Page 41 of This Pack of Ours

“No,” Jhin said firmly. “This is what they’ve offered us.”

“We’ll just have to sleep in a big pack pile," said Ez a little too eagerly, jumping onto the futon. It gave an alarming crack.

“Come on, bring it in guys!” he said, and pointed at Vander. “Come on, V, you definitely need more hugs, right?”

Vander rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed to take off his socks. Ez tackled him from behind, and to my surprise, and Ez’s delight, Vander started wrestling him.

“There’s not enough space for this,” Jhin said, frowning.

“Just... let them be,” I said, getting on the inflatable mattress to move out of their way. It had been way too long since Vander had wrestled Ez.

“Ha! Got you, dude,” Ez cackled. “Hey! No auras, that’s not fair?—”

Vander had pushed Ez off and was now pinning him down. There was a knock at the door and Kit poked his head in.

“Everything okay?” he asked, blinking at us. He was carrying an armful of blankets. His eyes flicked to where Vander and Ez were wrestling—shirtless—and got stuck.

“Sorry, yes, we’re fine,” said Jhin, and I darted ahead of him so I could be the one to take the armful of delicious-smelling blankets out of Kit’s hands. He was still staring at Ez and Vander but then tore his gaze away to look at me. Now I was here, though, maybe I'd seemed too eager. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“Thanks for having us,” I said, and I meant it.

“Sorry about your apartment. That really sucks," he replied, handing me the linens. He’d taken off the silky jacket, and it just left him in pants and the crop top. He was so cute it almost hurt.

“Well. We’re very lucky you’re having us. This would have cost a ton at the laundromat.”

“Yeah,” he said, glancing down, shuffling his feet. “Are you guys going to be okay in there? Space-wise, I mean.”

“We’ll be okay,” I said. “This is only one less room than we usually have.”

Dammit, that was such a dumb way to explain that.

“Yeah, it’s me and Adrian usually. Vander has to share with Jhin because he’s such a grouch,” Ez said, and yelped as Vander jabbed him in the stomach.

“See!” he said, trying to squirm away. “This is abuse!”

Kit’s smile almost made me drop the blankets onto the floor.

“So, is this usually your room?” I asked. I couldn’t quite figure it out. It was decorated like a very bare-bones bedroom that smelled like Kit, but the scent was faint, even on the bed.

“Oh yeah, well, when we moved in it was,” Kit said, dark eyes meeting mine again. “But don’t worry, you’re not kicking me out. I’ve been bunking with Juniper for years—we share a nest. I pretty much only use this if I need some private space.” He paused, then his cheeks went pink. “Personal space! Like for gaming and stuff.”

The thought swirled in my head as he said goodnight. Ez and Vander had stopped their wrestling, and I turned to face them, eyebrows raised.

“You guys heard that, right?” I asked. “He just told us theyshare a nest?”

“That’s hot,” said Ez, coming to grab a blanket. He shoved his face in it and inhaled with a sigh.

“They were very clear they are just friends,” Jhin said as Ez plopped down on the bed. Ez shushed him, and I noticed he’d positioned the blanket right over his crotch.

This was going to be a long night.

JUNIPER

The motion detector alarm blasted into my headphones and woke me up. I stiffened, and then crawled out from under Kit, slipping my feet onto the cold floor.

I lurched toward the baby monitor.

There was a tall, lone figure in the short corridor, hand resting on the wall outside the spare room. The feed wasn’t clear enough for my bleary eyes to see which one. He paused, and then walked to the bathroom.

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