Luca throws his moist (not all Nix’s fault, thank you very much) t-shirt into Nix’s laundry hamper and grabs a blackLRHtank top from a pile on his dresser. He does the same for Nix, and they’re dressed exactly the same. It’s not the fancy stuff Luca brought originally, but they are clean and smell like family.
Still, Nix feels shy suddenly.
He’d been crying, and there’s no hiding it. Luca notices his hesitation because he asks, “You okay?”
“Will they think I’m weird? I hate pity. I hate the big sad eyes—it makes it so hard to just…” Nix shrugs and waves a hand like that explains it all.
“Get on with it? I can’t promise you Jay isn’t going to look like he wants to put you back underhisbed, but the rest of them know the drill. I hatethe pity, too. But I’m with you, and we can do it together, alright?”
He asks, a small smile on his heart-shaped mouth, but with zero pity in his eyes. It’s just pure love and…mischief.
“I can’t believe I’m asking this, but do you want pants? I’ve heard it’s hard to be strong when your ass is hanging out.”
In the end, Nix does opt for boxers, short black ones that make him feel a bit more like facing the world. He also throws on a big black hoodie that saysBless Your Heartand smells like Jamie, and together, they do give him a bit of courage.
Huh. Just another way Luca is right—maybe he can do this.
“Ready?”
When Luca opens the bedroom door, the noise in the living room stops so suddenly that he can hear a pin drop. His mate rolls his eyes and holds a finger up, whispering, “Wait for it…”
They hear anow!from Rowan, and the noise picks up again, which makes Luca giggle under his breath.
Nix rushes back to his nest (his nest!) so he can grab the red blanket before taking Luca’s hand in his.
They start down the hall to the stairs, but he pulls Luca to a stop. “Thank you.” It’s not everything he wants to say, but by the smile on Luca’s face, it’s enough.
Dinner is in full swing when they get to the dining room, and theDon’t Fuck It Up Ragusmells so good. His handsomely dressed mates are attempting to pretend like he doesn’t look shell-shocked and—as Luca predicted—Jamie is on his feet and around the table, slipping away from Gideon’s lightning-fast grasp.
His black button-down shirt is rolled up at the sleeves, and his jeans are tight in the thigh. He’s got those bare feet, still, and he’s smiling—so beautiful that Nix wants to cry again.
“Hi, Jamie. Happy birthday,” Nix manages to get out around the lump in his throat.
“Hey, come eat some ragu, yeah?”
Tsuki had gone on ahead of them, and Finn must have let her outside andleft the door open a crack so she could let herself back in.
Luca leads him away toward his end of the table, and for the first time since he’s started sitting on Jamie’s lap to eat every meal, Nix sits in his own chair instead. He checks on Jamie because he wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings, but the alpha is already seated and chewing another bite of his dinner.
“It’ll be okay, baby,” Luca whispers.
Grayson pours him some water instead of wine, while Rowan puts some pasta and ragu on his plate with a soft smile.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Nix takes a minute to look around.
Jamie has his wine in hand and is laughing at something Finn said. When Nix catches Finn’s gaze, his mate smiles and blows him a kiss. Gideon is feeding little bites of ragu to Luca, who stores them in his cheeks and keeps talking, waving his hands around, and at one point doing a dance in his seat, jostling Grayson with an elbow, who just smiles.
Leo has his arm protectively around his plate and is eating steadily, not rising to the bait when Rowan starts to bug him by poking his biceps with his fork.
“He’s worried Rowan’s going to clear it away before he’s done.” Grayson nods back at Leo, who throws him a middle finger.
Nix laughs as Leo winks.
Grayson rolls his eyes before whispering loudly, “I’m glad you came for dinner, Angel. We’re playing some fun games after. I need an emotionally intelligent and creative partner.”
“Hey! I’m the birthday boy. I get to choose my team first,” Jamie says, eyes narrowed in challenge.
