Page 41 of Purgatory
He stops and pulls me into him. “Me again. If you’ll let me. But first, let’s get some dinner, yeah?” Then, he kisses me softly as I nod and lean into his hold. His words register after a second and, even though I think I hide it from him, my eyes practically bug out at what’s about to happen.
Dinner, with all of them...Oh, fuck nuggets, I’m in trouble...
Chapter 27
Jax
Dinnertime. I let out a relaxed sigh of relief when I look over the spread I managed to whip up. I never used to cook this much. I did for a bit after my last tour overseas but never to this degree. Never really had the time but nowadays time is all we seem to have so, why not? Growing up in an Italian family, food was a big deal. Cooking meals from scratch? Even better. I guess I should be thankful, now, that I remember how to do a lot of it.
The front door opens just as I finish putting the dishes on the table. Alessandra is first, looking as beautiful as ever, even if she does seem a bit disheveled. Hawk’s trailing behind her... staring at her ass.... Then, finally, there’s Cole, looking at both of them with a question in his eyes.
Well, shit, the little fuckers didn’t waste any time at all, did they? I’m not entirely sure what they’ve all gotten up to today but by the looks of their faces compared to yesterday, I’d say something big happened. For all of them. I bite my tongue to stave off my reaction to the happy... pair? Group? Throuple? What the fuck do people call this arrangement? Is there an arrangement? Fuck me, why the hell do I even care? I pulled myself out of this rat race and regardless of my growing feelings for her, I need to stay out of it. At least I can focus on dinner right now and not get too caught up in their accord and preferred nomenclature.
“Perfect timing, grab a plate.”
They each offer their thanks for the meal and move to sitdown.
My masochistic side must take over my brain as I, subtly, take in Alessandra. She’s the type of girl that is simply beautiful when she first wakes up in the morning and doesn’t even know it. Effortless. Easy. I notice little things, like the fine dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. When she’s happy, her smile lights up her entire face and seems to lighten up the space around her just as brightly. The way she fiddles with her nails when she’s thinking. The way she bites her lip when she’s nervous. And the way she’s doing both of those things right now.
What are you thinking about that’s making you so nervous?
The table is a big circle with four chairs at it. A little bit like King Arthur with us. Everyone is equal here. Family. I take my usual seat, and Alessandra takes the one next to me. I try not to think too much into it. She probably chose that seat since that was the one closest to her rather than its proximity to me. Cole and Hawk both move to take the seat next to her on the other side. When they practically sit in each other’s laps they jump and give a long stare to each other.
“What are you doing?” Hawk says.
“Sitting next to my girl, what does it look like?” Cole smiles and looks at me and Alessandra like the answer was obvious. It wasn’t, at least not to me, and by the looks of it, not to Hawk either. Looking at Alessandra, she’s staring straight forward, not at anyone, and is conspicuously not saying anything to confirm or deny Cole’s statement.
Interesting...
“Your girl?” Hawk cocks his head to the side, biting his lip with a sly grin and waiting for Cole.
“Uh, Aly...?” Cole looks expectantly at Alessandra, his own head turning to the side with a knowing smile on hisface, but she’s not giving anything away, still staring blankly at whatever is controlling her brain outside the window.
The conversation ceases. All of us now looking at Aly, wondering what in the world Cole is talking about. If they’re together that’s fine. If Hawk is with her, that’s also fine. Shit, they can both be together with her and that would be just fine, too. I just don’t want any problems between us because of it. And from the looks on everyone’s faces, I’m about to bet all of my chips that Cole and Hawk might have talked about this but didn’t fully commit to anything just yet. Looks to me like it’s about to be decided tonight whether they want to or not.
Aly’s mental vacation stops as she turns her head to each of us, her eyelids flutter, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.
Oh, this is going to be good...
She bites her lip and huffs out a breath, steadying herself for what’s to come.
“Yeah... we need to talk...all of us...” Our attention is peaked, waiting for the bomb to drop.
She’s fiddling her fingers again, wrenching them this way and that.
“I, um... I had sex with Cole on our scouting trip...”
Boom
Hawk’s jaw drops at the news. Cole, on the other hand, looks like a smug little shit as he nods his head at her declaration and moves to take the seat next to her. Hawk takes a moment to speak just before Cole sits.
“Well, I knew something went down earlier. I thought it was just a kiss or something but damn!” His eyes widen pointedly just before Aly looks to Cole. He perks up a bit at her attention but cocks his head to the side questioningly when Aly’s face drops again.
“And... uh, I had sex with Hawk on the beach...”
Oh, fuck, double boom
It’s Cole’s turn to pick his jaw up off the floor. His eyebrows shooting to his hairline. I’m over here just observing. I know the guys said they were fine with sharing a relationship with Aly if it came to that but it’s one thing to say it, it’s another to actually act on it and not show any jealousy. Looks like the boys are about to get a crash course and find out. We haven’t even started eating and, yet, here we are, dinner and a show.
