Page 61 of Scapegoat

“Your bum is fucking perfect,” he growled, picking me up and turning me around so I was standing bent over in the tub. “I want to sink my teeth into these cheeks most fucking days.”

But just as he rose out of the water, my nose started to work. Not so savoury smells started to filter through and I went stiff.

“What the hell did they cook? And can I smell smoke?”

Chapter 36

Xavier

“Fuck…” I looked at the burned mess in the frypan then at my brother. “Is it supposed to look—?”

“Have you ever eaten scrambled eggs that look like that?” Atlas asked me. “Because I fucking haven’t.”

“Maybe we can scrape off the burnt bits,” I said, poking the blackened mess in the pan with a spatula.

“It’s all burnt bits,” Atlas said. Then our heads both jerked up when Jay and Kai appeared. He was wearing a towel slung around his waist and she’d pulled on an old dressing gown.

“So, when I said dinner was ready…” I started, but Kai’s nostrils flared and her eyes widened as she slowly walked over to inspect the mess, as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“What the hell is…?” Then her focus snapped to the sink. “And the mess—!”

“We’re cleaning it up,” I said, holding up my hands. “Look, we wanted to make you dinner—”

“Is that what you call that? Because I’m not sure I’d eat that in wolf form,” she said, then flushed. “I’m sorry. I know you tried—”

“But we shoulda got a counter meal at the pub, like I said?” Jay cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Right, but we wanted to do something special,” I explained. “You’re always cooking for everyone else.”

“And I will continue to do so going forward.” If there had been any hesitancy in our mate, it was gone now. She eyed the mess and then shook her head. “Like, I’d never try and shear a sheep and—”

“Let me fix this,” I said. “It was my idea and I made the mess.” Atlas’ eyebrow jerked up as I threw myself on my sword, taking all the blame, when the fact was that the two of us had fucked things up together. “If we’re gonna do this…” I stepped closer to Kai then, watching her frown deepen. “Then I don’t want shit going the way it did in your house. You brought us lunch today, made sure every sandwich was our favourite. We really loved that you did that, but we want to feed you, pamper you, look after you, too.”

She sighed then, and while I didn’t like that, watching the heat go out of her eyes was very welcome. Kai marched over to the fridge and started listing ingredients.

“The local shop will close soon, so you’ll need to move your arse, but grab some eggs, bacon, bread…” I tapped out every instruction onto my phone, creating a shopping list. “And while you’re grabbing that, I’ll sort—”

“No, you won’t.” Atlas steered her away from the sink and towards her bedroom. “We might be shitty cooks, but we can wash dishes. We had a lot of practice growing up. Put some clothes on and go with Xavier; make sure he gets the right stuff.”

I waited for her to reject his suggestion, to freeze up and shut me out, but Kai just shot me a speculative look and then nodded. And ten minutes later when she was in the front passenger seat of my car, I couldn’t help but stare at her.

I’d always loved her. When she left, it’d hurt in a deep, dull way before we’d found her again, like an old broken bone that hadn’t healed right. And now? My whole heart throbbed in pain every time I looked at her. I could’ve cursed Vicki for teaching Kai how to work the shearing shed floor. I’d been that close to nicking so many fucking sheep, just from getting distracted, watching her move out the corner of my eye while I was using the handpiece. Then there were the other blokes working beside us. The wolf was restless, wanting to break through my skin and tear every fucker in the place to pieces for breathing the same air as her.

But I didn’t.

I held it to-fucking-gether, right up until we’d got here to her place tonight, and then it felt like we’d fucked everything up.

It was hard not to think it.

We’d ruined her food, made a mess of her kitchen: Abby had always been brutal with her about that kind of shit. This was the moment she was going to run, I’d thought, the fear making my heart pound and my fangs snap down, the wolf ready to give chase. Instead she’d seen the mess and tried to shoulder the burden again, when it was one we’d created. I let out a sigh, gripping the steering wheel tight before turning to face Kai.

“I want to feed you,” I told her.

“OK, but—”

“I want to look after you.” Once I opened my mouth, the words came tumbling out and nothing was going to stop them. “I want to keep you safe, make sure your life is perfect. Fuck…” The plastic of the steering wheel groaned under my grip and I looked back out through the front window. “I’ll clean your fucking toilet for you, mop your floors if…” I swallowed hard, forcing my eyes away from the windscreen and back to her. “I’d do anything for you, Kai, you’ve gotta know that.”

I watched her expression soften and her hand reach for mine and before I could think of a response, I had my hand wrapped around hers, cradling it against my chest.

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