Page 40 of Suspicions on the Stage
I’ll get back to him when I’ve accomplished my mission and not a second sooner.
dinner & diatribes
MORGANA
“Thank fuck!” I say as I hear the guys coming in the front door. The blender is running full speed with the latest batch of margs, and the hot portion of our dinner is on the warmers. It smells delicious, if I say so myself, and I grin as they clomp through the living room to the kitchen. “What kept you guys so damn long?”
Lucas enters first, looking grumpy until he sees the spread. “I’ll be damned. You cooked. Who knew Hell was freezing over?”
I frown, my eyes narrowing as I glare at the exuberant bear. “Shut it, Wolfberg. Icancook basic stuff; I just don’tpreferto do it. But I wastryingto keep myself occupied while you all did whatever the fuck you were doing for so long.”
Before I can get deeper into my pretend snit, Liam crosses the kitchen and kisses my cheek lightly. “Salaadir, it smells delicious in here. I’m definitely starving, and this is a wonderful surprise.”
Slade beams as he joins us. “The prince is right, Morgana. You did a fantastic job of distracting yourself and taking care of us.Don’t be cranky because Lucas teased you. He’s irritable about the dorm thing.”
“Dorm thing?” I lean into the beautiful siren, enjoying how soothing his gentle nuzzles are. “What dorm thing?”
“Let’s get the food and go to our HQ before we discuss it.” Iggy makes a face that says we shouldn’t talk about it when we’re not protected, and I nod in understanding.
“Right. Well, load up. I’ve got two pitchers of margaritas we can take out there, and three different taco meats because I wasn’t sure who would like what.” I dust my hands off on my half-apron, then untie it and hang it on the wall hook. “Note that stuff like this is about my limit for being kitchen domestic; if you want fancier things, you might have to ask Lucas. His Nana taught him all the shit.”
Li blinks and grins widely as he turns to our hockey-playing jock. “You? You’re the gourmand in the group? I’m astonished, honestly.”
Blushing bright red, Lucas mumbles something as he follows Iggy to the plates and loads up. “Well, my Nana insisted that I be ‘less ridiculously unprepared for the real world like her son’. I was kind of her ‘do-over’ in terms of not raising a spoiled rich brat.”
“Slade is a fucking fabulous cook,” Iggy cuts in as he pauses, making his tacos. “Seriously. If it weren’t for him, I would have either survived on takeout or had to hire someone. I’m useless, like Lucas’s parents, unfortunately.”
Thank hell someone is less skilled than me or I’d feel like a complete idiot.
“Iggy’s right,” Slade says before he heads for the food. “It was one of my ‘jobs’ growing up because I wouldn’t do other stuff. My dad thought it would shame me into doing the shit my siblings were, so I didn’t have to be amongst the grunts, but…” He shrugs as he pushes his glasses up and gives me a small, crooked grin. “It didn’t work because I enjoyed doinganythingthat kept me away from my actual family and their bullshit.”
His acceptance of the dumb shit his family put him through makes my chest hurt, and I walk over to put my hands on his face, resting my forehead on his as I stoop. “Slade, you don’t have to do a damn thing you don’t want to with us, got it? If you want to cook, you can, same as Lucas, but if not? We’ll order in or go out because I prefermyfamily to be happy and healthy, not useful. Got it?”
My newest mate’s cheeks get even redder and he mumbles something unintelligible, obviously flustered by the sentiment. Lucas chuckles and I hear him move to the table, then his footsteps come closer to join us. “Lady M, you’re making him so mushy that he’s speechless. I think I speak for both of us when I say we’ll let people know if we feel like we’re being put upon, okay?”
I nod, then look at my bear. “Gotcha, big guy.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Iggy mutters from the buffet. “I never oncemadehim take care of me. He insisted, you know.”
Slade blushes even more as he shrugs. “That’s accurate. Don’t be mad at Iggy for what he said about my roomie stuff. He wasn’t making me do anything; I promise.”
I think he’s underestimating the power of yearning for someone who isn’t reciprocating, but I’m going to let the professor fix that shit on his own.
“Okay, now that we’ve been weirdly squishy…” Liam winks and I laugh as I let go of Slade. “We should finish getting our stuff and go out to the HQ so we can discuss the dorm issue.”
Nodding, I grab a plate since the guys have already started, then suddenly, it hits me. “Where the hell is that fucking jackass who guards you, Li? I didn’t notice how calm everything was until I considered how much food was left, despite Lucas’s protein loading.” The bear shoots me a mock pout as he pours his drink and I laugh. “Sorry, babe, it’s true.”
“I don’t know, honestly.” Liam pulls his phone out, his fingers flying over it as he texts, then frowning when he doesn’t get a response. “He was with us when I arrived, and I figured he was unloading the SUV, but you’re right… It’s been too long for that.”
“Call him and find out what’s going on,” Iggy suggests. “Maybe he just went on an errand? I’m not sure he’s completely ready to share his every move yet, so he probably just took off.”
Liam shakes his head. “No, Kas usually texts me if he’s peeling off for something he needs to do for himself. I’m safe here, obviously, but I have to know where he is in case of an emergency. Other than the pouty fit he threw before, this isn’t the norm for my old friend.”
Wasn’t the norm before me is what my royal mate isn’t saying—damn that dragon.
“Great. He’s disappeared off the radar because he doesn’t want to be around me. Last time, he got attacked, so that’s fabulous.” Shaking my head, I stomp over and pile food on my plate, thengrab my margarita. “Let’s go, boys. We might as well get our nutrition in before the asshat ends up in trouble and we have to fly to the rescue.”
Grimacing, my prince put his plate on the stove and comes up behind me. “Don’t be so tense,macushla. That dragon has been defending himself for centuries, and the fire drake incident was a fluke. Who the hell would have expected an unregistered dragon of opposing strengths to show up here? No one, even my meticulous best friend.”
