His gaze was steady on my face and silver slipped through the blue as my fingers dropped from his chin.
My stomach knotted. “Asher, do you want to be with me?”
His face grew softer. “You know I love you.”
“Do you want to be with me?”
His eyes were rough seas again. “Yeah.”
“Then we’re going to figure it out, together.” I reached over and took his hand. “Running away is just going to hurt us both and make us miserable. And I don’t want to do either of those things.”
“You’re right. But no more close calls.” His fingers squeezed mine. “I know we talked, but… how have you been?”
I weaved my fingers with his and tried to smile. “Worried about having all of you in the same room again.”
“Me too.”
“I really missed you.” My voice all but cracked.
He got to his feet, pulling me to mine. His arms moved around me carefully as I pressed against him. My eyes closed as I rested my cheek against his chest while he buried his nose into my hair. We simply reveled in the fact he was home and we were together again.
I don’t know how long we stood like that, but soon Asher was lifting his head and loosening his arms. “The twins are coming.”
I let him go as he stepped back toward the pass-through just before the door burst open.
Isaac hurried into the family room, all smiles. How could I describe Isaac? I smiled to myself. He was about seven inches taller than me, his wide, built shoulders in a lime green shirt on top of camo cargo shorts. His short hair was longer than usual, shaggy and blue with darker blue streaks through it. His skin had darkened over the summer bringing out his brown eyes. There was a light to Isaac that I could never really describe. His personality just shone out of his eyes turning them into a unique amber.
“Asshat!” Isaac ran into the room and tried to tackle Asher. Tried being the operative word. Asher barely moved a muscle as Isaac’s toes brushed the floor while he dangled from Asher’s shoulders like an unwanted backpack.
Asher chuckled and looked at him. “What are you doing?”
Isaac grinned at him. “I tried knocking you on your ass, but I guess that’s not gonna happen anymore.” He dropped to the floor and hugged Asher around the waist. “We missed ya, man.”
Asher relaxed and patted his arms as Ethan came through the door. Ethan’s eyes met mine then ran over me. He had been doing that more often lately, finding me in a room full of people before even seeing anyone else. Every time it sent heat rushing through me and made my pulse pick up. As Isaac’s identical twin brother, they both had the same height and shoulders. The same straight nose and identical pouty lips. But that was it. Ethan tended to wear all black and combat boots while Isaac… well, Isaac wore whatever he wanted. Ethan’s straight, black, jaw-length hair was down and tucked behind his ears. The five silver hoops running up his right ear flashed at me as he leaned against the pass-through doorway. Ethan’s chocolate eyes were warm as they ran over my face one more time before he turned to Asher. “Hey, Asher.”
Asher shoved Isaac away from him playfully before turning to Ethan. The light in his eyes dimmed, his smile faded around the edges. “Hey…”
Ethan grew completely still.
“Did you make any snacks yet?” Isaac called over his shoulder before he disappeared into the foyer and headed for the kitchen.
Asher turned his head toward me though he kept his gaze on Ethan. “Can you make sure he doesn’t destroy my kitchen?”
I snorted before heading into the foyer and following Isaac through the door.
Isaac was already at the cookie jar in the sunlit room when I came in. I lifted myself to sit on the counter beside the jar and stole a few for myself.
Isaac moved closer to my legs until my knees brushed his hips. “How was work?”
I finished the bite of cookie in my mouth before answering. “It felt long. Like Christmas Eve when I was a kid.”
He took a bite out of my cookie. “So, what’s the plan tonight?”
“Food, games, hanging out.” I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled my cookie out of his reach. “And that other thing.”
“Going over how the dating schedule is going to work,” he finished for me.
I nodded and took another bite of cookie.
His smile faded. “Red?”
I let my smile drop and shrugged. Lately, it seemed Isaac was the only one I could show how worried I was. Miles was always trying to keep the guys on track and communication flowing. Ethan was, well, Ethan, and being oddly distant. Hugs had even become rare from him. Zeke had been quiet and not sleeping again. He had buried himself in the garage and work, naturally.
He leaned over and brushed my nose with his. “We’re not going to let anyone screw this up.”
I rested my forehead against his. “Even me?”
“Even you.”
I smiled as he leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. It had been almost a month since I had kissed him. I sank into him.
Ethan
Asher waited until the kitchen door swung closed before moving between me and the others. “What the hell are you?”
I sighed. He’d noticed. That wasn’t too surprising. “Remember when those witches tortured me?”
He nodded as he shifted to a defensive stance.
“They did something to me.” I made a point to not move. “Ranulf noticed it on the camping trip.”
His posture didn’t change an inch. “Start talking.”
I lowered my voice and quickly summed up what I knew. Which wasn’t much.
He eventually relaxed and stepped away from the door. “That isn’t much to go on.”
I started to spin my rings. “Yeah, I know.”
He glanced at the kitchen door then turned back to me. “They don’t know?”
“Isaac does.”
He shook his head. “You have to tell the others. You can’t go around without knowing what kind of damage you can do.”
I nodded. “I know, that’s why I’m telling everyone tonight. Isaac’s been watching me, but he can’t do it all the time.” I shrugged. “So far nothing’s changed. I’m not wanting to tear into anyone, nothing different. I just feel… better.”
His brow drew down as he moved closer. He began sniffing the air around me. He moved around me slowly, smelling me like a dog. I stayed still even when he got extremely close to my neck. He sneezed and backed off.
When he was done, he shook his head. “It’s subtle, but there’s a scent. I noticed the change mostly in the way you walked.”
I raised an eyebrow. “The way I walked?”
He nodded. “You moved smoother, it’s something I noticed about shifters in the last month. They’re more… graceful is the only word I can use to describe it.”
“Ranulf and Astrid agreed that I’m not a shifter.” I raised an eyebrow. “But I smell?”
He nodded, his eyes un-focusing. “There’s your cologne, which by the way makes my nose itch. And under that, there’s a hint of smoke of some kind.”
I shook my head. That really didn’t tell me much.