Page 62 of Awakened
Brandon leaned in and whispered, “Ten bucks says they have soap shaped like seashells, seahorses, or some shit.”
“Twenty says they have a bathroom with a fishing theme,” I replied. We both stifled our laughter as a very handsome man answered the door. I would’ve never guessed he was fifty—damn werewolf genes.
“You must be Beta and Gamma Spencer! Welcome!” He ushered us into a two-story entryway.
Brandon enthusiastically took his hand and shook it. “Thank you for having us and letting us pass through your territory.” Seeing my little brother act all adult and beta-like was freaky.
Alpha Peterson nodded at Brandon and smiled at me. I shook his hand and said, “It’s actually Beta Spencer now. Thanks for putting us up for the night, Alpha Peterson.” I gave an awkward little head bow and immediately hated myself for doing it.
Alpha Peterson laughed at my obvious unease and said, “It’s no problem, and please call me Brian.”
“Okay, Brian.” I couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful gray eyes. I’d never seen anything like them in real life. There was something familiar about Brian, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
Brandon cleared his throat. “You have a beautiful home.”
I’d forgotten my brother was even there.
Brian’s cheeks flamed, and he dropped my hand. “Ah, thanks. Let me take you to your rooms. Just follow me.” Once Brian’s back was turned, Brandon rolled his eyes.
Dudes checking out his big sister is still a sore spot. Noted.
I grinned, and Brandon pursed his lips, shaking his head indisappointment. It had been months since we had any sibling time. It felt good to be together and annoying the shit out of each other.
After scaling two flights of stairs, Brian gestured to the first door on the left and let Brandon know it was his room. Stopping at the next door, he said, “This is you.” Then pointed across the hall. “And that’s my room, in case you need anything.”
“Hm, that’s good to know.”
Clapping once, he did a strange little bow of his own. “Once you’re settled, come on down. I made lunch.”
I watched him walk down the hall and out of sight.
Awkward. Hot, but definitely awkward.
Shaking my head, I opened the door. The room was fine. Everything was exceptionally nice but so bland. There were so many shades of white and off-white in one room. The perfect cream carpet had those fresh vacuum lines, and I was scared to even walk on it, let alone place my bag anywhere. One look at the bed, and I knew I couldn’t half-ass taking my makeup off, or I’d ruin the pristine white pillows with black smudges.
Gently setting my beat-up old duffle bag on the window seat, I looked out the enormous window at the yard that backed into a forest and tried to decide if I should clean up a bit and change out of Seth’s shirt. With the intense way Brian stared at me, keeping Seth’s scent on me was probably a good idea. After wasting as much time as I could checking my phone, I went in search of the kitchen. I hoped Brandon was already down there. I really didn’t want to be alone with the alpha.
I passed a cracked door and heard Brian’s voice.
“She looks so much like Becca. You should’ve warned me.” I stopped. “No, no, it’s not that. It was just a punch in the gut to open the door and see her.” He sighed deeply and moved toward the door I was pressed against. “Yeah. Okay.”
I shuffled down the hall, hoping he was too distracted to have noticed my presence.
In the safety of the sterile kitchen, I let Brian’s words runthrough my head. Who the hell was Becca? I didn’t have much time to dwell on this mystery woman because a smiley Brian and a cautious-looking Brandon joined me.
Brian reached into the stainless steel oven and pulled out a huge casserole dish. “I hope you guys like lasagna.”
“Looks great.” Brandon’s expression became less severe. He had never met a lasagna he didn’t like. “Hey Les, you hear from Sarah today?”
I frowned, worried I’d forgotten something.
“I just got off the phone with Emily, who had just called Sarah, and you’re in for a real tongue-lashing. You didn’t tell her about the engagement.”
I held up a hand. “Wait, wait, wait. How is that my job? Shouldn’t Emily have called her?”
“Oh, come on. You know we were, uh, busy.” Brandon at least had the decency to blush as he talked about banging my best friend.
“So, just because I was not partaking in a boink fest, I was supposed to be the town crier?” I scoffed and crossed my arms. “No way.”
