began. “I was thinking, how ’bout you, me, and a couple of the guys go out tonight?”

“Can I come too?” Jack piped in.

Austin rolled his eyes. “Sorry, squirt, this is a boys-only night out.”

“Ugh, no fair.” Jack crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you gonna go to the strip club?”

“None of your business.” He flipped her cap around then tweaked her nose, which earned him an outraged shriek.

“Ugh! You’re so immature.” Jack stood up and took her plate with her as she walked toward Lily and Jackson.

“So, what do you say, Jacob?”

Jacob’s gaze drifted toward where Sloane sat, chatting with her sister. A breeze blew by, lifting a few locks of her golden hair. A warm feeling settled over his chest and his wolf lay down and let out a contented sigh. “Naw, I think I’ll stay in tonight.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re my cousin, Jacob?” he teased. “The Jacob I know wouldn’t hesitate to go out for a night of fun.”

True, he’d usually be the one raring to go for a night out. But this time, it just didn’t feel right. “You go ahead and have fun, though.”

“Suit yourself.” He glanced over at Cliff and Stella. “I guess Cliff won’t want to join in either.”

“I don’t think so.”

A wistful look passed over his cousin’s face for a brief moment, one Jacob didn’t miss. While he wasn’t someone who meddled in other people’s lives, he had overheard some stories over the years. Austin was the oldest among them, yet he still hadn’t married or even had a serious relationship. According to family gossip, though he’d been engaged once when he was younger, he broke up with his fiancée because he couldn’t accept she wasn’t his True Mate.

Jacob once again looked over at Sloane, a familiar sensation forming in his gut. Gunnar’s words came back to him, though if he were being honest, they’d stayed in his mind, and he hadn’t been able to forget them since this morning.

Chapter 9

The lazy lunch by the pond stretched into an afternoon of swimming, and well into early evening. In fact, they had all decided to just continue on to dinner. Sloane and Jacob went back to the house with Lily to help bring more food. By the time they finished eating, everyone was much too full and sated to go out for a run.

After they packed up and trudged home, however, Sloane still felt restless. Her mind had been much too occupied to truly enjoy herself. What it was occupied with, well, what else would consume her thoughts right now? At some point in the afternoon, they had all decided to go swimming, and watching Jacob shirtless and wet had only put her hormones into overdrive. She had reminded herself that Ronan was still out there, so she sent a message to Lizzie to ask her if there were any updates on their evidence-gathering mission. The only reply from the hybrid was that she was “working on it.”

Since almost everyone went to bed, she considered going to her room herself. However, she would just be tossing and turning the whole night. The truth was, she never slept well unless she was mentally and physically exhausted, at least notin the last year of being on the run. Both she and her wolf were always aware of their surroundings, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. And whenever she did manage to sleep deeply, she often had nightmares of Ronan catching up to her.

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