urge filled me enough to make me pull back. I blinked several times as my face burned. I took my phone back. “That’s all for last year.” I busied myself with getting my textbook in order so I could get back to my homework.
“Well,” she said, her voice noticeably quieter. “They’re beautiful.”
Could she be as disappointed as I was? Shoot.
Lexie
On the way home from work, I couldn’t help but savor my alone time. It was getting harder and harder to have a moment to myself in the house, especially with everyone on home school and the guys hanging around Miles’ house. I simply took slow, deep breaths and focused on the now as I drove past the pine trees. The leaves on the birch trees were a stunning golden sprinkled in among the green. A low-lying fog was creeping out from the trees toward the road. The whole scene was stunning. It was life. And it reminded me it was important.
When I walked into the foyer at Miles’ house I spotted Zeke in the living room.
The large mountain of muscle was hunched over, typing away on a laptop on the coffee table. Those ice blue eyes met mine. Genetics had given Zeke rather frightening looks, with his wide jaw and cheekbones. The leather jacket and semi-permanent scowl that he usually wore didn’t help any, however the black-haired guy was a big teddy bear on the inside. Hell, he even growled once in a while. I smiled to myself as I crossed the living room to his side.
His hand went to my hip and squeezed. “I heard you had a fight with Hades this morning.”
“What? No, hi, how was your day? Just straight to it?” I slid my hand over his hard shoulder to the back of his neck as I leaned into him. “I’ll tell everyone about it at dinner.”
His hand tightened on my hip. “Baby?”
“I’m okay,” I promised, knowing exactly where his fears took him. “It’s just … there’s news from town.”
His grip eased. “You don’t need to wait until dinner, Ethan wanted to call a family meeting as soon as you got home.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? What about?” Ethan was one of the most easy-going of our group. If he needed to call a meeting it was serious.
Zeke shrugged.
“How was Miles today?” I asked as I slipped my fingers through the thick mass of hair.
“You mean, is he still ignoring everyone but you?” he asked, his eyes closed as he hung his head.
I began to rub the tension out of his neck. “Yeah, that.”
“Yeah, he is.” He groaned, his arm slipping around my waist and pulling me to stand between his knees. His forehead rested on my belly as he relaxed under my kneading hand.
“I’m sorry, Tough Guy,” I said softly.
He shook his head. “If he’s talking to you then it’s better than usual when he gets like this.”
“You mean his tunnel vision?”
He nodded.
A knot gave.
He squeezed me gently before lifting his head and meeting my gaze. “Just, see what you can do about getting him to eat dinner today. He missed lunch again.”
I let my hand drop from his neck. “I’ll try.”
“Thanks, Baby.”
“Did you pick up the mail from your house?” I trailed my fingers over his shoulder.
“And checked the locks.” He let me go.
I stepped out from between his legs. He picked up the laptop and got to his feet, towering over me. “Everyone’s in the dining room doing schoolwork.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth and heart. “Is that why you’re out here?”
His hand went to the small of my back as we started towards the door to the long hallway. “They wouldn’t stop yapping,” he said as he guided me to the dining room.
Asher was the first to look up. Classically handsome, his sandy blond head came up before we even reached the doorway, his ocean eyes anchoring to me. And I do mean ocean. Flecks of white, light blue and dark blue were warm as they met mine. My heart fluttered.
“Hey, Ally.”
I stepped through the doorway then met Ethan’s gaze.
His jaw length black hair was tucked back behind his ears, showing the five silver hoops that ran up his earlobe. Where his twin wore a lot of colors, Ethan almost always chose black and army boots. “Hey, Beautiful.”
“Hey, Ash. Hey, Snoopy,” I said as I sat down in the empty seat beside Isaac. “I heard you were calling a meeting?”
“Yeah.” Ethan’s chocolate eyes darkened. “But Zeke said you had