Page 11 of Don't Bait Me (Nora Jacobs 3)

“Oh, hush. You know we couldn’t have had this dinner without Parker.”

“Thank you for waiting,” Parker murmurs.

“Of course.” I shoot him a warm smile and then wave for everyone to have a seat.

Nick hands the pies off to Terrance and says to him, “You’re looking a million times better.”

Terrance’s answering grunt-and-glare combo makes Nick raise his hands in surrender. “Subject closed. You’re in excellent health.”

“Damn right.”

When Terrance turns to set the pies on the counter, Nick gives me a wink that says he poked Terrance on purpose. I smile and shake my head. I love these guys.

Terrance sits at the head of the table, and I take a seat next to Oliver. Rook quickly claims the chair on my other side, and Wulf sits beside him. Parker, Nick, Cecile, and Ren all sit across from us. I love seeing everyone I care about all sitting together, and I’m suddenly very glad I arranged this last-minute Thanksgiving party.

“This is lovely, Nora,” Cecile says, eyeing the spread on the table.

I blush. I really went all out for this. I used Terrance’s finest china and crystal stemware. (I skipped the silver utensils, for the werewolves’ sakes.) I even googled how to fold cloth napkins all pretty and placed a few candles in candlesticks on the table. I’ve never sat at a table so fancy. “I may have gotten a little carried away,” I said. “It’s just that…as a foster kid, you never really feel like you belong anywhere. So even during the years I was with a family who gave me a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I still felt out of place. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like I had a real family to spend the holiday with. I know you all aren’t myrealfamily, but you’re the closest thing I’ve ever had.”

I can’t believe I’m admitting all of this, and I can’t believe how choked up I am by the end of my speech. There’s a beat of silence, and then Terrance raises his wine glass. “Hear, hear,” he says.

Everyone else raises their glasses as well, and my cheeks heat up again as I lift mine. They’re all smiling at me. “To the only family any of us has,” Parker says. He meets my eyes and with utter sincerity says, “Thank you for bringing us all together.”

“To Nora,” Oliver murmurs.

Everyone repeats the toast, and my eyes burn again. For the first time in my life, I feel at home.

After everyone eats theirweight in turkey and stuffing, we all migrate to the living room. Terrance, Wulf, and Nick head for the pool table in the back. Rook starts to join them but changes course when Oliver tugs me down onto the couch with him.

I link my arm through Oliver’s and lean my head on his shoulder. Rook watches the two of us with narrowed eyes, then moves to my other side and throws his arm over the back of the couch around my shoulders. Ren snorts at the scene before crashing down on the other couch, laying his head on the arm and stretching out his legs. “Ugh.” He groans. “I ate way too much. Anyone care if I unzip my pants?”

Everyone in the room voices their disapproval so strongly that I laugh. “That’s why I’m wearing leggings, Ren. They stretch.”

“Do you have an extra pair?”

I laugh again.

Cecile sinks into an armchair, and Parker pushes the coffee table aside to pop a squat down on the floor in front of me. He leans against my legs and lets his head fall back into my lap. I run my fingers through his soft, thick hair, smiling to myself. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.

We all fall silent for a few minutes, drifting in and out of turkey comas. Ren cracks one eye open, notices how I have three gorgeous men draped all around me, and he smirks. He mouths the words “Lucky bitch.”

My burst of laughter shatters the peaceful quiet. Everyone casts me questioning looks, but I just shrug, and Ren winks at me. “We should watch a Christmas movie,” he says.

Nick shoots that idea down quickly. “Let’s don’t.”

Ren sticks his tongue out at the ornery FUA agent. “Scrooge.”

“It’s still Thanksgiving,” Parker argues. “It’s too early for Christmas.”

Ren scoffs. “Dinner is over. Everyone knows that once Thanksgiving dinner is over, it’s officially Christmastime.Hello, Black Friday is only hours away. I guarantee the malls will be decked out all Christmassy and blaring seasonal music.”

Nick looks up from his pool game. “Don’t tell me you participate in that madness.”

“Oh, I go every year, Gorgeous, honey. I was made for Black Friday shopping.”

Nick snorts.

Ren looks around the room, waiting for someone to take his side. No one does. “Nora will go Black Friday shopping with me. Won’t you, Nora?”

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