Page 114 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“Pretend it’s like before.” Jax’s throat works as he swallows. “Just…just for dinner. Like when we used to fight over the last spring roll and Ren would steal food off Stone’s plate when he wasn’t looking.”

“I never—” Ren starts to protest, but there’s a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

“You absolutely did,” Stone counters, and some of the rigid tension leaves his shoulders. “Every single time.”

“Only because you always hoarded all the good pieces,” Ren mutters, but the ice in his voice has thawed slightly.

Finn’s chopsticks hover over his plate, trembling slightly. “You really want to…?”

“Yes,” Jax says simply. He turns to me, his expression gentling. “And we’d like you to stay, Hailey. If you’re comfortable. No pressure, no expectations. Just dinner.”

I glance at Finn, who gives me a small nod. Slowly, I settle back in my chair.

“Now,” Stone says, reaching for a container, “you haven’t tried the orange chicken yet. It’s not as good when Finn makes it, but?—”

A half-eaten dumpling sails through the air, slapping Stone square in the face.

A shocked silence falls over the table. Stone blinks, sauce dripping down his cheek, while I stare in horror at Finn, who’s still got his chopsticks raised from launching the dumpling.

“Did you just—” Stone starts.

“My orange chicken is perfect. Thank you very much.”

Jax's jaw clenches and at first I think it’s because he’s angry.When he chokes before clearing his throat, I realize it’s because he was holding back a laugh. “He’s got a point. His orange chicken really is the best.”

Stone closes his eyes briefly. “I was making a joke. Truly.”

Finn’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t look angry.

“Serves you right. You were being maudlin,” Ren says, reaching for a dumpling off Finn’s plate. “It’s annoying.”

For one terrifying second, I think Stone might explode. His amber eyes narrow, and I instinctively shrink closer to Finn. But then?—

“Maudlin?” Stone splutters, wiping his face with a napkin. “Who even uses that word? Have you been reading those pretentious poetry books again?”

“They’re not pretentious, they’re classical literature, you philistine,” Ren sneers, but there’s a glimmer in his cold eyes that wasn’t there before. Like sunshine hitting ice.

Beside me, Finn makes a sound that might be a laugh or a sob. “You two haven’t changed at all, have you?”

“Oh, they’ve gotten worse,” Jax says dryly, carefully moving the dumplings out of Ren’s reach. “Last week in the office, Stone hid all of Ren’s fancy coffee and replaced it with instant.”

“You did what?” Finn’s voice cracks with genuine outrage this time. “Stone, you know how he gets without his coffee!”

“Exactly,” Stone says, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “He spent three days walking into walls and calling everyone ‘peasant.’”

“I did not—” Ren starts to protest, but Jax cuts him off.

“You called the delivery driver a ‘deplorable plebeian’ because he delivered the packages at 10:30 instead of 10.”

I can’t help the tiny giggle that escapes, immediately pressing my hand to my mouth in surprise. But instead of anger, I see all four of them freeze, looking at me with something like wonder.

“She laughs,” Ren says quietly. Then he seems to catch himself,clearing his throat. “Well, at least someone appreciates my suffering.”

“Yoursuffering?” Stone scoffs, but his eyes keep darting between me and Finn, like he’s trying to memorize something. “What aboutmysuffering when you replaced all my protein powder with hot chocolate mix?”

“That wasyou?” Jax asks, eyebrows shooting up. “He spent a week complaining his post-workout shakes tasted weird but wouldn’t admit anything was wrong.”

“Of course, he wouldn’t,” Finn murmurs, and there’s a hint of fondness in his voice that makes all three alphas go still again. “Stone would drink motor oil if he thought admitting it tasted bad would hurt someone’s feelings.”

---