Page 114 of Heat & Deceit
“I ordered you food.” Lycus sets two giant burritos in front of me. “It’s from the food truck you like. I couldn’t remember if you liked the pork or the beef, so I got both.”
“You didn’t have to get me food,” I tell him.
“It’s already done. Will you eat with us?”
“Okay. I like the pork.”
Lycus beams at me and snatches one of the burritos. “Good, because I love beef.”
Rome sets a cup of water in front of me, and Javier hands me a napkin. I wrinkle my forehead, trying not to feel weird about the whole thing, but they’re being so nice and thoughtful, it’s almost too good to be true.
Or is that my past creeping in to the back of my mind and making me wary?
“So,” I say as I unwrap the burrito. “How long have you guys been a pack?” I guess, if I’m seriously considering pursuing something with them, I should know a little more about them than how much their scents make me want to curl up inside of a cocoon of blankets.
“A little over ten years.” Javier takes a bite of his street taco.
They were young. I try to picture them as a freshly formed pack. Lycus definitely would have been the troublemaker. Javier would’ve been the ringleader, and Rome would’ve been the silent but fierce force to be reckoned with.
“Like most alphas, we met in school and unofficially formed. When we turned eighteen, we registered with the Royal Council as Pack Gray.” Rome watches me take a bite, and I try not to have chipmunk cheeks while I chew.
“I almost got kicked out of school.” Lycus pours a little of the red salsa on the top of his burrito and takes a giant bite.
“Why?” I ask, mimicking him with the salsa and taking another bite, keenly aware of how the three of them stop to watch me. What is it about alphas and dick-shaped food?
Javier sighs. “He broke into the school the night before graduation.”
“For a reason,” Lycus says around a mouthful.
“What was the reason?” I ask.
“The only picture I had of my mother was confiscated, and the teacher who took it was supposed to give it back at the end of the year, but they didn’t.” His fingers tighten around the burrito. “So, I broke in to get it back.”
“We would’ve helped you,” Rome says, rolling his eyes.
“I couldn’t risk bringing you guys down with me.”
“We were a pack,” Javier reminds him. “But the past is the past, and the school gave him a pass due to the circumstances—”
“—More like due to Rome’s parents threatening them.”
“That’s about the only good thing they’ve done,” Rome mutters.
Right. His parents are a sore subject. I’m dying to know more about him stealing from the company, but now isn’t the right time to ask. I take another bite, cheeks heating as the three of them zero in on me. The weight of their attention is almost unbearable. My scent-blocking lotion will only cover so much, and if they don’t stop looking at me, the whole place is about to smell like lilacs and cherry blossoms.
“Randal already suspects something,” I whisper. “This is only making it worse.”
“I don’t care what Randal thinks,” Javier says, leaning toward me and inhaling. “Why were you touching him?”
I groan and set my burrito aside. “Are you going to get all possessive alpha on me?”
“Yes,” the three of them say at once. Well, I guess that settles it.
They wait for my answer, and I finally sigh and shake my head. “He was asking me why you guys kept touching me and basically told me to climb the trees, or he’d haunt me.”
“The trees?” Lycus’s eyebrows pinch together.
“You are the trees,” I say, stifling a laugh.
