Page 33 of Dream Mates
Spencer came in with my coffee. “Please excuse the intrusion. I come bearing coffee. The bath’s your happy place, isn’t it?”
I accepted the coffee and took a sip. “Before coming here, I hadn’t lived in a place with a bathtub in so long. The novelty of being able to take one whenever I want hasn’t worn off yet.”
“You enjoy your bath. I’m going to let the office know that I won’t be in for the rest of the week. When you’re ready, I’ll make breakfast. I’ve already taken the liberty of pushing your start-date for work. We didn’t know when you’d come back, and we were trying to buy time.” Spencer leaned down and gave me a kiss.
“Oh, thank you.” Ah, yes, my disappearance could cause problems. Thank goodness Mrs. Beekman thought I was on vacation.
I took another sip of coffee. It was nice and strong, but he used a smaller mug than I usually chose. It wasadorable,with a little saucer. It was justtiny.I liked my coffee in a mug the size of a soup bowl.
“Think about when you’d like to head up to the cabin. Jett would like us to come today and to bring food. I know you want to see your mates. But there’s no rush unless you desire it.” He kissed me on the forehead and left.
Closing my eyes, I sipped my coffee and relaxed. It would be so easy just to stay here and let Spencer spoil me until they came home. Yet that desire for Wes and Evan clawed at my chest.
Still, I needed just a little more quiet and solitude. Spencer might be happy to let me process everything in peace. But everyone else would be peppering me with questions, pushing me to remember.
Part of me just wouldn’t rest easy until I saw them in person. Yes, I’d ask Spencer if we could leave after lunch.
Spencer kept giving me looks as he drove. We had breakfast, watched another movie, made love again, ate some lunch, then left for the cabin, which involved several stops to get everything we needed.
Grocery shopping with Spencer had been fun. I could see us doing this years from now, me pushing the cart as he selected the right hunk of lamb, chose the freshest produce, and fed me tastes of things from the deli.
As we left town, we’d stopped at that very fancy coffee shop where he’d brought me treats that morning back when I’d been in the hospital. He’d gotten me one of those delicious tea lattes and a pastry for the road.
Perfect.
I took a long sip of my coffee slushie that I’d bought when we’d stopped to get gas. I’d also grabbed some hot chips. Road trip food for the win.
“You drink too much coffee.” He eyed my drink.
The tea latte was nice, but I loved my coffee.
I gave him a look. “Have you been around PhD students? I’ve had so little today compared to what I used to drink. I pretty much ran on coffee and ramen.”
Mostly because it’s what I could afford–even after graduation.
“It’s not good for you. You and Evan don’t eat right. You might not understand, but Evan knows better. Actually no one eats right. Our pack has dreadful eating habits,” he muttered. “Me included. I should fix that.”
“Right, the nutrition unit I didn’t watch. You can pry my coffee from my cold, dead hands.” I ate some chips, which were purple and deliciously spicy.
He chuckled. “I understand and feel the same way. You just need to be careful not to drink too much.”
Yeah, pretty sure his definition oftoo muchwas more than one tiny mug in the morning.
I gave him a stern look. “If you take my potatoes away from me, so help me.”
“Never.” He squeezed my knee. “Sweet potatoes are better, but never.”
Good. Spencer liked them as much as I did.
“I like sweet potato fries, and sweet potato tots. I’m excited about trying your food,” I added.
He gave me a fond look. “I can’t wait to see what you think. Also, I’m going to get the boat out, since the weather should be nice. How does that sound?”
“It sounds perfect,” I replied.
Finally, we arrived and pulled into the garage which held Jett’s convertible.
When we walked into the airy kitchen of Evan’s cabin, my nose wrinkled at the onslaught of overpowering aromas. “What is that smell?”
