Page 71 of All Packed Up

A grunt sounded, and Nic’s lips curled into a wide grin. That was definitely coming from Tate and Arlo’s room. Guess they were working out the scent of Wendy’s arousal permeating the top floor.

He took the stairs to the bottom floor and shook his head. Boredom took him to the kitchen, but he idled in the middle of the room, suddenly feeling as if he were a kid who was going to get his hand caught in the cookie jar.

A glow from above the kitchen sink caught his eye, and he brushed his paranoia off to move closer, squinting through the window.

A fire was glowing outside, with a familiar tall figure stalking around it. It was almost closer to morning than it was night. What was the alpha doing up so late?

Nic wavered. Should he join Griffith or return to bed?

His curiosity got the better of him.

So he crossed the kitchen and grabbed a hoodie from a hook by the door, closing the door quietly behind him.

Leaves crunched under his feet as he made his way around back.

“Who’s there?” Griffith called out, and Nic cleared his throat.

“Just me.”

Griffith didn’t respond, but their gazes met when Nic finally rounded the corner and discovered the fire. And the tall alpha standing watch over it.

“Why are you still up?” Griffith asked with a frown.

Nic shrugged, playing casual, though his heart was beating quicker inside his chest. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Unsure if he was supposed to stay or leave, Nic made careful progress across the dirt ground, and finally took a seat on a bench created with a flat piece of wood and two empty paint buckets.

“Do you want some tea?” Griffith asked.

Nic blinked at the alpha. “Tea?”

Totally serious, the alpha nodded. “Yeah. It’ll help you sleep.”

This alpha, whom Nic had seen take down some of the roughest guys in the ring with his fists, whom had constructed this makeshift bench, was offering him tea.

“Uhm… no, I’m okay. Thanks though.”

Silence filled the distance between them, the crackle and pop of the fire all that separated them.

“Why are you still up?” Nic asked, watching Griffith poke at some of the half-burnt sticks, shuffling them around to stoke the flames higher.

“Do you really need to ask?” Grif drawled.

Oh.

Wendy’s pheromones were getting to him too.

“Sorry,” Nic murmured. He couldn’t blame Grif for hiding outside, but now Nic felt even worse for bringing this all to his doorstep.

It was quiet for a long moment, the crackle of the flames filling the night and warming the front of his legs.

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one mad at you?” Griffith asked softly.

“What?” Nic questioned before his brain had time to process what the alpha had just said.

“You’re mad. Or upset, or something. Why?”

Nic floundered, unsure how to answer. In the moment he lacked the brain cells to come up with something better, but he knew he wasn’t upset. Just… confused. Here he was shacking up at his ex’s house to protect the omega he was sleeping with.