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“We will marry the heck out of you, Nix Rhodes,” Luca whispers.

“Really? Finn said Weres rarely do that. But I always wanted to wear white. Maybe not a dress, though. Luca, I know what you’re thinking, and no, thank you.Youcan,though.”

Nix rubs his nose on Jay’s and then licks it for good measure, before he and Luca head off to one of the big black Escalades, engrossed in talk of dresses and beach weddings.

“Married? Are you serious?” Gideon asks, a small, indulgent smile on his face.

Why the fuck not?And he says so.

“You’d look pretty in a dress too, love,” Jay croons in Gideon’s ear, lips grazing his soft skin just to feel him shiver before he grabs two of the larger bags.

He turns around, walking backward so he can watch as Gideon “reboots” right there on the tarmac. It’s so fucking sexy.

“Come on, sweetheart.”

Gideon gives his head a shake. “I will make you so sorry.Sweetheart, your ass.”

He grabs the last two bags and puts them in the back of the second Escalade. Then, his head snaps up, and he walks around to the front of that car, where Rowan is making a scene once more.

Here we go again.

Jay crosses his arms, ready to back Gideon up for what is sure to be an argument.

“No, Rowan. I prefer my mates alive and in their current bodily configuration, and that includes you. Go sit on the other side.”

“But I have a perfect driving record—unless you count those two collisions. I wasn’t even going that fast,” Rowan grumbles.

“No,” Jay says. “Rowan, you’re with me, Nix, and Luca. You good, Gideon? Just stay close—we’re only thirty-five minutes out. Finn has the address and the key code if we get separated.”

“You can apologize to me then, Jaybird.”

Jay has to laugh as Gideon slams the driver’s side door. He’ll look forward to it.

And Infinite Power (Jay)

Lauren had arranged the two big black SUVs, and they were a classically safe choice, large enough to carry four mates each and all their luggage.

While Gideon and Grayson had thoughtfully restricted themselves to a single duffle, the others, including himself, had gone a little overboard. Luca had packed two full bags, and given that he only ever wore half an outfit at any given moment, it gave Jay pause about what might be in those two large bags.

Even after Gideon’s lecture to Rowan about safety, Jay feels strange driving in his old city after so long, though he soon falls into old habits. It should be a fairly simple drive straight up the Bayside Bridge rather than the side streets.

It was immediately nostalgic and brought to mind the last time he’d ridden this route with his father in the driver’s seat and his mother talking non-stop about all the places he should look up while he was in Nashville. He’d done nothing of the sort, given he’d been in an alpha hotel, then his apartment, and finally in an enigma detention cell, overwrought with grief. And after that, he just hadn’t cared enough about anything for a long time.

But if he pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind, Jay can feel more than the sadness that colors the edges of all the bad memories. He lets some of those golden ones—the ones that he’d been talking about more and more with Nix—settle in the forefront.

“Good, Baby Boy?” he asks, one eye on the rearview image of his happy, vanilla-bread-scented mate.

“I’m good, Jamie. I…if we can, do you think wecan drive by my old place? Maybe see some of the other places we used to go? I feel like those memories are a dream.”

Jay understands what he’s saying; so many recent memories have overshadowed the old ones, and it’s hard to recall the smallest and happiest of details. Jay would hate for his beloved to be disappointed, though, because time changes more than people.

“It might not be the same, you know?”

“Yeah, of course. Only if we have time,” Nix murmurs.

“We’ll make time. We didn’t come all this way to murder someone and not see your favorite spots.”

Luca makes “serious eyes” at Jay, warning him to keep his negativity to himself.