Page 48 of Overstaying His Welcome

Chance barked out a laugh. “Oh yeah. You’re definitely the one and only Jared. He’s as adorable as you said he was.”

Jared blushed at the compliment. “Thanks, I think. Nice to know the boss man has talked about me, though adorable might be a reach.”

I shook my head. “Not a reach at all. You’re definitely adorable, Jared. And yes, I’m actually starving. Doughnuts sound perfect.”

He closed the distance between us, popped open the box, and held a pastry my way. I bit into it, taking a massive bite and groaning as the sugar hit my tongue.

Chance cleared his throat, though he was obviously amused. Takeshi and Archie quietly chuckled behind us.

“Maybe we should move this party down the hall. He needs to get off his feet,” Archie suggested.

While I was thankful for someone noticing, it burst the bubble I’d been wrapped in. The five of us shuffled down the hall until we reached the recovery room.

Inside, the rest of the team waited with various expressions. Most seemed happy, though a face or two were apprehensive. I knew my guys well enough to sense it even if others might not have noticed.

I got situated in the bed, then extended my hands for the box Jared still held. Everyone laughed as I went to work shoveling food in my mouth.

It wasn’t the healthiest choice of food. I also couldn’t be bothered to wait for whatever food they might try to throw my way next.

My appetite was back at full force.

“It’s kind of hilarious to see him like this, I admit,” Memphis said.

“Yeah. It’s like he’s Tank in an alternate universe or something. I’m waiting for the next weird thing to happen.” Cohen laughed at his own joke, to which I raised both hands and flipped him off.

He laughed even harder. Probably because I had a doughnut hanging from my mouth when I did it.

“Anyway,” Ronan called out, “we need to discuss a few things before you get some rest.”

I nodded as I dusted the crumbs from my chest. “Hit me with it.”

Chance frowned. “No more hitting, baby. You’re bruised enough as it is.”

The room went silent at his endearment.

“Yeah, that will definitely take some getting used to.” Orion mock whispered the words to Arick, who had the decency to bite his lip rather than chuckle like I’m sure the other man intended.

“You’re all being mean,” I said with a fake pout.

Godric spoke up next, telling me, “Don’t pretend you’re innocent in this. And you’re not one of the princesses. Stop acting like one.”

My pout turned to a grin at the mention of them. They were a handful, but well worth knowing. Life was brighter with that group around.

“Where’s my phone?” I asked, suddenly remembering the calls I’d put out before things went to shit. “I need to see if Ricardo got back in touch with me. And if…”

Chance handed over the device before I could finish my words. He knew I had secrets, but he didn’t know about my brother. I’d avoided telling him before. Now it felt like I was confessing yet another sin. I’d only just told the team about him.

Fuck.

Ok, so this was all a mess. I had to fix it.

Before powering up my device, I sat up a little straighter and made eye contact with everyone in the room.

“I need to tell you all some things. Things that aren’t a lot of fun to hear, but I’d rather get it all out in the open now rather than wait to do this over and over again later.”

Jared raised his hand. “Is it ok if someone gives me the TLDR later? I can hear the phones ringing.”

“Sure,” I said, waving him out of the room. This wasn’t going to be something that affected him all that much anyway. It was everyone else I was worried about.

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