Page 26 of Knot Convenient

“Have a seat, Summer. Dinner is almost ready, and we can eat at the table like civilized people for once.”

I laughed. “Not the dinner-table type of people?”

Marshall came in from the other room, Tobias right behind him, and they sat down as well, their metal and lemon scents hitting me at once.

“I’ll admit that, with our scattered hours”—Marshall threw his arm over the back of his chair—“we’re not always home at the same times to eat together. We try. But life, you know?”

I nodded, turning the corners of my mouth down. “Oh, trust me. I get it. I⁠—”

I started to stand up before Noah shooed me back to my chair.

“Ah, ah. I got it. Relax.” Noah took the bottle out of the microwave and walked over. “Is there a trick to this, or…”

Chuckling, I smiled as Milo grabbed for the bottle, babbling excitedly.

“No, not really.” I mimed with my hand as I said, “Just shake it to make sure there’s not a random hot spot.”

Noah shook the bottle but forgot to put his finger on the top, and it sprinkled milk over him and Milo, who thought it was hilarious, waving his chubby little fists and babbling excitedly.

“Oops.” Course-correcting, he put his finger on the top, shook the bottle, and handed it to Milo. My baby ate up like it was going out of style, and we all laughed as Noah wiped his face.

In no time, we were sitting around the table, eating more pasta than an army could need. It was delicious, and the guys made sure that both Milo and I were completely taken care of. I didn't even need to bring my plate to the sink or get myself something to drink.

I had to admit…it was nice.

As dinner wound down, Milo yawned, his eyelids drooping, and I knew it was time to get him to bed. The post-milk sleepiness was real. I stood up, Marshall helping with getting Milo out of the high chair, and he handed him to me with a grin.

“I need to get him into the bath before bedtime. He’s a little messy.” Milo had taken the liberty of trying some red sauce. “But thank you. That was delicious. Can you wave good night, Milo?”

He stopped chewing on his hand to look up at the guys and wave, and oh, to see four alphas swooning over a baby. Smiling, I took Milo upstairs to begin his bedtime routine.

As far as nights with Pack Winters went, this had been a great first one.

Chapter 12

Marshall

It was the middle of the night, but I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was the omega sleeping a few doors down from me. Everything in me itched to go to her, but I resisted, which was about as fun as dieting when you were starving. I was giving myself bites of celery when I wanted a juicy burger.

Summer was just settling into our home, though. Now wasn’t the time to be pushy. She needed time to find her bearings. Four mates were a lot, and she also had a child to take care of. Learning to juggle all that would take time.

So instead of trying to sleep, I had made my way downstairs to the kitchen table and spread out all the books for the shop. I had a lot to go through, and because of my distaste for paperwork, I’d been putting it off for probably a lot longer than I should have.

The shop was a success. There was no doubt about that. Still, I needed to know exactly what was going on financially. A good business owner should know exactly what was happening, and I’d fallen behind.

As I went to rub my eyes, the darkness and the numbers starting to blur together, the sound of footsteps reached my ears.

Soft. Nothing like that of my pack mates.

I stilled, waiting to see if my suspicion was correct.

She was wearing nothing but a tiny pink slip nightie. My mouth watered at the sight of her padding into the kitchen. Silver-blonde waves fell over her shoulders, and her feet made soft, hushing sounds on the kitchen tile.

The nightdress she was wearing was so short, it hardly covered her ass. My cock sprang to attention, straining against my jeans, and it needed to calm the fuck down.

What was she doing up? Glancing at the wall clock, I was surprised to see it was four in the morning. I knew I had stayed up late doing those books, but four felt a little extreme.

She hadn’t noticed me sitting here at the table.