Page 55 of Jesse
I pulled his hand to my mouth and kissed the back of it. “You kidding? They love you.”
He laughed, a soft, lovely sound. “Oh yeah?”
“Absolutely,” I told him.
Beck rewarded me with a soft smile. Back at my apartment, the mood stayed warm, easy. We changed into comfy sweatpants, hoodies and pulled out the leftovers Remy insisted we take.
We sat cross-legged on the couch, eating cold brisket and cornbread with our fingers, the TV playing some old cooking show neither of us were really watching.
“You’ve got mustard on your lip,” Beck said, leaning in with a grin to kiss it off.
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that your way of flirting?”
“Maybe,” Beck said with a shrug.
“Effective,” I told him.
He licked a smear of barbecue sauce from his thumb, and my wolf perked up at the sight, intrigued. Tempted. It didn’t take long before I was kissing him again, slow and lingering.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling him close until Beck was practically straddling me on the couch. I didn’t push for more and I didn’t need to. This quiet closeness was more than enough.
Eventually, we ended up curled together under a blanket, his head on my shoulder, my hand on his waist.
“I’m glad you came tonight,” I murmured against his temple.
“I’m glad you asked me,” he whispered back.
It hit me then, the weight of it all. How right this felt. Beck’s warmth next to mine.
His laughter around my family’s table. The way he made my apartment feel more like a home than it ever had before. My wolf stirred in approval, content.
But underneath that contentment was something deeper. Fierce. Protective.
Beck was mine. Maybe not officially, maybe not in a way either of us had said out loud yet, but I knew it in my bones. Knew it in the way my wolf settled whenever Beck was near.
Knew it in the way my chest ached with how badly I wanted to keep him safe, always. I kissed the top of his head and pulled him in a little closer.
“Jesse?” he asked softly, his voice already thick with sleep.
“Yeah?”
“I like your family,” he said.
“I like you,” I whispered back.
His smile was small and sleepy, but it hit me right in the chest.
Chapter 14
Jesse
The pounding came againand it was louder this time.
I groaned, rolling over in bed, half-asleep and already annoyed. I instinctively reached for the warm body I expected to find next to me. Beck.
But my hand met cold sheets. Just fabric. No soft breathing. No familiar warmth curled into my side. Right. Beck had gone home last night.
We’d been absolutely slammed at the fair. I hadn’t seen a line that long since the grand opening of Briggs BBQ.
