Page 46 of Blizzards and Brews
“You went and got my stuff, didn’t you?” she accused.
“Speaking of,” I spoke up before it could turn into an argument, “where’s the rest of it? You can’t tell me you live out of one backpack.”
“One backpack,” Adam repeated the words slowly and calmly, despite the raging fury in his eyes.
“Look, I just need to—” He cut her off by pointing to the table.
“Sit your ass down at that table and don’t get up until you’ve explained everything to us. No more secrets.”
The look on her face had me squeezing Ollie’s hand. “Would someone mind making a pot of coffee or showing me where it is? I think we’re going to need it.”
“I’ve got it,” Ollie said, giving me a knowing look as he sent me off toward our beta.
Adam was still standing next to her, radiating frustration, although from the way they smelled it seemed like they might have had a bit of fun.
I picked Lindsay up, ignoring Adam’s protest and her squeals, and squeezed her tight to me. “Just because you smell so damn good doesn’t mean you can go giving everyone a heart attack, angel,” I said softly in her ear.
She sighed. “I wasn’t trying to, I promise.”
Helping myself, I pulled us onto the couch, sitting on one end with her directly on top of me.
Some of the fight had fled from my fiery beta, and I didn’t like the tinge of bitterness that tinged her iris and amber scent.
Dustin sat on the other end of the couch, shooting me a knowing nod that Ollie would want the middle seat next to me.
Adam however wasn’t having any of it and took a seat on the solid coffee table in front of us. His knees were touching mine and his furrowed brows dared me to say anything as he took Lindsay’s feet and placed them in his lap.
Of course, being the shit stirrer I was, I simply wagged my eyebrows at him.
Lindsay was safe and in my arms. I had a feeling whatever we were about to hear wasn’t going to be a fun story. There was no need to make any of the rest of it a bummer.
Ollie was there a few minutes later, passing out drinks and taking the seat next to me. Unabashedly he reached for Lindsay’s free hand without hesitating and I felt so proud of him in that moment.
When she threaded her fingers through his and gave him a tender look, I saw my entire world in that moment. The two of them together with me, surrounded by our pack.
Who would have thought I’d find this in Holiday Hollow?
“Lindsay–”
“I know, I know,” she said with a sigh. “You want the whole story.”
“We all do,” Dustin agreed.
“While most of you know I was seeing Jason, what I didn’t tell you is that I let him crash with me for a little while.”
A growl ripped out of Adam and I shot the alpha a warning look. If she was going to make it through this story the last thing she needed was him acting like a complete meathead.
“Sorry, firefly,” Adam grunted out. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”
“Honestly, neither was I,” she said, looking down at her cup of coffee. “I was tired and exhausted and things with him were just fun. I never really worried about anything when I was with him because it was the opposite of serious. Well, until I showed up one day a couple weeks after he started staying with me and found my entire home gone.”
That motherfucker.
Now it was my turn to give Adam a look away from Lindsay’s watchful eyes. One that promised retribution.
“I filed a police report with Hunter, and Beatty offered me a place to stay,” she continued. “I was embarrassed enough that I’d let it happen in the first place.”
“Why didn’t you come to us, buttercup?” Ollie asked, the hurt in his voice clear. “You know you always have a room here.”