Page 4 of Legally Mated
Chapter3
Laine stoppedby the take-out place and picked up two orders of eggplant parmigiana, something fairly ordinary that he would put better than even odds on Garrick eating. It had surprised him at first how narrow Garrick’s tastes were, until he’d realized that the pack tended to eat the same things over and over again because they bought in bulk to keep the cost low, and parceled it out to everyone inside the enclave. It also explained Garrick’s ferocious sweet tooth, because nearly everything was handmade inside those walls, and Garrick had been a bachelor all his life. Which meant no cookies except on Full Moon. Unless he wanted to make themhimself.
And Garrick was notacook.
He was a little worried about Garrick saying he was staying over tonight, but Garrick had assured him it would be fine. Laine accepted that because Garrick was an adult and Laine thought that Mercy Hills valued his contribution to the pack, but he was under no illusion that Laine himself was in anyone’s good graces in the enclave, barring Garrick and Jason and maybe Mac. Possibly Holland, though Laine’s opinion went back and forthonthat.
Holland was a bit of a puzzle, that was for sure. The Alpha’s Mate carried himself with a lot more confidence and authority than his twenty-one years rightfully should have given him. And for the first time since he was a teenager, Laine found himself making the proverbial ‘bad choices’, or at least things that later turned out to belong in that category. Hormone-fueled desires to make life better for Garrick and hispeople.
Like talking Garrick into bringing Tom and Nigel to Green Moon, though that seemed to have turned out for the better for the pack. But, somehow, Laine had stepped over a line he hadn’t ever realized existed the first night he’d slept with Garrick, and not only could he not quite figure out how that changed expectations, there seemed to be nothing he could do to step backoverit.
Not that hewantedto.
If he were to be truthful, he thought Holland was struggling a little with the weight of all the responsibilities he was taking on—working, children, the pack. And a mate who was even busier than he was. And Laine and Garrick were a complication of a new and different sort that might be tipping the balance on Holland’s carefully orchestrated life. It was a thought that made Laine wonder if that overload was the real base of Holland’s uncertainty about their growingrelationship.
He frowned as he turned onto his street. Would it be worthwhile to have a sit down with Holland to talk this all out? So far, it had been just short conversations, constantly interrupted as Holland was pulled away for something else, and even those tiny interactions made Garrick uneasy, which made no sense to Laine. You should be able to talk to the leaders of your community about your concerns, your wants, your dreams. It wasn’t much of a community if youcouldn’t.
Maybe he’d just tell Garrickafterward.
He pulled into his driveway and put the car in park. It was a nice enough neighborhood, he supposed. Garrick seemed impressed, though Laine wasn’t much for the cookie-cutter HOA feel of it. He hadn’t cared much about where he lived after the divorce—his ex had gotten the house so their little girl could stay in the same school system and be near all her friends. He didn’t see April much, though he tried. Joint custody, but April stayed at her mother’s house most of the time and he got every second weekend and random evenings throughtheweek.
It was getting harder to balance that life with his new one, especially with Garrick in it, because as amicable as their divorce had been, he didn’t know what Brenna would think of Garrick staying over while April was in the house. Garrick knew about her—couldn’t miss it, really, with her bedroom at the top of the stairs—but he’d never mentioned it, and Laine hadn’t either. She was at her mom’s tonight though, and Laine had the whole evening to spend withGarrick.
It took two trips to bring everything into the house. He carried the take-out in first as an excuse to steal a lingering kiss from Garrick, then ran out to the car to bring the rest of the food in. “I couldn’t decide between the cookies and the pastries, so I got both,” he said as he came through the door thesecondtime.
Garrick closed it behind him and locked it, then followed Laine to the kitchen. “Good, I’m starving. What else did you bring hometoeat?”
“Steak and salad for tomorrow, chicken for the day after. Tonight’s eggplantparmigiana.”
Garrick raised his eyebrows at that. “Eggplant?”
“We have a deal. This is the thing.” He was going to expand Garrick’s palate if it killed him. Which it justmight.
“Fine. But if I end up eating all the cookies, it’s your fault.” Suiting actions to words, Garrick slipped a cookie out of the plastic container and jammed half of it in his mouth while he emptied the rest of the grocery bags onto the table and started to organize them by cupboard. Laine shook his head and paused to watch Garrick’s assured movements as he tucked things away exactly where they belonged. It struck him that he’d known Garrick for three years now, and he moved to help with the last of the groceries in a kind of startled daze. Where had thetimegone?
Now he sounded like anoldman.
Garrick came back to the table to poke at the cardboard covered tins that were all that was left of Laine’s quick trip into town. “So, this is eggplant parmigiana?” He looked less thanenthusiastic.
“It’s like spaghetti, only with more cheese, and more other stuff.” He frowned at Garrick’s dubious expression. “Garrick, are you planning to break thecontract?”
“Absolutely not.” Garrick held his hands up palm out to ward off the notion, then went to getplates.
Laine didn’t think so—not with the consequences he’d negotiated into it. He got forks and wine glasses, and picked out a nice red that he’d had good luck with when entertaining non-wine drinkers. They didn’t drink much in the enclave either, generally only on the big full moons in spring and fall, though Garrick said it was getting more common now that they were producing their own beer for sale. Laine was trying to teach Garrick about wine, which was going much slower than he’danticipated.
They ate and Laine had been right about the parmigiana, though he’d had to squint hard at Garrick to get him to eat the first forkful. Then they’d cleaned up, which was pretty easy with a dishwasher and no potstowash.
“You want to go over the arguments for tomorrow?” Garrick asked as he dried his hands and hung the dishtowel back inside thecupboard.
“No, I think I’m good. It’s pretty straightforward and we’ve got everything we need.” The last day of testimony for a domestic abuse case that Laine had been given by one of the managingpartners.
The guy was guilty, so guilty. Still, everyone had the right to a defense, even entitled and violent assholes. Laine would do his job, but he had never in his life ever been so glad to know that the police had done theirs, and done itwelltoo.
But that was for tomorrow. Tonight, he hadGarrick.
Laine walked forward and put his hands on Garrick’s hips in open invitation. “I wouldn’t mind going over your arguments,though.”
“Cheesy,” Garrick saidmildly.
