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“Of course,” Mila agreed. Harper got up and rushed over to where a massive muscular man was sitting at another table with Mikey. Silas had the much smaller, delicate Tag snuggled on his lap. Harper leaned over to give the pastry to Tag and then gave him a soft kiss. The moment Harper turned away, Tag broke the pastry in half and shared it with Silas.

It was so sweet Mila almost said “awwww” out loud.

“I’ll make sure to include them at least once a week in your bakery box,” Mila said to Harper as she retook her seat.

“Bakery box?” Harper asked, grabbing a cookie to pop in her mouth.

“The Pack House is my first customer. I’ll be delivering baked goods to you five days a week,” Mila explained, proud to declare it to everyone. Gio had only finished working the details out with Jesse yesterday, but now it was official.

Mila’s Sweets was a business!

“Congratulations!” Imani said. Most of her long, bright pink braids were twisted in a neat bun at the top of her head with several of them free and artfully framing her face. She was lithe and elegant, which should’ve made Mila feel dumpy and uncomfortable. Except this woman had the most open and genuine smile that Mila couldn’t help but like her!

“Thanks!” Mila said, flushing with happiness. “Gio did all the paperwork for me, and Carter helped me buy and haul ingredients around. He’s also going to help me deliver, even though he claims 4:00 a.m. is an ungodly hour to be awake.”

“He’s not wrong,” Harper said. “Silas, Tag, and I are lucky that we ended up together and not a member of a flock. Not that I have anything against–ow! Imani, why did you kick me?”

“What’s a flock?” Mila asked.

Harper blanched. “Um, well, it’s, uh…” Floundering, she looked around the table.

“How long have you been with Gio and Carter?” Cora asked. Her expression looked mildly concerned.

“About a month,” Mila said. “Why?”

“Because that’s a long ass time to be together and kept in the dark,” Briar said, then flinched. “Maddy, what the fuck? Don’t pinch me like that.”

Maddy and Imani exchanged a look Mila couldn’t interpret.

“What’s going on?” Mila asked, all her earlier happiness melting away as anxiety took over.

“You need to sit down with Gio and Carter and ask them to tell you, um…” Cora’s sentence trailed off as she searched for the right word. “Stuff.”

“Stuff,” Mila said with a shake of her head. “Can you be more specific? Are they in the mob?”

Cora's mouth dropped open at her question at the same time Briar barked out a laugh. “That’s the best guess ever!”

Mila flushed, feeling dumb. “Please don’t laugh at me. My other guess was way more stupid, so I went with one that was slightly plausible."

“She’s not laughing at you,” Imani said. “She’s laughing at the situation, I promise!”

Briar sobered. “I’m sorry Mila, I’d never laugh at you! Well, unless you got drunk and decided to go swimming in a fountain or something. But I think it’s fair to laugh at drunk people being cute.”

“Drunk swimming in a fountain isn’t cute, it’s a public menace," Maddy said. “And I don’t think you were finding it so funny when you almost drowned before I fished you out.”

“But I laughed later,” Briar responded, making Maddy’s expression go from unapproving to a reluctant smile.

“What was your other guess?” Harper asked. “My imagination sucks. I’d love to know what a creative person can think of.”

The sting of being laughed at diminished with Harper’s compliment. That gave Mila the courage to share the truly insane thoughts that were popping up more often lately.

“I thought Gio might be a vampire,” she admitted with a chuckle. “And Carter was his hellhound protector.”

The way everyone at the table went silent and stared at her wasn’t flattering.

“I know,” she said, filling the quiet with a forced laugh. “Very stupid!”

“Not stupid,” Harper said slowly.