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“Nope. Nope, no, no, no, you… Hensley!”

I eased Neko out of her arms and without worrying about an audience or my ex; I captured his lips in a searing kiss. If I wasn’t noble and my conscience hadn’t nagged at me to feed my man, I would have whisked Neko upstairs and laid my claim to him in the most primal way possible.

“Oh, yuck, please, not in front of the children,” Yu whined.

“I’m hungry. Are we ever going to eat?” Ri complained.

“Good job, husband of mine. We make fine looking kids,” Reo chuckled.

“That we do,” George sounded proud.

There was a loud snore from Echo before her head dropped off her hand. By some miracle, her forehead landed on the hand flat against the table, before she continued snoring.

And then there was Hensley, who stood there, cackling at the top of her lungs.

Fuck my life.

Yet, with the man I wanted above all others in my arms, it was perfect.

Chapter 7

Neko-Ren

I floatedthrough the next several minutes as Graham directed me toward the stove and I cooked up breakfast. I swayed into Graham whenever he stood close, because his last kiss blew my mind. He left me panting with a semi I struggled to hide in a pair of leggings. But the hoodie draped past my thighs, covering me. With desire thrumming through me, I’d almost forgotten about the reason for his distraction.

It was a good thing I had years of experience with cooking, because after dicing up three avocados and red onions while sautéing the sausage, I glanced down to find the food laid out, ready to serve, and I couldn’t remember doing so. When we sat down, Graham finished with the dozens of waffles, unplugged the iron, and snagged the maple syrup from the fridge. I only remembered his ex when she sat next to me.

I blinked at her. “Oh, Hensley, I’m sorry. I didn’t ask you if there was any food you can’t eat.”

Her plucked and perfect eyebrows furrowed, and she asked, “Is this because you think I starve myself?”

“No, I’m not insinuating anything, although I’ve known you for about an hour and all that I’ve gleaned is that you smell fucking fantastic and your face is symmetric and enchanting. The reason I asked is that I don’t want to find out the hard way along with the added fun of an epinephrine auto-injector in the thigh that cilantro makes your throat close up, leaving you gasping for breath. Full disclosure, wheezy sounds freak me out, and I’m telling you now I’d pass out before we could rush you to the hospital or call for an ambulance. I’m shit during an emergency.”

“Isn’t that the fucking truth? You don’t want Neko by your side when you’re dying. Graham would be calm. And the twins would demand the job of jabbing you in the thigh. So, if you are allergic to cilantro, by all means,” Echo growled.

I blinked at my best friend and noticed the irritability coming off her in waves. “I love you too, E.”

Her answering smile made me relax.

“Quite a dramatic speech, but no, I’m not allergic.”

“Thank fuck, because we can eat now. Right?” Ri scowled at me.

“Yes, Chaos, we can eat. Here are the waffles your brother promised you,” Graham smirked, passing the plate over to the twins.

The multitude of tacos created, scarfed, and moaned over made my head spin and in the middle of the melee, I stood to make another carafe of coffee and started another set of waffles. By the time we finished eating, I’d drooped against Graham as he rubbed my back in a soothing way.

My average charity streams were anywhere from four to five hours long, but with yesterday’s clocking in at eight and a half hours, exhaustion made my movements slow and reckless. Even with the four-hour nap and the entire night’s sleep.

Curiosity was the one thing that kept me alert.

“How did you know Graham was here?”

Hensley smiled. “His parents called me Saturday night and weren’t making sense, saying something about him outing himself and a younger boyfriend. I told Charles he was mistaken, but Holly insisted. I was in New York and since it’s an hour and a half drive, I headed this way after the fashion shoot. They told me Graham’s home address, but the place was dark with no sign of life. I peeked through the window and noticed he doesn’t even have a couch. I figured I knock on the neighbor’s doors and I lucked out.”

“It’s because he’s lived here since they met,” Ri said.

“What? You… talk to my parents? And they know where I live?”