Chapter 827 Chapter 827
Jake pulled his shirt over his head and looked around. Someone had set all of his clothes, even his boots from the truck in a neat pile outside the gate.
“I could get used to this.” Blair walked over. “Having my stuff neatly folded and waiting.”
Jake nodded. “Saves trying to remember where you left them.”
Kobie walked by them. “Let me check that the girls are dressed.”
They nodded and looked at each other.
“Annamarie was aggressive and fast.”
Blair laughed. “McKenna ran circles around us.”
Jake picked up his jacket. “So, when guys shift the first time, they run like the wind.” Blair shrugged. “But these women, it’s like they have to check every muscle and push every boundary.”
Blair scoffed. “I’ve noticed that.” He looked at the gate and smiled.
Jake looked to see Kobie standing there, nodding.
They went back into the yard. Annamarie and McKenna, along with a few others, were there. They both looked so happy.
Jake searched for Rory and didn’t see her. What had happened to her when she’d started shifting? The two girls today—their reactions were the norm, happy and excited. What had been so different for Rory that she’d decided to pretend her animal didn’t exist?
The back door opened and Nora stood in it. “Prepared some food.” She called out.
That got the attention of everyone that had just been for an invigorating run.
Jake returned Annamarie’s big grin and started for the house. Rory was probably in there sitting in a corner, feeling out of place and outnumbered. Jake himself didn’t care if there were thirty people around or none. He was good either way.
He glanced over at the sitting area as he stepped inside. She wasn’t there. Taking off his boots, he walked toward the kitchen and stopped. Rory was on the other side of the island counter with Aspyn sitting on it helping her arrange food on a tray. She was smiling and talking. She turned and spoke to Emersyn and then saw him and smiled. His cat, head, and groin all pulsated at the same time.
“You okay?” Kelsey stood in front of him. “You look like you just ate a nasty bug.”
Jake gave her a blank look and then nodded. “Yeah. Just—” He patted his stomach. “Starving.”
Kelsey chuckled. “Guess the girls gave you a workout.” She turned and went over to the long table.
Noah came up beside him. “Every time I see her, I feel like I’m having a heart attack.”
He said it so quietly that Jake wasn’t sure if he meant to say it out loud. “I think it’s supposed to be that way.” He looked at him and then turned to look at Rory again. She was coming toward him. He knew he was standing there like a deer in headlights, but he couldn’t get his brain and limbs to coordinate together. She looked happy. The kind that erased the stress lines from your face and lit your eyes with a sparkle.
“Emersyn said she was going to have to start working out before more of the younger ones started shifting.” She stopped in front of him.
Jake exhaled without having taken a breath in and almost gasped out loud. “Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. They’re fast.” He searched her face. What had changed while he was gone?
She held his look for a moment. “Yes.”
He hadn’t asked a question. Was she saying yes to them being fast?
Amusement filled her eyes to the baffled look he knew was on his face. “Yes. I’ll go to Chicago.” She looked around and nodded. “If there are more out there that lived through what these kids have, then I want to be somewhere to help them.”
Jake’s heartbeat sounded like a drum in his head. His cat was silent and waiting for what he didn’t know. His thinking was broken.
“Okay?”
He nodded and checked that his breathing was under control now. “Okay, " he smiled. She put her hand on the center of his chest and leaned closer. Jake’s cat was alert now.
“The other thing,” she whispered, “us.”
He was afraid to move.
“I think we should explore it and not judge too quickly.” She patted his chest twice and then turned and walked away.
Jake stood there and watched her go back to the counter. His cat prodded him, and he honestly couldn’t focus enough to figure out if he was telling him to follow her or just expressing the joy of what she said. He looked at the floor.
“Are you having some kind of seizure?”
He jerked his head around to see Cooper standing behind him. He blinked. “What? No.”
Coop snorted. “You have that same messed up look Blair walked around with on his face for weeks.” He smiled. “It’s entertaining.” He moved by him and went and sat at the table.
Jake didn’t even know Cooper was over here. He’d been at the Ed’s with Mari when they’d left. When had he come over here? He checked Mari wasn’t standing behind him, so no one else would sneak up on him. With slow steps, he moved toward the table and sat in the first chair he reached. He probably just needed to refuel. Things could get foggy when you were low after a run. Rory laughed, and Jake’s whole body tingled. Nope, not low energy, that wasn’t his issue. He turned in his chair and watched Rory bring a tray to the table. They could set forty options on this table right now, and the only thing he’d crave would be her.
Blair slapped him on the shoulder as he sat beside him. “You should uh,” He leaned closer. “—close your mouth. You look like a slobbering dog right now.”
Jake scowled and gave him a quick look. “You should put some food in your face and stop talking.”
Blair chuckled and then reached over for a platter of sandwiches. “That’s my plan. What’s yours?”
Plan? Jake glanced at Rory where she sat beside her uncle. He had no idea what his plan was. None.