Page 120 of Loving Ladybug: Part One
We didn’t go directly back to the resort. Weallstopped for food, and Gwen devoured some sort of French fry concoction, which probably absorbed a lot of the booze.
Finally, we returned to the lodge and took the golf carts back to the villa.
“Go shower first,” I told Gwen when we got back to the room.
“Okay.” She kissed my cheek. “That’s for making sure I didn’t do anything stupid. I… I know I shouldn’t have had that much to drink, it’s just…”
“It’s okay.” I pulled her to my chest and held her close. She smelled like a bar. “Lots of people had a little too much. I know you have so many feelings. I’m right here.”
Gwen looked up at me and kissed me on the nose. “Thank you.”
She went into the bathroom and closed the door. I responded to some texts from Tenzin as she showered.
Dimitri stood in the doorway and knocked on the open door. He handed me some vitamin shots and hydrogels. “For both of you. They were in a basket left for us on the kitchen table. We’ve got beer and snacks if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks, man.” I left them for Gwen, then went back out to the living room and got some water. Carlos and Dimitri were eating snacks from a basket.
Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a snack.
“That is amazing.” I grabbed a bag of chips, and we sat and watched the wolves through the window for a while.
When I returned to the bedroom, I found Gwen passed out in the center of the bed, wearing nothing but one ofmyT-shirts. The alpha part of me liked the way my clothes looked on her.
The hydrogels and vitamin shots were all gone except for one of each, like she was making sure there was some for me. Awww.
I downed them, showered, put on some pajama pants, and got into bed. Immediately, she rolled toward me like a heat-seeking missile, burying herself in my side.
“I’ve got you, Gwen.” I turned out the light and snuggled her tight, wishing I could hold her like this every night.
Chapter Forty-Two
Gwen
My head thudded, but not as much as it could, considering how much I drank last night, which had been a great time. I was so grateful Clark was there to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid.
Lunch and mani-pedis with the MASOs helped a lot too. It had been fun to spend time with them all, especially Celine before her wedding, and Janessa, given her mates Elias and Winston had just retired from the team and they’d moved away. The MASOs included me in things sometimes.
I set off across the lobby, so I could meet Clark by the lake where the animal tour was departing from. The lobby bustled with people checking in and out, and vendors bringing in things for events.
An older woman walked by and I frowned. Did I know her? Shrugging, I walked past the check-in desk toward the door that led to the porch that looked out to the lake.
“Buttons?” a male voice said.
Oh shit. My belly twisted as we made eye contact. My ID had been flagged and now someone had come to fetch me like a lost puppy.
That was part of the problem–my family still thought I was a teenager
Putting my head down, I ignored the voice and hurried out the door of the lodge.
“Buttons, please wait,” the male voice called.
I shook my head and kept walking, past the people on the porch, watching the deer on the lawn or enjoying a snack.Almost to the steps.
“Please. Buttons, Gwen,” Matty called as I rushed down the steps.
I turned around, and there stood my older brother, alone. He still looked the way I remembered, only he now had a beard. Dark hair. Olive skin. Hazel eyes. The two of us looked the most alike of me and my siblings. While he wasn’t wearing a suit, he was dressed nicely and his watch could pay my tuition.
Anger bubbled up inside of me. It alsohurt.Matty was my favorite brother. He attended university and law school locally, so he’d lived at home, and stayed in the area after. Some of my favorite memories were of doing things with his pack.
