Page 12 of Sunshine

Yet another failing.

I picked up my phone and sent Julian a text before I could talk myself out of it.

Sunshine:

Hope you’re okay

I’m off today if you’re not busy.

There, that was friendly. I figured he’d be off work since he worked twenty-four hours on, twenty-four hours off for a few days in a row before it changed to being off a couple of days in a row. It was a complex schedule and the minute I thought I had figured it out, I would calculate something wrong.

I thought about deleting the message. He probably wanted to spend time with his pack. Logan’s catering business kept him busy all sorts of weird hours, and Luca’s law firm kept him on cases, but they also worked from home sometimes.

Asking about their personal work schedules always seemed like girlfriend territory.

I was just a friend and a business associate. I sat around feeling out of sorts, still not sure whether to unsend the message.

Then Julian texted me back.

Julian:

I would love to come over if you don’t mind?

Chill on the couch?

Still drained from last night.

He then sent me some gifs of adorable sleepy kittens.

Sunshine:

Sounds like a plan

I glanced around my messy living room and had a moment of panic. I should have cleaned up before inviting him over. I ran around, grabbing random items and trying to make the living room look clean, and less like “there were signs of a struggle”.

My little cottage had a small kitchen and eating area that opened into the living room. Down a short hall was a bedroom and master bathroom. It was small, but I didn’t need more. I lived on the same property as the rest of my family.

Of course, I lived in a little cottage now, and not the big house we grew up in. Once we started becoming adults, having everyone under the same room made the house feel too small.

When my parents, aunt, and uncles died in the plane crash that left Ember in the hospital for weeks, our world had been turned upside down.

It was hard. Some nights it felt like we were building a parachute three seconds before we hit the ground, but somehow, we landed on our feet.

Stella even had a pack now. A month ago, she’d fallen hard for Simon, Evan, and Jerrick. I’d never seen my sister happier, and I was relieved. I didn’t need to be a psychologist like Raina to know that losing our parents and growing up early had left its mark.

Stella was the first one to settle down with a pack, even though we had all given dating a shot.

Julian knocked on my door, and I answered it, still holding some clean dish towels I’d just picked up from the laundry pile on the armchair.

He grinned, breezing inside holding two Tupperware containers. “Don’t bother cleaning up. I know you’re a slob.”

I hid my wince, even though his tone was playful. Maybe someday I would get organized enough to not leave a pile of clean clothes half-folded in my living room, but that day wasn’t today.

“Hey, sorry.” He touched my arm. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I don’t care, I’m messy too. So’s Luca.”

“It’s fine.” I nodded at the containers in his hands. “What’s that?”

He headed over to my small kitchen table. “The Sex in a Pan that your mercenary cousin requested, and Logan made you a key lime pie.”

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