Page 118 of Grin and Bear It

“And what do I need right now?” I asked, my voice hushed.

“This.” His hand went to the back of my head, cradling it as he kissed me, slowly, thoroughly. “And lighting switches and power points that aren’t likely to electrocute you.” I groaned. “Show me the other ones or I’ll be forced to do a thorough inspection of all of your outlets, Ms Jennings.”

I was a good girl and showed him all the issues, leaving him to it before returning to the kitchen to drain the potatoes and then coat them with oil before putting them into the oven. The guys all groaned at the smell of the roasting meat, but when I straightened up, Lin was there.

“So what else needs doing?” he asked. “More vegetables? Start on the dishes.” He herded me back until my butt hit the kitchen bench. “Maybe a little kitchen remodelling before dinner?”

I shook my head, grabbing a beer and pushing it into his hands.

“Apparently we’re just going to do nice things for each other going forward, so go and sit down in the lounge room.” They all started to protest. “For me.” That was met with silence. “There’s too many of you and you’re all so big.”

“Bet you’ll be saying that again later,” Cole muttered, then shot me a wink.

“Stop cluttering up my kitchen as I finish cooking. You can come in and help me serve and carve up the meat when it’s done.”

“Deal,” Lin said, stepping forward and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “And thanks for this. It was Cole’s turn to cook tonight and I’m pretty sure whatever he was going to make would end up being burnt so badly it could be used as coal.”

“Shut up,” the man himself growled. “Remember when you undercooked the chicken fillets?”

“I thought they were supposed to be pink inside,” Lin protested.

“That’s lamb and beef, you dickhead.”

I listened to the two of them bicker as they walked over to the lounge, flopping down on the couch before turning on the TV.

“You sure you’re OK?” Nash asked.

Those golden brown eyes, that intent stare, it felt all too personal, which was ironic, considering what we’d gotten up to the other night. Perhaps that’s why it felt weird, stepping towards him, reaching out, only for him to tuck me in against his body. He cradled me there, so I felt the big sigh that escaped him, the moment we touched, my body doing the same.

“I will be when I’m with you guys, right?” I asked.

“Right,” he replied, much more confidently.

Dinner went off without a hitch, the meat having a crisp rind of fat on the outside, the meat soft, still a little pink and it was falling-apart tender when Nash went to carve it up. I sat down, beaming as a steady stream of compliments washed over me. Meat was portioned first to me, then the others, the side dishes handed around the table until finally everyone had food on their plates. I grabbed my cutlery, ready to eat, when Nash spoke.

“I just…” He flushed then, something that looked strange on the big, burly man. “I just wanted to say thanks. To Ellie, of course.” A low rumble from the other guys in agreement. “But also to… I dunno, I was always raised with talk about the bear gods, but it was never really anything beyond that they were always watching you when you were kids.”

“Making sure you didn’t do the really dumb stuff,” Cole muttered.

“And then that they’d send our mate to us when we were ready.” Nash shook his head. “Like, I thought we were ready, couldn’t work out why we hadn’t found her yet. We renovated the house and everything…” He looked at me sheepishly, seeming to realise that was perhaps a step too far. “But now I know.” His eyes, the eyes of every man around the table held mine in turn. “It wasn’t the right time, not then. We had to wait for just the right moment.” He reached across and squeezed my hand. “We had to wait for you, Ellie.”

I drew in a breath, feeling like I needed to say something, but not able to. My chest felt too tight, my throat closing off, so I blinked, blinked again, then swallowed hard. My smile, when it came belatedly, was a bright one.

“I think I had to get to a point where I was ready for… whatever this is, too.” Lin sat at my left and I turned and took his hand as well, that pulsing warmth rising, helping me say the words. “I’m still getting my head around it, still trying to adjust to… to guys treating me right for once. It’s hard, harder than I would’ve ever thought but… yeah.” I snorted at my inadequate response. “I think I’m on board with seeing where this goes.”

“Damn…” Lin swore. “That’s better than the smell of your roast, which is saying something because…” He spiked a chunk of meat with his fork, then ate it, groaning as he chewed. “This shit is amazing.”

“On that note, lets show some appreciation for the meal our mate prepared,” Nash said.

“Just don’t let them suck you in with their compliments,” Tyson observed. “These guys would do just about anything to get out of cooking.”

“But you’re so good at it,” Cole said, fluttering his eyelids at the other man and earning himself a nudge in the ribs.

And that’s when I saw it. Ty and I working in the kitchen, cooking up a storm to feed the lot of them, the twins older than they were now, appearing for dinner, before disappearing off to enjoy their lives. Sitting around a big dining room table, the chatter light, the jokes and the jostling, the sharing of the details of our days. The connection. It was a small, fragile thing right now, but it echoed the feeling I got when I touched them, like the bond was a living, beating thing, like a heart.

Lin caught me staring, cutlery clasped between loose fingers and his eyebrow raised in question. I didn’t answer him, just smiled and then focused back on my plate. We had all the time in the world, it seemed, to see if this would work out and this felt like we had taken our first step together.

Chapter59

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