Page 82 of Knot Convenient

“Should we schedule some time to practice?” Marshall, ever the fixer, offered.

“No, no. Just let me enjoy walking for a bit longer.”

Marshall nodded, still smiling, and I went back to my food with a plan set for tomorrow—even if it did rain.

I had been blessed with only a small amount of rain as I walked with Milo to story time at the library. We were now warm and snug inside as a lovely woman with some adorable puppets read a book to the kids gathered around the little stage. Milo loved the colors and funny voices, and when she finished, several moms hung out in the little play area, so I let Milo have some fun.

He was so close to walking, and it was a treat to see him interact with the other babies, even if there were a few tears over toys that weren’t shared.

As he entertained himself with a book that had a mirror in it, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of the diaper bag and read the text from Noah to the group.

Noah

Let’s do a bigger dinner. It looks like someone forgot his lunch in the fridge.

Oh, no. He can’t not eat.

Tobias

All those amazing leftovers going to waste.

I checked the time, and it was about an hour before Noah’s lunch break. It wouldn’t take me too long to walk there from the library, and I was certain there was a deli on the way. I could grab him a sandwich. So, I scooped up Milo, took our books to the checkout, and then we were off.

The rain had thankfully died off, and I walked quickly to the deli to make sure I’d have time to snag Noah a sandwich and still make it over there.

“Hi, what can I get you?” The young woman behind the counter smiled.

I didn't know what Noah liked best, so I went with a classic. “Turkey club, please.”

She punched it in, and I paid as Milo babbled, and of course, I wound up buying him a shortbread cookie to gnaw on. He was thrilled, and with my sandwich in hand, which was honestly enormous, I headed off toward the school.

As we got inside the main office, I waited at the desk for someone to assist me. After the short-haired woman in a bright red cardigan got off the phone, she greeted me. “Hello, how can I help you?”

“Hi.” I smiled, leaning on the counter since my feet were a little sore now. “I’ve brought Mr. Winters his lunch. He forgot it.”

The woman’s brows rose as her face brightened. “Oh, I see. I can have it dropped off with him if you’d like.”

“Actually, I was hoping to walk it back to him, so we could say hi. Is that all right?”

She blinked, then nodded, a renewed smile when she saw Milo. “Oh, sure. Hi there, buddy. I’ll have you sign in here as a visitor, and you can go bring it to him.”

I signed in and got a name tag that read visitor from the assistant, and then she directed me to his classroom.

“Okay, little dude. Let’s take Noah his lunch.”

Chapter 36

Noah

Going back to work after helping Summer through her heat had been a lot harder than I had imagined. Every time the scent of tea hit me, my entire body reacted without thought. It felt like being a teenager again.

Thankfully, I had a rare free period, so I was in my classroom grading papers and cooling off. Honestly, I hated that the district mandated so many tests because it meant more homework for me. Plus, we all knew they didn’t really work the way the state thought they did.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. I loved teaching. Hated grading.

I was essentially wasting time, going through the same paper again and again when I could be spending time with my mate.

Never before had I been so eager to get home. Don’t get me wrong—I loved my pack and enjoyed spending every moment I could with them. But now, knowing that Summer was waiting for me, it was almost impossible to focus. Usually, I would stay behind after classes to get my grading done, but now I was determined to get it done in my free periods so I could get back as soon as possible and be with her.