“You need be extremely careful with Ally,” Asher said, drawing my attention again. “You don’t know what kind of damage you could do.”
“I haven’t even hugged her in over a week,” I muttered. And I hated it. I missed touching her, seeing that happy look on her face when my fingers stroked down her back.
“Good.” He turned to look at the front door. “Miles is here.”
“He’s going to interrogate you.” I grinned as I started toward the kitchen.
“Watch yourself,” he reminded me before I pushed open the kitchen door. I really didn’t need the reminder.
Lexie
Ethan walked through the kitchen door, his shoulders already tense. Isaac backed up away from me to lean against the island.
“Miles is here. He’ll be having his usual ‘are you okay’ talk in the family room.” Ethan jumped up on the counter beside me and took a handful of cookies.
“So, we have a while?” Isaac took the last bite of the cookie in his hand.
We chuckled. Asher wouldn’t get to leave that couch until Miles understood everything he had to watch for with Asher as a new werewolf.
“Then let’s order some pizza.” I pulled out my phone to call. “I’m starving.”
“Don’t order pizza,” Asher shouted from the living room. “I’ll make a couple.”
I went still. Asher had always had amazing hearing but now, how far could he hear? “Okay. I guess he’s not pretending to not hear us anymore.” I set my phone down. “Is Zeke coming?”
The twins shared a look.
“Probably not. He’s dealing with some stuff.” Ethan turned back to me. “I thought you two were talking to each other?”
I reached into the cookie jar and pulled a few more out. “We are, but I haven’t seen him lately.”
Isaac shrugged. “He sent Miles his schedule for school earlier this week.”
“Miles will fill him in.” Ethan bounced his heel off the cabinet under him.
The door to the kitchen opened. Miles came through the door and spied the cookies. Angled jaw, high cheekbones and wavy brown hair. Miles was cute. His rimless rectangular glasses only made him look older and, well, yummy.
“Asher is ordering pizza,” Miles announced as he met my gaze with warm eyes.
I gave him a welcoming smile even though he’d been rather stand-offish since we came back. He kept our talks light and if I asked if he was alright, he’d change the subject. Very not the Miles I knew, but he kept refusing to talk about it.
“Wait, what?” Isaac turned to him as the door closed.
Miles pushed the glasses up his nose. “Apparently, Jessica has been staying with friends the last few days. She’s coming home in a couple of hours and cooking would take him too long.”
Well, that made sense, but… “Why has she been at her friend’s house?”
The door opened as Asher came in and spotted the open cookie jar. His gaze narrowed on me. “Already at the cookies?”
I smiled my wicked grin. “Not me, I’m innocent. It was the twins.”
Asher shook his head as he came around the island and snagged the jar from us. “I don’t buy that for a second.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Also, I don’t know why she’s at a friend’s house.” Asher set the jar down away from us.
“She stayed with us a few nights while you were gone.” Ethan turned to Asher. “She said she kept hearing weird noises outside.”
Miles’ brow furrowed together creating a wrinkle. “She said the same thing when she called and asked if she could sleep in Asher’s room at my house.”
I raised an eyebrow. Jessica wanted to sleep at Miles’ house. That was beyond strange. I pulled out my phone and texted Zeke.
Alexis: Hey, did Jessica ask you to crash at your house while Ash was gone?
It didn’t take long for him to respond.
Tough Guy: Yeah, two or three times a week. Sylvie ended up crashing at Asher’s a few times.
I read his answer out loud then looked up at the others.
“So, between all of us, she had someone spend the night or slept elsewhere most of the month?” Miles asked, a wrinkle forming between his eyes.
The twins nodded.
“That’s weird.” Asher rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll ask her about it tonight. So, what did I miss while I was gone?”
“Most of the supernaturals in town have found places to live,” Miles began, tapping his fingers along the counter. “Except a couple of shifter families and the vampires.”
“Dupont is still at your house?” Asher raised an eyebrow.
Miles nodded. “Spring Mountain isn’t a big city like New Orleans. It’s harder to buy a place or even rent one if you can’t go out during the day.”
Ethan shook his head. “I still don’t like that he’s at your house.”
Miles scratched his chin. “I’ve already had an offer accepted on a large piece of property for them just outside of town. After it’s in my name, I’ll sell it to Samuel and his vampire nest for the same price.”
“How long is that going to take?” Isaac asked before he crossed the room to the pantry and opened the door.
“They’ll be out this week,” Miles stated.
“What have they been doing for blood all this time?” Asher asked as Isaac came back to stand next to Ethan and opened a large bag of chips. My stomach growled, reminding me it had been a while since breakfast and those cookies weren’t going to do it. Ethan took a handful of chips before he handed me the bag.
Miles sighed. “They have several donors.”
The room fell silent.
“What do you mean donors?” I asked before pulling out a handful of chips and passing the bag to Isaac.
Miles pushed his glasses up his nose. “There are some people who they pay to let them drink their blood.”
I stopped chewing. “Seriously?”
Miles nodded.
“And they’re in your house too?” Isaac asked before popping a chip into his mouth.
Miles shook his head. “No. I drew the line there. They go to meet them out of town for a feed from the vein. Otherwise, they drink from a bag.”
Asher eyed Miles. “You’ve been talking to Samuel.”
Miles sent me a look. “He’s a great source of information on vampires. Besides, I’m not the only one.”
Asher’s gaze went straight to me. “Ally? You’ve been hanging out with that vampire?”
“We’ve had movie nights at Miles’ house in the last month that did involve Sam and a couple of his vamps.” I shrugged. “I’ve gotten to know him a little.”
Asher’s head snapped around, his gaze darting to the kitchen door. I was about to ask what was wrong when it was pushed open.
A tall, bulky figure moved through into the kitchen. Zeke was a mountain of muscle. Six foot five, he towered over most of us. His wide jaw and wide cheekbones gave him a dangerous look. But in truth, Zeke was… well… Zeke. And the black scruff along his jaw did interesting things to my insides. His ice blue eyes met mine making me smile.