Page 24 of Meant for Them
He’s being kind of cute though, so I’ll let him have that win.
“Here, peas. Nothing better.”
He grabs a package from a spot on the freezer door and wraps it up in a cloth before holding it to my forehead. This puts his face way to close to mine, and this close up, I can see every striation of green in his hazel eyes. “Thanks,” I whisper.
There’s something really intense behind his eyes, something that has me leaning forward before I catch myself.
I can’t implicate any of these good samaritans in my bullshit.
I take the peas carefully so I don’t touch him, mumbling a thanks and seeing hurt flash in his eyes at the rejection.
When I turn, the other two are standing slack-jawed, vying for entrance at the sliding glass door. Their eyes are running up and down my bare legs, then they clock the injury on my forehead and immediately turn their attention to Troy.
“Woah, it wasn’t me!” he’s quick to defend, putting himself between me and the angry wolves. “She fell.”
“Yeah, uh, my legs were a bit shaky when I shifted and I just wasn’t really prepared for that. He had nothing to do with it.” Iflash a quick smile and can’t help but wonder what I’ve gotten myself into.
“Right.” Troy clears his throat when his brothers step inside and finally close the door. “Guys, meet Morgan.”
I offer a pathetic wave. “I can’t thank you enough for taking care of me when you had absolutely no obligation to. You probably saved me. I can get out of your hair now though, give you your home back.”
Not sure if it would be more awkward to take the peas with me or hand them back. I end up dropping them instead, and naturally the bag splits, and little frozen green pebbles roll all over the floor.
“Damnit. I’m sorry. I’m a mess.”
I bend over to start cleaning, but Wiley leaps forward, blocking me. “We’ve got this. Why don’t you sit, and we’ll get you a snack?”
I look at the chair he’s pointing to, confused. What do I do now?
“Here, I’ve got you. Just… relax. You’re not going anywhere. I mean, we’re not like holding you here against your will. Just…that came out wrong. Sorry. You make me nervous. Ha, I probably shouldn’t have admitted that, huh? Oh well.” Wiley escorts me past the mess and pulls out a chair for me, and I tuck the t-shirt I’ve got on under my legs, lest I flash one of them.
It's uncomfortable watching them clean up the shit I spilled everywhere but they all keep smiling at me like they’re thrilled they get to.
“Um so…where are we, exactly?”
They are so damn in tune with each other, it’s almost like they’re one person in three bodies.
Their eyes all snap to me at the same time, swing to the window that overlooks their property, then swing back to me before Jake answers. “We’re uh, in the Deft Forest, about three hours north of Somerville.”
I let out a whistle. “Damn. I ran pretty far. I’d be impressed with myself if I’d done it on purpose.”
They all freeze, and then they un-sync with each other. Troy walks to the fridge and pulls out a perfectly curated, personal-sized charcuterie board, complete with a rose made of prosciutto in the middle.
I raise my eyebrows and look up at him.
“I made you a shelf in the fridge for when you were…ready…to use it. I don’t know what kinds of foods you prefer, but we can pick up stuff on the next shopping trip in town. If you want.”
I pick up a tiny pickle and a perfect cube of cheese with a frilled toothpick and pop them in my mouth, trying to read them. What is their game plan here? “Thank you…this is…way above and beyond what I need, though. I appreciate it, don’t get me wrong—" I rush to add when Troy looks alarmed at my dismissal, “but I’m pretty simple. I don’t need you guys to fuss over me. Really.”
“What if we want to?” Troy immediately asks.
Wiley smacks him on the back of the head. “Dude. We talked about this.”
Troy’s mouth opens and closes before he speaks again. “Look. Maybe it’s just because we nursed you back to health, and I know this sounds stupid because you’ve been entirely unable to properly communicate with us since you’ve been here, but we’re fond of you. We would love nothing better than to take care of you as much as you’ll let us.”
I take a few almonds and crunch into them. “Don’t get many visitors up here, I take it?”
“Well, we’re actually kind of cursed, but you don’t really need to hear about all that. I’m kind of wondering how you got here, actually. Because as far as we know, you shouldn’t have been able to wander into our property the way you did,” Troy tries to explain. Without actually explaining anything at all. That’s talent.
