Page 131 of Starting a New Life

I nodded and walked over to the cupboards. At least I knew where the cups and coffee pods were stashed.

“What about you?” I asked Connie.

He scrunched up his nose, hair falling into his eyes. “The pizza is a hard pass for me, but I’ll take the coffee,” he said quietly.

“Sure,” I said and started preparing the coffee machine, filing away all the things we’d need to do today.

Grocery shopping.

Furniture shopping.

Clothes shopping.

Fuck, we also needed school supplies for the kids. Right?

It felt a bit like we needed to shop for everything.

And afterwards, we needed to clear out the office and the guest room. We’d need to build the furniture we purchased today.

And what about paint?

“Do you want to paint your rooms?” I asked after I put a pod into the coffee machine, listening to it hissing and gurgling as the water was heating.

Connie leaned against the counter, eyes focused on something outside the window, a thoughtful expression on his face. Nick placed his ass on the counter, dangling his legs.

“I mean, yeah,” he said. “The office is just… white. Kinda bleak. I assume we’ll have to share the room, right?”

I handed him the first cup of coffee, watching in amazement as he just took a sip. Black. Ugh. I shuddered, then placed another pod in the machine.

“That’s actually what we wanted to talk to you about.” I pressed the start button and watched more steam coming out of the machine, the scent of burnt coffee beans filling the air. “Gray and I have been thinking…”

I’d thought it was just an innocent sentence, but Connie flinched, his face going blank, knuckles turning white as he clutched the edge of the counter. “Yes?” he asked, aiming for nonchalance, but thoroughly missing the mark. His nerves shone through in the way his voice was high and tight, the tension making it sound almost thin.

I walked over to him and gently squeezed his drawn-up shoulder the way I’d seen Gray do. It worked. Connie started relaxing, his shoulders dropping. Still, his eyes were pleading with me, begging me not to… what? Throw them out again?

“Nothing bad is happening,” I said gently. “I promise. We were talking about room arrangements yesterday.” For a brief minute in between meetings. “We were thinking that you and Nick might like taking over the second floor. Gray and I would move into the office, and you could have the primary bedroom and the guest room. We’ll just need to clear it out first, because it’s filled with, uhm…”

“Junk,” Gray finished, walking over from the living room, eyes still half closed. He grabbed the coffee cup from under the machine and downed a big gulp, then wrinkled his nose. “Ugh. That’s horrible.”

“That’s because it’s missing sugar and creamer.”

Connie looked at Gray, then at the cup of coffee in his hands. He pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. I squeezed his shoulder again before letting go of him and started preparing another cup. I gave Gray a pointed look when I handed the steaming mug to Connie.

Gray got the message, then grimaced, thoroughly chastised. “Did I steal your coffee?” he asked Connie.

Connie nodded.

“I’m sorry. I thought it was Nix’s.”

I snorted. “And that makes it okay?”

Gray nodded seriously, but his eyes sparkled with mischief. “Of course. We’re mates. What’s yours is mine. Those are the rules.” The next moment, he swooped in and pressed a kiss to my mouth. He tasted bitter, the burnt coffee aroma still heavy on his lips, but that single contact still made my stomach swoop, my heart pounding in my chest as my body melted against him.

“Ugh,” Nick protested. “Connie, what were we thinking choosing a newly mated pair to live with?”

Connie’s eyes turned wide, his aura swirling as he glanced at Gray, but when he noticed Gray chuckling, he relaxed. “No idea,” he quipped, then took a sip of his coffee before turning back to me. “What were you saying?”

“We thought you and Nick might want to take the two rooms upstairs,” I said. “We’ll probably have to do a bit of remodeling because the only bathroom upstairs is the en suite, but…”