"Always," I say, stretching like a cat on the couch, because it's true. My appetite's been fuckingwildsince the heat, my body trying to replenish everything it burned through.
Rafael holds up a bag. "Got you pad thai and those spring rolls you liked last time."
"You're my favorite," I tell him, and his grin gets impossibly wider.
"Your favorite, huh?" Phoenix challenges.
Before Rex can turn around fully to givehima suspicious look this time, I shake my head and hands fast at Phoenix, miming at him to stop making it so fucking obvious we have something going on.
"What?" Phoenix asks me, oblivious as usual. Luckily for us all, when he catches Rex staring at him with a narrowed eye, he changes the subject organically. "Oh, hey Rex. Didn't see you there. We got enough for everyone if you want?—"
"I'm good," Rex says flatly, slipping out of the living room and going into the kitchen instead with a forlorn glance toward the hall. He looks like he'd rather go to Raf's room and lock himself away, but then he'd have to walk past Raf and Phoenix.
Am I living with alphas or feral cats?
"Suit yourself," Rafael says with a shrug, already unpacking containers on the coffee table.
I grab my laptop and move to join them, settling cross-legged on a round throw pillow on the floor because the coffee table is too low to eat comfortably from the couch. Phoenix immediately positions himself next to me, close enough that our shoulders brush. Rafael takes my other side, and suddenly I'm sandwiched between two alphas who are starting to smell like home.
Rex's eye tracks the movement from the kitchen. I don't have to look close to know he's watching, probably finding more things to add to his mental list of reasons to hate me so he can justify why he avoids me like he's developed an allergy.
Except he doesn't look like he hates me.
He looks... conflicted.
"Can we bring you a plate?" I call to him.
He vanishes. Don't knowwhere, but… he vanishes.
I sigh and stuff a spring roll into my mouth to distract myself from the weird urge to follow him and tell him humans can'tsurvive on spite alone. That he needs to eat something, and the pad thai from this place is damn good.
But that really would give him a reason to hate me.
"So," Phoenix says around a mouthful of pad see ew, stabbing at his plate like he's trying to kill it. "Who's this Jamie?"
I almost choke on my spring roll.
They're jealous too. Both of them. And they're doing a terrible job of hiding it.
This is ridiculous.
This is absolutely fucking ridiculous andhilarious.
"Jamie is the maskmaker," I explain, keeping my voice neutral even though I want to laugh at these alphas. All of them, including the one lurking somewhere by the kitchen because he can't get past Phoenix without being harassed about having some food. "And a tiger dad, apparently. Lives in this tower in the woods with his mate Orion. They're really sweet."
Phoenix's shoulders relax slightly. "Ohhh. That Jamie."
I take another bite, watching both their faces carefully because I'm a fucking troll. "They propositioned me for a threesome, actually."
Rafael chokes on his noodles. Phoenix's fork clatters against his container.
"Theywhat?" Rafael manages after a coughing fit.
"And board games," I add.
"That isn't reassuring," Phoenix mutters.
I wave the remaining nub of my spring roll dismissively. "Relax. I turned them down. I'm not really into casual flings, and Jamie was very understanding about it. Told me the offer stands if I change my mind, but there's no pressure."