I can feel it from across the table. That golden retriever energy cranked up to maximum, his entire body radiatingoh my god he's eating with us he's actually eating with usin a frequency that's probably only audible to dogs and omegas.
Rex's eye flicks to Phoenix.
Phoenix freezes mid-chew. His face is doing a bunch of things at once, none of them subtle.
Rex levels him with a glare that could strip paint.
"What," Rex says flatly.
"Nothing!" Phoenix shoves more pasta in his mouth. "Great pasta. Yep. Just eating."
"You're staring at me."
"I am not."
"Phoenix."
"I'm looking at the... wall. Behind you. There's a really interesting..." He squints at the completely blank wall behind Rex's head. "...wall."
I snort. The snort turns into a cough that turns into a full laugh that I try to smother behind my hand. It doesn't work. The laugh escapes, loud and real, and Rafael catches it like a virus and presses his knuckles against his mouth to stifle it. His broad shoulders are still quaking.
Rex's glare intensifies.
Which only makes it funnier.
"You're all insufferable," Rex mutters, stabbing another single noodle.
"You love us," I manage through the laughter.
He doesn't actually deny it.
The meal continues. Rafael and Phoenix bicker about how the pasta needs more butter. Phoenix wins. More butter goes on the pasta. I steal breadsticks off Rex's plate because he's not eating them and they're right there, and I need something to sop up the extra butter I didn't ask for. Phoenix opens the second bottle of wine and pours for everyone, but gives Rex an extra glass of water just in case.
Rex eats maybe a quarter of his plate. Small bites, carefully timed, spaced out. He angles his body slightly away from the table.
But he doesn't leave.
Something changed today. Not just him, either. It's all of us.
Phoenix brushes Rafael's hand when he reaches for the bread. Rafael doesn't yank his hand away. Their knees are touching under the table. I can tell by the angle of their bodies, the way they've drifted together like magnets.
Phoenix bumps my foot under the table with his boot and smiles at me.
Despite everything, we're becoming apack.
Which is… terrifying.
Because throughout my entire life, the good moments have always just been the universe loading the next disaster. The calm before the storm.
But the storm hasn't hit yet.
So I let myself smile back at him and enjoy every second of this while it lasts.
CHAPTER 21
PHOENIX
Something is wrong with Rex.