Page 52 of Pit Stop

“And you’re offering to help?” I ask, and he grins at me.

“No, I can’t cook. Please. I just wanted you to know I stand by you in solidarity. Also, no meat for me. I’m vegetarian again.”

“Yeah, okay,” I reply as I pull out enough meat for the slew of alphas in my midst. “I’m thinking tacos.”

“Oh yes, please. I really am starving,” River croons, and I throw a lime at his head. It hits his forehead and rolls to the ground.

“You can help me make the pico de gallo then.”

“I don’t know how.”

“What do you eat at your place? Seriously, River? Have none of you learned to cook?”

“Um, well, I eat cereal and boxed mac and cheese,” River says with a sheepish grin.

Mav eyes me as he takes the meat from me, and I grab the spices from the drawer.

“You poor thing. Good thing I’m around today to feed your sorry ass.”

River nods as I point at him. “Pico, River. Sage, you help. He needs to learn how to cook for himself.” Then I follow my mate out onto the porch where the grill sits. He turns it on and gets started grilling while I work on warming the tortillas. By the time we’re done, River has successfully managed to cut up the onion, tomato, and cilantro—not evenly and by no means in small pieces, but it works.

When everyone grabs their plates, I hand them their tortillas and Maverick scoops up the meat, insisting on serving me first and then ordering me to sit in a way that makes my dick chub up a little.

He really should stop being so nice and sexy because I may fall for him. And that would be tragic indeed.

As we eat, I can feel all my brothers’ eyes on me, but I ignore them and focus on my food. It seems I’m famished, still slightlyweak from my heat. It’s good to know how my body will be handling this and how I can adjust.

I put down two tacos and when I’m done, I rub my stomach, feeling completely full.

Maverick gets up and disappears for a moment before returning with a popsicle. He hands it to me, and I meet his gaze.

“What’s this for?”

“You need to hydrate more. You don’t drink enough water,” he says lowly. River croons at the two of us in the background, but all I can sense is Maverick. My heart leaps in my chest at the thoughtful gesture.

“You really need to stop being so nice to me,” I murmur, but still unwrap the dessert and slide it between my lips.

“Mm, cherry. My favorite.”

Maverick clears his throat, and I grin around the popsicle as he settles down next to me. I peer over at him through my lashes and see him watching me intently. I can’t help but drag it across my tongue, wetting my lips in the process.

“Dude. I’d rather not think about you sucking Mav’s dick,” Forest grumbles, and now it’s my dad’s turn to smack him upside the head.

“Shut up. I raised you better than that.”

“But—” Forest protests, but my dad glowers at him in a way that has him closing his mouth. “Fine. I won’t say it again. Just…stop with the phallic popsicle thing you’re doing.”

I do it more just to bother him. What is the fun of having a brother if you can’t annoy the shit out of him? They do it to me all the time. Never relenting. It’s the least I can do in return.

After we’ve cleaned up and I’ve said goodbye to Glenn and Sage, I move up to my bedroom to pack my things. I guess for the foreseeable future I’ll be connected to Maverick’s hip. Well, at least until school starts up again in the fall, but hopefully by then things will be resolved and the bond will be broken.

I can’t think too much about the future or I’ll start to panic. It will all work out. It has to, and in the meantime, I’m going to have a lot of sex with Maverick. Lots and lots of it.

When life gives you lemons, fuck the hell out of that lemonade.

Now that I think on it, maybe Maverick doesn’t want to have sex with me. I’m in his trailer, my bags on the floor, and I wonder where the hell I’m going to sleep. It seems presumptuous to assume I’m going to be sleeping in his bed. Maybe he prefers to sleep alone.

I glance at the couch and start unpacking what I can.

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