But he wasmyjerk.
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled and shoved my feet inside.
His hand slid into mine as we headed for the door. He said nothing, but there was a squeeze to my fingers that sent another flutter through my belly.
Correction: he was mysappyjerk.
Lake grabbed the bottom of my sweater as we descended the stairs, and I smiled back at him. A mistake. I was clumsy enough on flat ground, often tripping over my own two feet. My slipper caught on the edge of the next step, and I yelped, preparing for my inescapable death roll down the staircase.
“Evan!” Lake’s arms came around me before I fell. With me secured against his chest, he turned his face into my neck and exhaled. Soft noises left him, like little growls. “Be more careful.”
Our fated mate connection impacted him differently than it did with Maddox and Briar. When I was kidnapped months ago and taken to the dark wood, Lake had been the one to track medown. His acute senses as a wolf had helped, sure, but it went deeper than that. Lake could sense me on a soul-deep level.
“Say my name, and I’ll hear you,”he’d told me once our fated mate bond had awoken.“I’ll always find you.”
And he had.
“Shall I throw you over my shoulder to carry you?” Maddox asked, moving to the step below mine. “You may not make it to the kitchen in one piece otherwise.”
Lake’s body shook with a low laugh.
“Is everything all right?” Briar asked from the foot of the stairs.
Excited little zaps went through me upon hearing his voice. I peeked around Maddox’s massive biceps and grinned at Briar. “Hey, Doc. Everything’s okay. My slipper had a mind of its own and tried to escape.”
“Yes,” Maddox said. “Blame the slipper and not the clumsy muffin lord wearing it.”
Once we’d reached the ground level, Briar greeted me with a kiss to my temple—his favorite spot.
“I promise I’m okay. But I may need another kiss to be sure.”
Briar laughed under his breath before capturing my lips. He tasted sweet. “Hungry?”
“As if you even need to ask,” Maddox muttered. “His stomach is an endless pit. He’s always hungry.”
I sneered at him, which earned me one of his rare full-blown smiles. The four of us then advanced toward the kitchen. Briar had lit the hearth in the reading room, as well as the larger one in the main dining area, chasing away the chill in the air.
As I caught a familiar smell, I groaned. “Is that fig bread?”
“It is.” Briar caught me around the waist. “I made the dough yesterday and let it prove overnight so it could go straight in the oven this morning.”
I looked at Lake, then at Maddox. “Both of you were wrong earlier. I’m the spoiled one.”
Lake nuzzled my nape, and Maddox held my hand tighter. The three of them surrounded me, pressing against me from all sides. I loved being an Evan sandwich. How I’d gotten so lucky to have them in my life, I’d never know, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Becausetheywere my world. My best friends. My soul mates. The men who’d shown me what it was like to truly love. And how to live.
After breakfast, Briar and Maddox each kissed me goodbye and left for the castle. I’d packed banana nut muffins and turkey-and-tomato sandwiches to take with them. Lake then helped me prepare for the workday. We gathered ingredients and mixed batter for cupcakes and other pastries I’d placed on the menu for the week—I changed it up sometimes.
Miles soon joined us. We frosted cupcakes with buttercream and used cream cheese frosting for carrot cake loaves, then baked pumpkin loaves. A seasonal item.
Then, it was time to open the café.
The cold morning didn’t stop people from finding their way to the Brewed Muffin. Customers piled in, their cheeks pink from the cold, and ordered steaming mugs of coffee to help warm them. Food orders came in: jam-filled croissants, porridge with sliced fruit, omelet muffins, pumpkin waffles, and cranberry scones.
Peter and Alice, the two miracle workers who helped keep the café running smoothly, flitted around the dining room taking orders and delivering them, as well as wiping off tables once the occupant left to make room for the next waiting customer.
Miles stayed with me in the kitchen. “Would you like me to frost the next batch of cupcakes now, Mister Evan?”
