The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)(28)

Today, she wanted to enjoy the holiday. Last year had been a tense morning with Leo coming over to the house and having a small lunch with them, just the three of them, Laurel fortunately oblivious to the adults’ discomfort. Either that, or they were just that good of actors and didn’t know it.

This year, nothing was forced about Eva’s happiness. She was happy for Leo and Jesse, and they loved the personalized “First Christmas” ornament she’d bought for them for their tree.

A live tree the four of them had picked out together and brought home and decorated.

Their pack.

And they’d given Laurel a necklace much like the ones Jesse and Eva wore, with the same kind of tag with a purple background, her favorite color. The tribal fish pattern, with the three adults’ initials on the back. And Leo had bought one for himself, too, in black.

“Now we all match!” Laurel delightedly said as Eva put it on for her. “Our pack matches! Aah-ooooh!” She threw her head back like a little wolf, making the adults smile.

If only she knew, Eva thought.

As the three of them—and Laurel—got lunch prepared, the house started filling with the delicious aromas of a feast in the making. Once Nate arrived a little after ten, Eva felt the day was perfect. When Cherise and Wade arrived shortly before noon, it got even better as Cherise showed off her new engagement ring.

Soon thereafter, the men all gathered in the backyard and contemplated the instructions for cooking the bird.

“I’m glad Wade’s a paramedic,” Eva only half-joked to Cherise.

Cherise stood there on the lanai with a smile. “Me, too. Don’t worry. I don’t know about those two, but Nate’s pretty handy with instructions.”

They watched as the men put the thawed bird in the pot and partially filled it with water. A few minutes later, they were firing up the propane cooker and setting the pot with pre-measured oil on the burner. They’d dried and spiced the turkey and resubmerged it in the oil once the temperature was right.

Jesse stood back, fire extinguisher ready, just in case.

Fortunately, nothing bad happened.

Eva let out a relieved breath. “It’s not that I don’t have faith in them,” she said, “but they are men.”

Laurel tsked at her. “Mommy. Daddy and Poppa are good cooks. So is Uncle Nate.”

Laurel, who usually got to help prepare meals, had been extremely indignant that she wasn’t allowed into the backyard to help by a unanimous vote of the adults.

“Sorry,” Eva said, sharing a wink with Cherise. “My bad.”





Nate was glad Cherise had agreed to the change in their usual plans. It wasn’t too much of a change, because she and Wade were going to Wade’s parents later for supper.

Yes, Wade had popped the question the night before, and Cherise had called Nate soon after to crow about it and only scolded him a little bit for keeping the secret from her for several weeks.

This was a season of changes. Cherise building her life, and now he was left to reform his once again, picking up where he’d left off at the age of twenty-one.

Trying to yank himself out of his rut and into new routines wasn’t easy for him, but he was trying.

Eva, and Laurel, were worth trying for. He knew the odds of him ever having a child of his own at his age were getting slimmer all the time. The closer he grew to Eva, the more he hoped this would end up being permanent. Laurel’s feisty ways reminded him so much of Cherise at her age, it was nice having a child in his life again, even if it meant having to watch what he said around her.

His friendship with Jesse and Leo had deepened as well. If he’d had brothers, he hoped this is how it would have been. Jesse seemed happy about it, too, after several holidays alone because of his family disowning him.

That boggled Nate’s mind, that someone in this day and age could be so small-minded.

After Wade and Cherise left, they had A Christmas Story playing on the TV. Laurel was asleep, sprawled on the living room floor, a new My Little Pony figurine clutched in her hand. Nate was stretched out on one end of the couch with Eva lying against him, her feet in Leo’s lap on the other end. Jesse sat on the floor in front of the couch, leaning against Leo’s legs.

The symbolism wasn’t lost on Nate. The men had to innocently slip in their kink where they could. Jesse was Leo’s slave, and it wasn’t like the man could kneel naked on the floor with a seven-year-old running around.

“This was the best Christmas ever,” Jesse softly said, blindly reaching up to first pat Eva’s arm, and then Nate’s leg, Jesse’s other arm looping around Leo’s leg next to him. “Thank you, all of you.”

She reached over with her bare foot and lightly ruffled Jesse’s hair. “Thank you,” she said. “And you know why.”

That intrigued Nate, but he didn’t ask. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

Eva tipped her head back and looked up at him. “Thank you for coming over today.”

He leaned in and kissed her. “Thank you for having us over. This was great.”

And it was. He could, in all honesty, say this was the best Christmas he’d had since…

Since that day.

Eventually, Leo and Jesse got Laurel put to bed and retreated to their bedroom, leaving Eva and Nate alone in the living room.

Eva rolled onto her side, facing him, and looked up. “You know how you talked about more intimate play?”