Page 53 of Sincerely, Pack Pucked
Jasper shrugged, beaming at me in a way that I was starting to realize was so completely him. “What’s the point of freaking out? That’s not going to make you any less pregnant. Plus, you look cute. I like it.”
“While we don’t have all the time in the world, thanks to our impending baby situation, I still think it’s best if we take a bit of time to get to know each other in person,” Devin interjected as he plated up the steaming quesadillas and walked over, handing one to me.
The food smelled delicious, and as uneasy as my stomach had been, it actually rumbled as I sucked in lungfuls of the cheesy-scented air. The scene around me was so cozy, considering we’d all just met and I’d dropped an enormous bombshell. I knew I needed to keep my guard up and be smart, but I couldn’t deny that I already felt decently comfortable with them all. The familiarity from two years of talking made being around them shockingly easy.
With Pack Garnett.
I like the sound of that.
“It’s weird. It’s like, I know you guys because, of course, I do after talking to you for so long. But at the same time, it’s allverynew.” I glanced down at the plate. It still felt so odd to be taking something from the pack when they didn’t owe me anything, and I was about to push it away, claiming that I didn’t have an appetite, when my stomach grumbled loudly.
My eyes flicked up to Devin’s, a surge of nervous guilt swirling through me as my cheeks heated.
“Eat,” Devin instructed.
There was no point arguing with him or my stomach. So, I picked up the quesadilla and took a bite, humming appreciatively. It wasn’t hard to mess up a tortilla with cheese and some chopped veggies, but somehow, I got the impression that Devin made them a lot.
“This is lovely, thank you.” I offered a smile, chewing up the bite, which actually went down quite easily, considering.
“We’ll need to look into your nutritional needs, because you can’t eat like a regular university student when you’re growing another human being. Did the doctors recommend anything?”
I scrunched my nose as I thought about it, recalling all the cravings and aversions I’d been cursed with over the course of my pregnancy.
“Nothing in particular. I can’t have sushi, but I don’t mind that, because I hardly eat it anyway. No raw or undercooked meat in general, I guess. Also, no soft cheeses. Weird. Honestly, I haven’t changed how I usually eat all that much. Sometimes I buy a bag of salad from the grocery store and eat half of it before I get disgusted with it and let it spoil in the fridge…”
Jasper chuckled, cocking his head. “Yeah, bag salad can do in a pinch, but it’s not the best. I make a hot vegetable salad with a bunch of greens that all of us will eat.”
Saint nodded. “It’s actually really good. I’m convinced he’s slipping drugs into the dressing to make it taste that good. I mean, veggies alone don’t taste that good.”
Jasper leveled Saint with an exasperated look, but then chuckled to himself as he rolled his eyes. “It’s called mint, numbnuts.”
Saint’s mouth dropped open theatrically. “You never told me that. I thought mint was reserved only for chocolate!”
A bubble of laughter escaped my chest as I watched them glower playfully at each other. They had clearly lived together for a long time, knowing exactly what to say to mess with each other.
“Well, it’s a very good sign that you seem to be amused by their antics,” Percy said as he placed a glass of juice in front of me. “Do you want some tea as well?”
I shook my head. “No, this is amazing. Thank you.” I picked up the glass and took a sip, enjoying how the cool liquid slid down my throat and settled some of the chaos going on inside my stomach.
Only an hour earlier, I had been sitting in a café, blissfully unaware of how my life was about to implode. Externally, I was no longer freaking out, but internally, I was. I wasn’t used to showing emotion in front of others, so I tended to hold in all the panic until I was somewhere private, where I could vent it out in the comfort of my own home.
There was a very good chance that once I got back to my dorm room, I would completely freak out about the day’s events, but in the pack’s kitchen, I was oddly calm. Baffled, but calm. I mean, yes, this wasn’t necessarily abadchange, but it was still a change, and I handled that as well as I did anything else classified as abrupt—crappily.
“So… Where do we go from here?” Saint asked, his eyes scanning the room before landing back on me.
“Well, we have practice tomorrow, but how about after that we spend a bit more time together?” Percy’s eyes were hopeful. The expression looked good on him and made my stomach flutter.
“Pack dinner!” Jasper exclaimed excitedly, his exuberant energy still soaring high. “We can order takeout and watch movies or just talk. Because I know I’mrivetingcompany. Breakfast for dinner?”
I chuckled. Jasper and Saint were both incorrigible and overexcitable. Saint was slightly more suave, whereas Jasper was a bundle of adorable chaos and horniness. They probably stressed out their pack mates on a regular basis, which I only felt slightly bad about, considering they were the ones helping me feel the most comfortable during a ratheruncomfortableexperience.
Jasper also clearly remembered that I was a huge fan of breakfast for dinner—brinnerfor short. It was the superior meal. There had been many nights when I had made myself pancakes and sent photos to my pen pals.
Tothem.
My face flushed as it dawned on me. One of the reasons I adored their scents so much was that they were all breakfast-themed. I could still pick out each one, my head going fuzzy as I focused on them individually and as a group.
Saint smelled like strawberry jam, Percy was rich, dark coffee, Jasper was buttery pancakes, and Devin reminded me of applewood-smoked breakfast sausage. A buffet of scents that made me both hungry and comforted. Oh, and wildly horny.
