I look to the guys in an effort to gauge their reactions.
“If you need help, we are here for you,” Zeph states simply.
“It’s the least we could do after all that you’ve done for us,” Treno adds.
“I like pizuus, so if we can have more of that, I’m in,” Ryn teases.
I laugh. “Pizza,” I correct, saying it slowly.
“I know, that’s what I said,” he replies, confused.
I crack up—oh man, this is going to be so much fun.
My text alert chimes, and all three of the guys stare at my phone warily. Oh yeah, so much fucking fun.
I open my messages to see I have a new one from an unknown number.
Hello Falon, this is Teo. I’d like to come by and make arrangements for our cars. Let me know what time works for you, and my pack and I will stop by. I think there might be some other things we should all discuss.
I read the message a second time and then shoot off a reply. I’m not sure what he thinks I’d want to discuss with his pack, but whatever, a job’s a job.
Hi Teo, I’m available whenever. Text when you get to the shop and I’ll meet you.
My phone chimes immediately.
We’ll be there in thirty.
I get to my feet. “I have some work that needs to be done, so I’m just going to hop in the shower. Do you guys need anything? More food? Coffee?”
Ryn, Treno, and Zeph all get to their feet, and I start shaking my head. “No, you guys cannot come in this time. I need to be dry and presentable in twenty minutes,” I warn them.
“I can work with that,” Treno declares salaciously.
“How long is a minute again?” Ryn asks, and I bark out a laugh and hold up an angry this is not happening finger.
“I’m serious,” I tell them, and then I leap over the back of the couch and sprint for the bathroom. If I can get the door locked and myself clean without any orgasms, it will be a miracle. Can I get an amen!
27
“Shit, I’m fucking late,” I growl as I pull the wifebeater over my head and thread my arms through it. I pull on a mustard yellow slouchy sweater over it and fluff my just-dried hair.
I pretty much have an orgasm every time I use conditioner now, which really makes things difficult when I’m trying hard to get in and out of the shower quickly. It also doesn’t help when your mates break down the door and proceed to try and give you more orgasms. What can I say, I’m a weak woman.
Speaking of asshole mates, they all tromp down the stairs behind me in sweats that aren’t nearly long enough for their incredibly tall legs, and shirts that are way too tight. But I figure my new potential client and his pack will prefer that over them being naked, so here we are. I make my way to the front of the shop and look out the window to see eight coat-clad bodies. I look around at my front lobby area, which is currently being dwarfed by my massive gryphon mates, and decide to conduct whatever this meeting is in the two garage bays I have open. I go through the side door, a chill running up my spine at the drop in temperature from the well-insulated lobby to the garage.
“Is this a cahh?” Treno asks, rubbing a hand over the metal hood of the Seaman SUV.
I smile, remembering the first time he said car like he was from Boston on our little picnic back in Kestrel. It’s crazy to think about how much has happened and that they’re even here in my world, touching things I never thought they’d see.
“It is. We call that a Toyota Highlander,” I tell him over my shoulder as I rush to press the button that opens the bay doors.
Treno, Ryn, and Zeph all seem to be distracted for a moment, feeling up Mrs. Seaman’s SUV. A smile sneaks over my face, and I quickly make a list of all the other weird things I’m sure they’d be fascinated by in this world.
Snow spills in as the bay door creaks and groans in protest of being forced to work in these temperatures, and I add it to my list of things I need to look at and possibly oil. The door finally crawls high enough for Teo and his pack to slip in, and as soon as it seems the bodies have stopped slipping into the bay, I reverse its trajectory, blocking out the brittle wind that seems intent on helping us freeze to death.
“Sorry about the cold,” I offer Teo. “My lobby isn’t that big, and I figured a group this size might want a little more space.”
I feel Zeph, Ryn, and Treno walk up behind me, and one by one the eyes widen in Teo’s pack as they take in the giants behind me.
“By the stars, and I thought you were big, Knox,” a male says with wavy brown hair that’s pulled back in a man bun. He’s good looking, and his hazel eyes seem to scan up and up and up behind me.
“Did they bottle feed them Human Growth Hormone since birth?” the hazel-eyed male asks, and the male next to him chuckles.
I realize they’re twins—apparently, you put a beanie on one and it takes my brain a while to see that they look exactly alike. In addition to Teo and the twins, there’s five more people: a guy with medium brown hair and bright blue eyes, a bigger dude who must be the Knox guy one of the twins
