Page 223 of Dream Mates
“Feel better now?” I murmured in his ear. He smelled of Jett.
“Oh yeah.” Evan sighed, rubbing his ass against me. “I’m still horny though, if you want to escape to the villa.”
My hand ran down his bare chest. “Tempting.”
“What do I have to do to seal the deal?” Evan eyed the sand castle. “Wow, they have been at that all afternoon.”
“Yeah. It’s really weird watching them work. The others have some of the same mannerisms as Grace. Like Tru does that thing Grace does where she looks up at you and blinks in a cute way,” I replied.
“Grace should have grown up here. It would have been so much better for her. But if she had I wouldn’t have ever met you.” Worry shot through the bond.
I planted a kiss on Evan’s temple and ran my fingers through his hair. “What are you talking about? While sure, I would have found her faster, you and I still would have met. Even before everything happened that caused me to almost fail out of the university, I’d been thinking hard about changing majors. Grace would have been desperate to escape them and to not go to whatever university they teach at. I probably would have gone into the military so I could help support her. Just like you called Spencer as soon as we met, I would have called her and been like,Peaches, I met this hot guy you’re going to love.”
“Yeah?” Evan kissed me. “I might have had to help you actually steal her from her parents. Because scent match or not, they seem like the kind of family that would lock their teenage omega down.”
The image of Evan helping her climb out a window while I manned the getaway car made me chuckle.
“Yep. We’d still have gotten together. We just would have been sharing that bowl of noodles or ice cream cone between the three of us,” I grinned, running a hand down his face, remembering our broke days.
“And the moment Spencer met her. Oh yeah.” Evan nodded. “She’d be spending every summer interning with him. When we went to Bren's wedding? Fucking fireworks. Bren would have known all about your dream girlfriend. He might have even helped you find her. Most definitely, he would have helped you write bad poetry and talk her parents into letting you take her to the school dance despite the distance. We might even already be forming a pack with Spencer–even if he wasn’t ready to be with her, he’d be just as enamored.”
“I can see all of that.” I ran my hand down his shoulder. “Yeah, there’d still be an us. There just would have been more Grace in it. Helping her with her homework, taking her to campus formals–”
“Making sure she ate more than ramen, day-old baked goods, and coffee.” Evan rolled his eyes. “I know my eating habits can be shit, but her talking about what she lived off while getting her PhD gives me hives.”
“Yeah. She really could have used us then. But she’s got us now.” I gave him a lingering kiss. “And I’m so glad that I have you to share her with.”
He hummed as he kissed me back.
“Get a room, you doofuses," Riley yelled. She rolled her eyes. “Brothers are dumb. Do your brothers do shit like that?”
Mercy shook her head. “They’re not allowed to date. The parents are weird like that.”
Evan shook his head and lowered his voice. “Yeah, I’m not sure if growing up as the oldest oftenwould have been any better for her. The parentification would suck. At least we answered some of our own questions.”
Brennan came over to us and I sat up, pulling Evan with me, to make room on the bottom of the chaise for him. He sat down and eyed the guys skimboarding. Jett had joined them and kept falling off, but Spencer looked like he’d been doing it his whole life.
“Is there anything Spencer can’t do?” Brennan shook his head.
“Not really. It sort of bugged me when I was a kid,” Evan replied. “My mom always said it was because he’s a little older, but I think it’s just because he’s Spencer.”
“Sounds about right.” I nodded.
“She’s having fun, right? Because the moment she’s not, or they make her cry, they’re going home,” Brennan grumped, looking at Grace.
“Awww, it’s so fucking sexy when you give a shit.” Evan gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“What else am I supposed to do, Love?” He frowned, like this was an honest question. “I’m worried about her. She already went through some shit–and now this? More than ever, we have to fucking protect her.”
“Yeah, you’re right. The moment she’s not okay, we mumble something about dinner reservations and bid them good night,” I agreed, looking over at her as she helped Tru decorate the castle with seashells.
“I vote for room service and movies, with hot man pillows,” Evan agreed.
“They seem like good kids. Though Hale is like a high-energy puppy with zero obedience training. I’m a little afraid of what small country Mercy and Riley might conquer. But Grace does seem to be having fun.” I waved and she blew me a kiss. I blew one back.
“Are we even doing this right?” Brennan frowned. “I don’t know how to take care of her.”
“What are you talking about?” I shot him a puzzled look. “Yeah, Grace is getting some painful answers to her questions. But she’s got us, and all we need to do is just keep loving her and making sure that she knows she’s safe and we still want her. All this information doesn’t change our feelings for her. She’ll just need us to give her lots of snuggles and ice cream.”
