Page 68 of Gold Rush
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
JUNE
It’sthe next morning before Arin lets me leave his bed. I gave him a list of three foods that sounded nice for my heat — and, in exchange, he gifted me one of his shirts for my nest. He even managed to coax me into considering the fact that Imightjust feel better if I spend the next few nights in the nest.
Iamconsidering it, even as I get redressed with him, ending up in Seth’s shirt and my leggings again. Arin slides an arm around me as we step into the kitchen together. The nest is just so far from the rest of the house and I don’t relish the thought of sleeping up there all alone.
Opening the fridge, I rummage around for a moment before pulling out the extra pancake batter and holding it up to Arin. “It’s really handy to have a chef in the pack.”
He glances over at me, his smile softening as he stares at me. “Yes, it is.”
It takes me a second to process my own words, freezing in the middle of making the first pancake. Arin moves around, slicing up fruit, the clock ticking closer to lunch than is really socially acceptable to still be eating our first meal of the day, but my heart aches as I realize how easy the sentence escaped.
No running, that was Arin’s caveat.
He glances up as he slices an apple, looking over at the pan. “You’re burning it.”
“Ohshit.” I look down sharply, jerking the pan away from the heat and grabbing a spatula, prodding at the charred pancake burnt to the pan. “Ohno.”
Arin laughs as he comes up behind me. “Be careful, don’t burn yourself —howdid you manage to scald it to the surface? It’sash, Juniper.”
“I don’t know!” I start to laugh, leaning back against him as I look down at the destroyed pancake, the ruined pan, and the sheerridiculousnessof the entire situation.
He wraps an arm around me, pushing my hand down to drop the pan back onto the stove. It clanks before I turn in his arms, lifting up on my toes to kiss him softly. My body sinks against his chest with the touch of our lips, like nothing else matters except his hands eagerly moving to wrap around me.
There’s a quiet voice in the back of my mind, purring happily. My hindbrain preens, whispering the words,Prime — home.
Arin cups my face, kissing my slower, unknowingly making my heart sing.
When I pull back, his eyes flicker over my face, his expression gentle as he tucks my hair behind my ears. I smile at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, mumbling sheepishly, “I’m sorry about the pan.”
“I can afford another one.”
I laugh, shaking my head at him. Pulling away, I turn and reach for the pan again to figure out if I can clean it up — but I stop short when I see Seth leaning in the archway to the kitchen. There’s agiantshit-eating grin on his face. Bennett lingers behind him, his eyes landing on me as his lips lift at the edges.
The small smile quickly fades, though, when he sees the stove.
“My pan!” Bennett exclaims as he strides into the kitchen.
I back up closer to Arin, grimacing. “I’m sorry.”
The other alpha makes a mournful sound as he prods at the ruined bottom of the cookware, the pancake so stuck it makes a squeaking, crunchy sound.
Seth rubs Bennett’s back. “We can buy another one.”
Bennett sighs heavily, looking up at me. “What in theworlddid you have the stove set to?”
I glance down at the knobs, frowning. “High?”
“For apancake?”
I press back against Arin unconsciously, turning my head slightly. “Protect me?”
He wraps an arm around me firmly, without question. Arin’s hand splays across my stomach as his eyes narrow. “This just means you should teach her how to cook a few things, right Bennett?”
Bennett looks up from the ruined pan, then takes us in. “Yes, and the first lesson is that pancakes don’t need to be charred intohockey pucks.”
Seth rounds the island as I try to hide my snicker. He reaches for me, the grin still on his face, but Arin growlsjustslightly, pulling me out of reach of Seth’s hands.
