Page 18 of The President

He smirks then asks, “Where were your mates when you were doing this?”

Nini picks up the story and replies, “They were getting the meat from Nonna to put on the grills.”

“So, in other words, you two waited until Stealth and Chaos were otherwise occupied before you decided to jump in and help,” Fox accuses.

Nini shrugs, then blows it with the tiny smirk on her face when she replies. “Maybe? I mean, all the side dishes were done, and we just wanted to help.”

“Well, right now, you can help by making Vivi feel at home,” he decrees, pulling out a chair for me to sit in. “That way, your mates stay happy, and we have a good day. Warren, follow me and I’ll show you around then we’ll grab a beer.”

Dad leans down and kisses my forehead, a twinkle in his eye as he whispers, “I like this for you, honey.”

He would because in our old pack, while Alpha Dawson wasn’t a complete jerk, the females were the ones who did most of the laborious work. Here, however, it’s obvious that these males cherish their females. Granted, it’s a bit early for me to make that determination, but I suspect when it comes to the heavy lifting, the males take on that task.

Even though the females are shifters too and have superior strength.

Even though traditionally females do all that kind of stuff with respect to cooking and preparing food.

I mean, it sounded like that’s what Tressa and Nini were doing, of course, but from what Fox has shared about Nonna, she has ruled the kitchen since she arrived when Chaos met his mate. Plus, both Tressa and Nini used to be human until they were turned by their mates.

“I do too, Dad. Now, go commune with the brethren or whatever you’re about to do,” I whisper back. “I’ve got two women here who like to read as much as Angie and I.”

His chuckles reverberate around the room as he proceeds to follow Fox. Turning, I look at Tressa and ask, “Are we really going to MMM?”

She squeals and claps her hands together. “Oh, my goodness,yes!It’s so much fun, too.”

Nini adds, “This will be my first one as well. Tressa went by herself the last time because I couldn’t get the time off.”

“Nin, it worked out the way it was supposed to,” Tressa says, patting her friend’s hand. “All’s well that ends well.”

“You werekidnapped,” Nini hisses. “And that oaf I call a mate wouldn’t let me see you once I used Life 360 to find out where you were!”

I sense this is an old discussion when I see Tressa roll her eyes. “Not giving Vivienne or her friend a good first impression, Nini,” Tressa says.

“Just wait until you see me and Vivi have a ‘discussion’,” Angie says, using her fingers for air quotes. “Trust me, we both get it!”

“Okay, so who’s your favorite author?” Tressa suddenly questions, staring at me.

“Um, that’s like asking me which child of mine is my favorite,” I slowly reply. “The ones I read on a regular basis are different from each other for the most part. Some of the stories are grittier and more life-like than others, but sometimes, I’m in the mood for a little bit of sweet.”

“I guess that means you don’t have a favorite book boyfriend then,” Nini states, giggling.

“Top five or top ten?” I ask. “Top five are Tack from Chaos, Joker from Chaos, Poseidon from Darlene Tallman’s Poseidon Warriors MC, Ghost from Liberty Parker’s Rage Ryders MC, and Lo from Winter Travers’s Devils Knights.”

I actually have more like twenty-five book boyfriends, but I figure I’ll ease all of them into that fact. Angie, knowing where my head has gone, smirks at me. Wench.

“Holy shit, you’re gonna fit right in!” Tressa squeals. “I love your top five and want to add Axel from Lola Wright for his hysterical behaviors, every one of the guys from Elizabeth N. Harris’s Rage series, and Saint from Amelia Shea’s Ghosttown Riders.”

“I love all of those guys. Except Kase,” Angie says. “That man may be sweet for those in his life, but he’s a straight up dickhead to the rest of the world.”

This sends us down a rabbit hole of talking about why Kase is the way he is, and we end up coming to the conclusion that it’s because of how Jack raised them. A thought crosses my mind and I ask, “Did any of you read Nikki Landis and Darlene Tallman’s book in a new series about shifter bikers?”

“Yes!” Tressa and Nini exclaim in unison. “We can’t wait for the next book, either.”

“I think it comes out in April,” Angie says. “At least, that’s what I saw in one of their newsletters. Or maybe it was in Darlene’s reader group. Who knows?”

“Oh, who likes academy books?” Tressa suddenly asks. “Because Liberty Parker just wrote one of those and I’m highly invested in what happens to Novak and Carrington.”

“I haven’t read that many of them, but I’m always game to check a new-to-me genre out,” Angie says. This, of course, means thatI’llbe reading it as well because Ang and I often discuss what we’ve read. Not that I’ll complain because like her, I enjoy finding new books to read.

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