“Hello?” he murmured into the phone, the smile still stretched across his face.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Taron exclaimed. “A little birdy tells me you’re joining us on our retreat today. Is it safe to assume you’ve got our grumpy demon well in hand?”
Peri hummed sleepily. “He asked me to go with him. I figured I could make sure he had a fun time. He seemed convinced it’d be awful for some reason.”
He could hear the indignation in Taron’s voice as he went on a rant about how Wash could be so cruel and how he was only looking out for him and trying to get him to relax more. Peri wholeheartedly agreed, he wanted Wash to relax too, but Taron was going about it the wrong way if he was only making Wash grumpy instead of relaxed.
“What’s the plan? Maybe I can spin it so he’ll look forward to it.”
Anything to make Wash happy.
“There isn’t anything you can say that can make me look forward to an event planned by Taron,” Wash grumbled.
Peri sat up in a rush, already beaming as he twisted toward his doorway to find Wash standing there with coffee cups in his hand and a sour expression on his face. He stomped into the room, putting the cups on the nightstand as he smacked a kiss on Peri’s lips and used the distraction to snatch the phone away. He put it to his ear, his face twisting in confusion as he heard whatever Taron had been in the middle of saying.
“Wait, hold on. There’s no way you got SR approval for that.” He paused, running his fingers through Peri’s hair as he listenedto Taron’s explanation. “It’s a company retreat, that’s why. You need SR’s approval. No, I’m not just– You know what, fine. Go ahead and plan it. Remind me, how many SR reps are going to be there for this thing?”
Peri ignored the conversation, melting into Wash’s touch as he leaned against him and sipped the coffee Wash handed him. It was sweet, with chocolate and caramel in it. It was like sipping candy first thing in the morning, and Peri wanted to hoard the drink and inhale it at the same time. It was that good.
“If we must,” Wash grumbled. “But I’m not arriving there a minute before I have to.” He listened for another second, then Peri noticed Wash stiffen and sat up with a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
The doorbell rang, and Wash’s head turned slowly in that direction, eyes wide with horror. “Taron, you better be lying.”
“About what?” Peri asked again, snagging a robe and pulling it over his shoulders as he followed Wash out of his room and to the door. When he threw it open, Taron was standing on the other side, a beaming grin on his face and his phone still pressed to his ear.
“Well, this is a fun surprise. Did you come over early, or did you have a sleepover and I wasn’t invited?” Taron teased.
“What are you doing here?” Wash growled, hanging up the phone and ignoring Taron’s question.
Taron shrugged. “I’m here to give Peri a ride. I figured if I kidnapped him, you’d have to come along. And look! I was right. Now let’s go, people! We’ve got a retreat to get to!”
Nineteen
Peri had his work cut out for him. They’d just arrived at the resort where the retreat was being held, and already, Wash looked ready to lose it. Then again, they had ridden to the portal station with Taron and his mates, and Taron had sat in the seat next to them on the bus ride up to the resort. Peri enjoyed the company, Taron was fun to talk to, but Wash didn’t seem to appreciate it as much as he did.
“So, Peri,” Taron tossed an arm around his shoulders as he came to stand beside him. “Have you ever been to this realm before?”
Peri looked around, shaking his head. “Nope. But it’s pretty! What are we going to be doing? Team building activities?”
“Don’t give him any ideas,” Wash grumbled. He was sulking, sticking close to Peri without getting in range of Taron, who had tried to hug him at least twice now. Peri still wanted to laugh when he thought about how Taron tried to cuddle attack him, and Wash actually teleported to get away from him.
“Oh ho, just you wait,” Taron grinned. “I’ve got plans for this weekend, and unless you want Peri to have to sit out, you’re required to participate. Everyone else is partnered up.”
Huh. Peri hadn’t noticed that, but he wasn’t wrong. Everyone who had come along seemed to stand in pairs. Peri wasn’t familiar with all of them, it would take years to meet every single person at Spellbound, but he recognized a few of them. Including Wash’s brother and his anchor, who stood on the other side of the room, talking to Mr. Hawksley and a blonde man who was holding his hand.
“Wash, look. Your brother is here,” Peri pointed out with a smile. He tugged Wash’s sweater. “We should go say hi.”
Wash’s surly expression became more guarded, and he dug his heels in, refusing to let Peri pull him away. “He’s busy. It’s fine.”
Peri looked between Wash and his brother with a frown. Sure, Elijah was in the middle of a conversation, but from his smile and the casual way his anchor was holding him, he didn't think it was work related. Mr. Hawksley looked relaxed as well. Their posture didn’t seem to say people weren’t welcome to join them.
“Oh, you’ve met our resident telepath?” Taron asked brightly. “This event is partially for him, you know.”
Wash went still, and Peri stepped closer automatically, hoping to be a soothing presence to whatever was bothering him.
“In what way?”