Page 23

He polished off his burgers and snagged a beer from the fridge, then went back for the leftover sushi he’d ordered too much of yesterday. More than once, Caius had asked if he had a sushi tooth instead of a sweet tooth over the years. He was always glad to report that yes, yes he did.

Max’s eyebrows went up when Quinn sat back down and popped the lids off three different rolls, but he’d been with them long enough by now to know how much a shifter could eat.

After spending all day running around the woods as a wolf, he was starving.

He went back for a small dish, poured a generous amount of soy sauce into it, then mixed an entire wasabi ball into it. “I was thinking we should get a tree,” he said, eyeing Caius as he popped a large bite of delicious roll into his mouth.

Forget finding a cook. He really could eat sushi every day for the rest of his life.

Caius glanced at him before, unsurprisingly, looking at Max. “Do you want to pick one out?”

Max blinked when he realized Caius was talking to him, tearing his eyes away from Quinn’s sushi. “Really?”

Quinn hid a smile by shoveling more food into his mouth.

Max’s excitement was palpable, and he nearly vibrated with the effort to keep still.

“We should all go. We need decorations and shit too. Can make it a new pack tradition.” If they were going to make this their home, they needed to start it off right.

They couldn’t spend all their time worrying about the Order or the next mob hit.

He’d make some changes to his scrubbers so they weren’t taken by surprise again. Maybe even reach out to one of his friends who’d gotten into info brokering to help .

Lukas was oddly silent as he sipped the last of his soda. More silent than usual. He doubted most people would even notice since Lukas kept to himself most of the time. Sometimes Quinn was surprised he’d even joined the pack, but even a lone wolf knew better than to go packless.

Humans may have deceived themselves ages ago that they could exist as islands without unraveling, but shifters relied on pack more than humans ever relied on family.

Quinn stared and ate his sushi as Caius and Max worked out tree details, but Lukas never looked up. He knew the moment Lukas realized he was being watched when he went absolutely still, like when he settled in for a long wait with nothing but his gun and the other end of his viewfinder.

That was fine. He’d get some answers soon. Lukas wouldn’t have suggested game night for no reason.

He polished off the last bite of sushi and sat back with a groan, rubbing his food baby.

“Can’t believe you’re not sick,” Max muttered.

“You should try it sometime. You need some meat on those bones.”

Max scoffed. “I don’t see how you all eat enough for twenty people and aren’t fat.”

Quinn laughed. “Shifter metabolism.”

“Exercise doesn’t hurt either,” Lukas said, standing and dumping his trash.

“I exercise,” Quinn protested, crossing his arms when Lukas raised an eyebrow at him.

“Fuck you.” He picked up the empty containers and bottle and tossed them in the trash before glancing at Max.

“Games?” It was almost sickeningly cute when Max and Caius lingered a few more moments, their fingers locked together on top of the table.

Nothing like being attacked and nearly kidnapped to make one sentimental.

He headed downstairs and sprawled into the corner of his sofa, propping a foot on the edge of the table. “You two can pick,” he said, once Lukas and Max joined him.

“Anything but zombies,” Max said.

“I think that’s doable.” He motioned to the large cabinet that Lukas opened next to the TV, grinning when Max looked over and froze. Inside was almost every console ever made, and all the games Quinn could get his hands on. There was even an ancient Atari that once belonged to his older brother .

“Holy shit,” Max breathed, stopping a few inches away as if scared to touch anything. That only lasted a moment before he grabbed the newest Mario Kart and spun with a grin. “This?”

Quinn’s attention snagged on Lukas where he’d gone still again, his fingers lingering on the knob of the cabinet. “Oh, right. So, usually we make a bet,” he said, winking at Max’s suspicious look. “Since Lukas called for game night, he gets to set the terms.”

Lukas finally glanced at him, albeit briefly, before staring through the rows of games. “Loser blows the winners.”

Max fumbled the game as he whipped around to stare at Lukas, his eyes wide and a flush creeping up his neck.

Quinn couldn’t blame him; he was even more surprised. Usually their bets were making the loser eat some weird-ass food or doing the winner’s laundry for a week. Not once had they ever traded sexual favors, and he didn’t need to be a genius to realize the only difference this time was Max.

He ignored the sting of jealousy and grabbed the remote. “Fine with me. Max?”

