Page 40 of Happily Ever After… Again and Again

“Just my girl here.” He pats Tsuki’s flank over his shoulder.

“Yourgirl?” Understandably, Nix is surprised.

Leo does not do animals as a rule. A holdover from his mother, he’s sure, but Tsuki has been growing on him. Her calm demeanor has brought him comfort lots of times. She’s persisted in her affection to win him over so he’d just…let her. Sometimes she’ll lie under the desk in the studio, warming his toes long after Jay has whisked Luca off to bed after he’d crashed from caffeine. Or she’ll sit in the kitchen in solidarity when Leo is trying to boil an egg or make microwave popcorn.

Why is that so hard?Is everyone burning it every time? What are the even instructions for if they don’t work?

He gets his brain back on track. “Of course. Do I have any other girls? No, I do not. Just Tsuki.”

“Well, she’s a good girl. Aren’t you, Tsuki?” Nix gets a doggy kiss for his trouble, and Leo gets a random dog foot to his shoulder for her efforts.

It occurs to Leo that Nix might be working up to something, so he waits it out. While he’s waiting, Grayson slips inside through the sliding glass doors. He waves an elegant hand in their direction as he heads out the front door and back into the cold toward the garage. A few minutes later, Grayson knocks on the glass on the patio to let them know he’s gone back to the Art House by circling the house from the front. Weird.

Leo wonders what he’s up to, but the fire is warm, with the only lightcoming from the kitchen where, sadly, dinner isnotbeing made.

“Come lie with me,” he whispers to Nix, shifting over so he can put his head on Leo’s belly with a small smile.

Their omega lifts the edge of Leo’s sage-colored t-shirt to blow a raspberry on the tiniest bit of belly before giggling. Lying his head back down, he runs a finger down Leo’s nose. He smells Finn’s soap and black currants, not sweet sugary vanilla.

“Are you…uh…are you okay with Finn’s idea? You seemed upset.” Nix slides his hand up under Leo’s t-shirt, up over his heart, until he can squeeze Leo’s pec. He kneads it in a self-soothing gesture, like a kitten making biscuits, while he waits for Leo to get his words out.

“I’m not upset.” Well, notexactly.

“But…” Nix knows him too well. Tsuki, too, if the second kick to his shoulder is anything to go by. But maybe that wasn’t on purpose, as she starts up a low doggy-snore.

“I like Christmas, you know? I like giving big gifts…it’s my thing.”

Nix thinks about that for a minute. “You like them to know you’re thinking of them? You like themreallyhappy.” It’s a pared-down explanation, but no less true in its simplicity.

“I do, but I can make them happy this way, too. I don’t mind. I just have to think of something. I’m not good at that shit.”

“Me either. But I sort of think that the harder it is to do, the more the person will appreciate your effort, you know?”

Huh. That makes sense.This will be extra hard for Leo, especially if he can’t throw money at it; maybe the answer lies there. “You give good advice. When did you get so smart?”

Nix pinches his nipple in retaliation.

“Ow! Hey now. Don’t start something, mister.”

“Oh, I’ll start itandfinish it!” He giggles.Yes, please.

Leo bats his hands away before he can really start something; before dinner, no less. “Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, doyouhave an idea for your person? Is it me?” Nix’s face falls a bit, and his cheeks go pink. “Is it me?You’re not—” Leo stops when Gideon blows past them, through to thecellar. The alpha stomps down the basement stairs. He doesn’t look at them or say hello or tell them when dinner will be. It’s weird, but they’re not dumb enough to get in the way of Gideon on a mission.

Nix raises an eyebrow and mouthsWhat’s with him?

Leo can only shrug.

There’s a bang, and Gideon storms back the way he’d come, carrying a liquor box. This time, he points at Leo. “Order dinner,” he grunts, before disappearing back up the stairs.

Leo is no fool, so he pulls his phone out of his sweats to order delivery. It’s not Gideon’s cooking, but it’ll do. Again. By the time he’s done the order and texted everyone that the ETA is forty-five minutes, Nix has added some more wood to the fire and gone to look out the newly replaced window that faces the glittering Art House.

Leo stands, too, so he can put his arms around Nix’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

Grayson has all the lights on in his domain, so it’s unlikely he’ll arrive for dinner on time. The alpha had looked like a man obsessed.

“I didn’t get your name, but…I’ve been working on something for a bit, and I was wondering if you’d help me? Finn said we can ask one person for help.”

“Me? I’m honored.” What could Leo do that Gideon, or Grayson, or Jay cannot?