Page 20 of Stella

Jerrick chuckled. Right, let him think it was a joke. “When would you like me to come?”

I would like both of us to come, I thought. Judging by Evan’s snicker in the background, he was having similarly dirty thoughts.

I considered whether I would need special time with my vibrator before he came over. Maybe it would stop me from perfuming like an alley cat in heat.

Then again, it was Jerrick. One look at his ass…and his mouth…and his arms…and I would get hot and bothered again.

“Now?” I craned my neck to see what time it was. It was still early evening, so plenty of time for a book date.

The thought was cozy. The two of us, curled up with a book. Being in heat meant I wanted sex, but I also craved being touched, and I loved cuddling.

My old pack never cuddled me for nearly long enough, and there were plenty of times I’d begged to be knotted just for the guaranteed spooning afterward.

“Take her carbs,” Evan shouted, his voice sounding further away than before. “She’s gonna need to start carb loading.”

“I’m sorry,” Jerrick said. “He’s been in full Mother Hen mode since Meredith was jilted.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Food sounds good.”

“Italian? Chinese?”

“Italian,” I said at once. Tony’s was pricey, so I named another less expensive Italian place close by.

I winced at the thought of him bringing me food. I didn’t want him to think I was spoiled. I’d heard enough crap about being too needy. And then there was Simon’s whole thing about me taking advantage.

“I can give you my card. You don’t have to pay for dinner.”

“My treat,” Jerrick said.

“I have some ice cream here we can have for dessert.” Ice cream, right.

“I’ll place the order and see you in a little while.”

“Okay.”

We hung up.

I laid on the couch for a full minute before remembering that I hadn’t bothered to clean up and I was having a guy over.

I was a slob, but he didn’t need to find out on the first date. My house was more like a bungalow, with two spare bedrooms, a master bedroom with a giant bathtub, and a living room with a kitchen and breakfast nook.

I did the breakfast dishes and picked up my laundry. I really tried not to leave shirts and blankets all over the place, but somehow, they found their way to the backs of chairs and the sofa. I was fully prepared to blame the mess on the cats.

Pumpkin was indeed stuck in a closet. The sad thing was it was his special closet and he meowed at me if I kept the door closed.

Someone knocked on the door before I’d done half the cleaning that was needed to pretend I wasn’t a terrible housekeeper.

There were still books and paperwork on random tables, but it was too late to worry about them.

Instead, I opened the door with a smile.

Jerrick filled up the entire doorway, holding shiny white bags in his hands.

From Tony’s.

I gasped. “How did you know?”

“Simon told me he was informed their Italian was the best.”

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