Max made a high-pitched wheezing sound before coughing. “Sure?”

Quinn raised an eyebrow and motioned Max over, taking the game from him before grasping his chin. “You sure?” he asked. “You’re good regardless of who wins or loses?”

His face burned redder, but he met Quinn’s eyes. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Quinn forced a grin and turned on the TV.

“You good with the game?” he asked, glancing at Lukas, who hated racing games.

Lukas, surprisingly, preferred co-op games, though Quinn supposed when you could shoot a target from two miles out in real life, shooter games lost their appeal.

He preferred the zombie games himself. Eight years in the Marines with some asshole teams made the jump scares seem like child’s play.

“Yeah,” Lukas said, grabbing the controllers to pass to Max before hooking up the console.

Once they were set up, Quinn eyed Lukas again, tucked into the other end of the couch with Max between them. He still refused to look at either of them, but that was fine.

They took one practice round to let Max get familiar with the controls, but it was obvious from the start that he’d played before.

By the second round, Quinn realized Lukas was intentionally losing.

Not that he really stood a chance with Max playing dirty despite claiming innocence, but Quinn knew Lukas’ play style.

He would never hold on to a blue shell if he was actually serious about the game.

He’d never met anyone who could resist using the blue shell, even if they blew themselves up with it.

That was all the proof he needed. He might not have much of a chance of beating the cheating demon himself, but if Lukas wanted to lose to Max that badly, Quinn could at least ensure it happened without too much of a fight.

Max won three rounds before side-eyeing Quinn. “Are you letting me win?”

“No, you’re cheating.” He grunted as Max’s elbow jabbed his rib. Just for that, he won the next round by flopping onto Max halfway through the track and squishing him into the sofa.

Max lost his controller, trying in vain to push Quinn off. “Lukas!” he called, laughing as Quinn wiggled and shoved a pillow over his face. “Help!”

Lukas reached over and shoved a hand in Quinn’s face to push him off, his scent spiking sharply with annoyance as he glared at the screen. “We gonna play or what?”

Quinn winced and sat back, clearing his throat as he started up the next race. “Yup, sure. Final race. Winner takes all,” he said, ignoring Max and the confused look he shot at both of them. He’d figure it out himself shortly how territorial Lukas could apparently be.

They were all deathly silent for the final race.

Quinn even managed to snag one of the shortcuts Max had been using the entire time, taking first for a few moments before a blue shell knocked him out.

He thought it was Lukas’ for a moment, but then Max sped by him, cackling like a madman and crossing the finish line a few seconds later.

“Little cheat. How’d you get that?”

Max stuck his tongue out in answer, and Quinn nearly retaliated by biting it, but he didn’t want to risk losing his head.

“Enjoy your blowjob. I need some ice cream,” he said, setting his controller on the table as he got up.

Max squawked and grabbed his hand. “You’re not leaving,” he said, his voice a couple octaves higher.

Quinn risked a glance at Lukas, whose knuckles had gone white on his own controller. “You’re the winner. ”

“I said winners ,” Lukas snapped, his amber eyes flashing with his wolf as he finally looked at Quinn. “If you weren’t okay with the bet, you should have said so.”

“I am fine with it, but you two should enjoy yourselves.” Why were they both making such a big deal about this when he was trying to give Lukas what he wanted?

Max gave a sharp tug on his hand that brought him back down to the couch. “What is going on?” he demanded, looking from Quinn to Lukas. Quinn wasn’t sure what he could have possibly seen with his inferior human senses, but the long, drawn out, “Ohh,” was irritating enough that he glared.

“Ohh what?”

Max smirked at him before turning to face Lukas, placing both hands on his cheeks and making Lukas face him. “Kiss me.”

Quinn bristled, digging his nails into the arm of the sofa.

Lukas glanced at him over Max’s shoulder before Max slid a hand to Lukas’ chin.

“Eyes on me,” he ordered.

Well, that was surprising. Max had seemed anything but dominant the entire time he’d been here, except when he got mad. Granted, it had only been a few weeks. Max was still feeling out his place with them.

He looked away as Lukas leaned in for a kiss, forcing his claws to recede when he realized they were on the verge of ripping his sofa to pieces.

He pressed his palm against his mouth and tried to ignore the fact that Max was kissing the man he’d been pining over for years. Who was only interested in mages.

“Now kiss Quinn.”