Page 79 of All Packed Up

She sniffled a laugh. “What did you guys do, have a secret meeting? How do you know they’d be down?”

Nic shrugged. “Just trust me. We can work out the mechanics later.”

Wendy leaned into Nic and let him pull her into his lap. Just like she wanted. He caressed her hair and she laid her head on his shoulder and just… felt cared for.

Nah, Wendy didn’t want to lose this. She didn’t want to let Nic go. She’d fight Griffith for him if she had to. Fucker.

“You smelled like Griffith when you came back last night. So what happened?”

Nic stiffened beneath her, and she leaned back, pretending to clutch invisible pearls. “Nic! You kissed him?”

“No, he kissed me!” he argued, eyes wide.

“Hah!” Wendy said, and pointed a finger at his face. “I knew it!” Settling back down on his lap, she grinned up at him. “And how does that make you feel?”

Nic narrowed his gaze, but seemed to chew her question over. His lips opened… and closed. Opened—closed.

Spit it out already!

“Conflicted,” he finally said after many long, torturous moments.

She waited, but he didn’t elaborate. “And?” she pushed.

“Ugh!” Nic pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. “He kisses just as fucking well as he did four years ago. And made it clear he was interested.”

Wendy’s heart pounded. Imagining Nic and Griffith together. They were both just so… tall and muscley and—Wendy really needed to stop before she got carried away.

“But I don’t want you to think I’m just going to drop everything and let Griffith whisk me away—”

“That’s my line,” she blurted. “As long as he doesn’t take you away from me… you should talk. I know you want to, even if you think it’s best you don’t broach the past at all.” And by talk, she meant so much more.

Nic’s gaze was steady, but she refused to lift her head, staring down at her lap. “Wendy, this is about you. And no matter what, I’m here for you. What do you want?”

She dragged her watery gaze up. “I just want us both to have a happily ever after.”

Chapter 20

WENDY

“Where’s Knuckles?” she asked and called his name from the bottom of the stairs.

The little pit pat of his feet against the floor grew louder until his black and white form appeared at the top. He meowed at her, and Wendy coaxed him down the stairs until she could pick him up.

He nudged his head against her chin, and her heart melted for the creature like it always did. “Are you hungry?”

An affirmative meow was her answer, and she chuckled before turning back to the kitchen. Her cheeks heated under Nic’s and Grif’s gazes, and she buried her face in the feline’s fur.

“Found him.”

In the kitchen, she found Nic and Griffith and an awkward silence that was interrupted only by the crunch of kibble.

Daisy was devouring her food, and Knuckles wiggled until she released him. She watched as he waddled over to his own bowl, placed alongside Daisy’s, and dug in.

“I would have fed him when I got up, but I didn’t know if you had him on a schedule or something,” Griffith explained. “Is that okay?”

Wendy waved a hand at him. “Of course it is. Don’t let him fool you though, he’s a really good actor. He’ll have you convinced he’s never had a single kibble before. He’s just as mischievous as… as…”

“You?” Nic offered.