Page 114 of Baseball and Shifters
“And more time for… post-finals activities,” Bas quips with a sly look. “Oh, I see how it is,” Aubree sasses, joining us in the hall. “Have a party and don’t invite us. Rude.”
“I was going to…” Rachel starts before Aubree cuts her off with a laugh.
“I’m just kidding, Rach. You deserve a relaxing night and to enjoy your mates.” She tosses in a wink for added effect.
Now complete, our group heads out of the building and into the quad. Aubree and Maya split off, after a round of hugs and promises to meet up at the carnival tomorrow, and we head back to our townhouse. Our walk back is filled with teasing and laughter. The scent hits me the minute we cross the threshold. Cheese, butter, something roasted, and fragrant herbs. Derrick is in full domestic dragon mode which means tonight’s dinner is going to be a good one.
“Please tell me that’s shrimp alfredo,” Rachel calls out.
Bas crosses into the living room, shucking his and Rachel’s bags off his shoulder and onto the couch.
“Depends,” Derrick answers, exiting the kitchen. “Are you okay with being dessert, Emerald?”
“Hmmm…” I growl, wrapping my arms around her waist. “I like the sound of that.”
Her cheeks flare bright red as Derrick boxes her in from the front. He captures her lips in a deep passionate kiss while I pepper the side of her neck with small kisses and nips. When Derrick mirrors my movements she releases a breathy moan that travels straight to my cock.
“Hey now,” Lucas interrupts, turning the corner from the kitchen, empty mixing bowl in hand. “None of that before dinner. I didn’t make garlic cheesy bread for nothing.”
Derrick chuckles against her lips but backs off. “Don’t worry. I can be patient.”
“For now,” I murmur, stepping away, but not before tracing a path down her spine with my finger tips.
Rachel just shakes her head, trying, and failing, to hide the blush on her cheeks. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lucas calls from the kitchen. “We’re all ridiculously hot. We know.” He reappears with the mixing bowl now full of steaming hot bread “Now, table. Everyone. If these rolls get cold, I’m blaming Bas.”
Bas, who had already sprawled out across the end of the sectional, throws his hands up. “Hey, I had nothing to do with it. I was just waiting for the dinner bell to ring.”
“Yeah, Lucas, he’s totally innocent.” Rachel draws out the word totally like a sarcastic teen.
We all take our seats around the table and pass the food around. When we’ve all got plates loaded down with cheesy noodles and shrimp, salad, and of course rolls, Lucas lifts his glass to toast.
“To passing all of our finals and finishing our first semester.”
“To post-finals activities,” Bas says, raising his glass.
“To surviving finals and not punching anyone this week,” I add, clinking my glass to his, before we all take a sip of our sparkling cider.
Derrick sets his glass down and raises a brow. “Speak for yourself. I almost lost it on a dude who said Stanley’s 'too handsome' now. Whatever that means.”
“Rude.” Rachel gasps dramatically, clutching her dog tag necklace like a strand of pearls. “Stanley is perfectly perfect. I worked hard on that jawline.”
Laughter rolls around the table, and something shifts. The tension in the room is gone, replaced by something… different. Warmer. Charged.
Rachel leans back in her chair, looking at each of us. “This feels weird.”
My heart stutters. “Weird?”
“In a good way,” she says quickly. “Like, we’re done with classes and the air isn’t heavy anymore. Like… I don’t know.We’re finally free, moving on. Like things will only keep getting better from here.”
“Yeah,” Derrick says softly. “It's only up from here.”
We all go quiet for a second, letting that sink in.
When we’re all full, Lucas stands, grabbing plates. “Okay, let’s clean up and pick a movie. Something funny. We've earned it.”
“Define funny,” Bas dead pans. “Because last time you said ‘funny’ you made us watch some esoteric indie movie that was so convoluted I got a migraine.”
