Page 42 of Wolf Lost

Sure enough, tucked under the old machine was an instruction manual. Dez slid it out and motioned to Gavin, who set down his corner.

Dez wiped the dust off the fat paper booklet—they were going to have to move the machine and clean under it before opening—and flipped it open. He bit his lip almost hard enough to draw blood and quickly flipped all the way through.

“Is that, um—” Gavin started, and Dez nodded to him.

“Good news! There’s a manual.” He held it up so everyone could see it.

After a long, silent moment, Kareni gave a tiny cough and said, “I have an Italian-English dictionary,” in a hopeful tone.

Dez couldn’t help it anymore. He burst into laughter and didn’t stop until an annoyed Asher came around the counter to snatch the manual from him, grumbling all the while.

* * *

Later that nightfound them sitting around the den, Sawyer on one side with the instruction manual and the Italian-English dictionary they’d bought from Kareni, and Ash on the other, staring at Sawyer and the manual like they were aliens. Or maybe like they were beautiful and he didn’t know how to approach them.

Dez didn’t get it, since Ash loved to read. Maybe the language barrier was too much for him. He’d been the one who had struggled the most to pick up useful phrases in Dari back in Afghanistan, always getting frustrated and asking for help.

Gavin, of course, spoke it well when they arrived, and fluently by the time they left. Dez knew how to call people son of a dog and how to imply they enjoyed conjugal relations with goats, but that was of limited usefulness.

While Gavin searched for the movie they’d agreed upon, Dez ignored everything in favor of stretching out on the couch. He was glad they had replaced the pristine white velvet couches that had been in the den when they bought it. It was the only room they’d had redecorated, and it was entirely worth it.

Dez put his feet up on the coffee table between Sawyer’s books and the bowl of popcorn Gavin had brought in.

Gavin side-eyed him with a frown, but as always, didn’t say a word.

Sawyer, on the other hand, turned the full force of his glare on Dez. He closed the dictionary and a little pad he’d been taking notes on, setting them in a stack, then grabbed Dez’s feet and pulled them into his lap as he sat down on the couch.

“No dirty feet on the coffee table,” he remonstrated. “If your leg needs attention, all you have to do is ask. You’re not five.”

Dez gave him a weak glare. He couldn’t be mad at Sawyer, but he hadn’t been attention seeking. Hewasn’tfive, and—

He gasped as Sawyer pressed his fingers softly into the muscle of his injured leg. Sawyer glanced up at the noise, looking for pain on his face, no doubt, but all he could do was stare adoringly like a goddamn puppy. At that, Sawyer winked and went back to work, massaging the muscle with impressive skill.

A pillow crashed into him from one side, and he turned to find a glaring Ash, arms crossed over his chest. “Ancestors, Dez, you’re distracting him from important stuff. Your leg isn’t that—” He broke off, eyes wide, realizing that for the first time ever, he hadn’t tiptoed around Dez’s injury and put it ahead of everything else. He opened his mouth again, no doubt to fall all over himself in apology, but Dez cut him off.

“My boyfriend. You want timely Italian translations, you either hire somebody to do it, or get your own boyfriend.” He gave a wolfish grin. “Not that yours would be as awesome.”

Ash went from mortified to scowling again in under a second, and Dez tossed his pillow back with a smirk.

“I don’t know,” Sawyer said thoughtfully, looking Ash over. “He makes some pretty incredible brownies. I think he could lure an awesome boyfriend with them.”

Ash blushed and looked away, to the TV hanging over the fireplace mantel where Gavin had started the movie playing.

Sawyer could practice his Italian tomorrow. Maybe Dez would help him; it wasn’t Sawyer’s sole responsibility. He’d just latched onto the project with such gusto that no one had wanted to interfere.

Sawyer, it seemed, was incredibly excited about learning to make coffee.

Oh well. Gavin could help him finish the bakery case while Sawyer and Ash played with the coffeemaker. It would be cute to watch, and Gavin could learn about carpentry.

23

Bound for Glory

The espresso machine was perfection wrapped in a grumpy stainless-steel exterior, like Dez. It didn’t want to work exactly how the manual said it should, but the manual also said to allow for the machine to have “a personality,” and its personality was like Dez’s lovechild with an Italian coffee sommelier.

He’d started calling Desi—the espresso machine—his, and no one had questioned it. Hell, Dez had called it “yourcoffee machine,” like it was their child and he was trying to distance himself from responsibility for its behavior.

Which was fair. Anyone who tried to use it still ended up with at least one burn a day, the steam wand seemed fine with regular and almond milk, but didn’t like soy, and occasionally when Ash tried to make espresso, he somehow ended up with a foul sludge that might have passed for motor oil.

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