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“Well, you can help me. I’ve got to start putting all the food out on the table. They’re going to be here in a minute.” I reply since Rafe is now too busy making more mini pizzas, and it looks like last-minute cookies.
He honestly makes cookies so often that we have a constant supply. I’m guessing that because he’s making more, that means he wants me to put the ones that we have left in the pantry on the table with the rest of the food.
With Mason’s help, it doesn’t take us very long at all to get the food on the table, and Rafe was really underselling what he’d prepared when he said there were just a few salads and then a couple of extra things. In fact, there are already three plates of mini pizzas and some home-seasoned wedges, and I genuinely wish I knew what he put on them because they are fucking delicious. Unfortunately, no amount of me flashing him has convinced him to tell me, but I’ll keep doing it in the hopes that it will, which is probably why he hasn’t told me because he knows that I’ll keep flashing him if he doesn’t.
There was also already garlic bread on the table as well, and when he said buffet-style picky bits, I think what he meant to say was that he’d somehow managed to prepare an entire pizza party with dessert, and it all looks absolutely amazing. Because he’s already put so much out, it doesn’t take Mason and me very long to put the rest of the things on the table. Including some paper plates that we can burn at a later date to save on washing up, which we wouldn’t usually do, but because we’re having a lot of people here the next few days, and we’re doing several meals, lunch, and dinner, it just makes our lives a bit easier and keeps the stress levels down to a manageable level as well.
“Honey, I’m home!” Jynx’s voice sounds throughout the whole house.
Mason grins as he looks at me, “It never ceases to amaze me just how freaking loud she can be.”
I chuckle as I start to head toward the front door so I can greet them all, “Me neither.”
“Ever,” D greets me warmly as soon as he sees me and promptly wraps me up in a tight hug. “Missed you, Kid. It's been far too long since you’ve seen your Uncle D.”
Pretty much ever since I saved Jynx and brought her home, he’s insisted that I call him Uncle D, and I only really do in emotional situations; otherwise, he’s just D. I think he recognized that I needed an adult who I could trust and who I knew I could call on, and he gave me that. We may not have kept in contact over the years due to various reasons; my father destroying the phone that had his and Jynx’s numbers on soon put a stop to me contacting them, especially since I was stupid enough not to write them down anywhere else.
It's also always tugged at my heartstrings that he calls me Kid, which is what he calls Jynx. She knows it makes me feel a bit emotional, which is why she’s currently smirking at me before it turns into a softer smile.
“Hey D,” I reply as I step back, “and it has, but it’s understandable. We’ll need to make sure that we all get together at least once a year from now on.”
D’s icy blue eyes crinkle at the sides, his only sign of age apart from the slight salt and pepper in his dark hair. I suppose some would call him handsome; he’s well built and strong thanks to what he does, and he’s also covered in tattoos, with an olive complexion that makes his blue eyes sparkle. He’s got the incredibly intimidating thing down to a T, greatly helped by the fact that he’s six foot three.
“I am definitely up for that. Some family time without a job that we need to be on immediately sounds good to me,” Alaric grins, and while the others say hello to D, I smile and give Alaric a hug too.
“Hey, Alaric,” I reply with a smile, trying not to think about the Rylie situation.
Of course, he now knows me well enough that he mutters, too quiet for the others to hear, “As soon as everyone has their greetings out of the way, we can talk about the message that Atlas sent me.”
“Thank you,” I reply, meaning it.
Once everyone’s said their greetings, D steps forward and gestures to Ryan, who is the headmaster of Blackbreak. Although we didn’t have anything to do with him while we were there, it probably helps that we weren’t there for very long at all before everything changed. Ryan is smiling at the scene before him.
“I don’t remember you having quite so many piercings,” Peter says as his eyes land on Ryan, and I glance over at him to see him checking Ryan out and Elijah watching him, looking highly amused.
Ryan smirks, his black hair moving across his dark green eyes. Peter’s right; he does have piercings that I definitely would have noticed before. There's one in his eyebrow, nose, and lip, and when he talks, his tongue is clearly pierced. What Peter has missed is the tiny glimpse of tattoos that I can see peeking out of the neckline of his shirt. He’s definitely not what he portrayed at Blackbreak, but then we knew that he is, after all, best friends with D and Alaric, so I’m not too surprised.
“It wouldn’t exactly show the professional I am to all of those rich parents if they saw me like this,” Ryan grins.
“Oh, but could you imagine their faces,” Alaric smirks. “It would be so worth it. As soon as we can work out a way to get you out of that stupid fucking job, that’s how I think you should go out.”
Ryan bursts out laughing, and Peter leans forward to whisper in my ear, “Remember, there was something about him being forced to take the job because of inheritance and something else as well that made it more complicated. He’s trapped in it.”
“Shit, yeah, I forgot about that,” I reply.
Ryan shrugs, “It’s not too bad. I’ve got used to it now.”
“Fuck off, you hate it, and you’d much rather be doing jobs with me or even with D,” Alaric replies.
“Yeah, good point,” he looks around at us all and grins, adding, “Alright, now that I have successfully lowered the mood, I could do with a drink.”
That makes everyone chuckle as Ezra, Jensen, and Ace share a smile, and Ezra says, “Come with us. We’ve got you, Dude.”
“Sounds promising,” Ryan grins, and it makes him look younger, certainly younger than D and Alaric, although not by much, and the fact that he is responsible for such a prestigious academy that houses so many high-profile students has to be so much pressure.
“Hey, don’t leave me. I want alcohol too,” D calls out, rushing after them and looking like an excited kid, which is even more hilarious because of how deadly he is and how serious he usually takes everything else. I love that he feels like he can fully let his guard down and relax around us all.
Arms wrap around me, and I glance up and back to see Atlas smiling down at me. Alaric raised him, well, as much as he could before he managed to keep Atlas away from Liam entirely, and I know that he’s happy that his uncle is here and they get to spend some time together.