Chapter 22
Back at Apex, Tyce helped Briel out of the Humvee and, per her demand for him to let her “help pull her weight”, he loaded her arms with bags of greasy burgers and still-warm fries. Shane grabbed the remainder and headed into the house with Briel while Tyce stood outside for a moment to gather himself as he watched Briel disappear inside. It felt right having her here. He wondered for the hundreth time just how he’d get her to accept him and her place at his side, because while he liked having her safe in his home, he couldn’t stop his constant thoughts about making her his in every way. Since meeting her he’d had a severe case of blue balls, and according to both Dr. Ames and Conn, there was a reason that masturbating wasn’t working. Nature wanted him to claim his mate. He ached for the same.
Stepping inside, he was annoyed to find James lounging on the stairs. Half of his body was leaning haphazardly over the banister like he’d been waiting for Tyce.
Certain he didn’t want to deal with James right now, Tyce rolled his shoulders in an attempt to alleviate some of the tension resting there. He’d hoped to make his afternoon with Briel relaxing and fun, and he knew he’d failed miserably. He’d made her cry and now James was beaming down at him with a doofy grin.
“Hey Dom, how was lunch?”
Tyce had always been annoyed by the truncation of ‘Dominant’ as a nic-name. “Dominant,” he snapped correcting James and then answered. “Not perfect.”
“Well, shit!” James stood straight, folding his arms over his chest to frown down at Tyce. “Wanna tell me about it? Maybe I can tell you where you went wrong.”
“James,” Tyce ground out, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “What. Do. You. Want?”
James grinned. “Twins! Tall blondes with double D’s.” He unfolded his arms and cupped his hands out in front of his own chest, staring down at the imagined globes excitedly.
Letting his head fall back, Tyce’s eyes pinched shut while his jaw worked. Inwardly, he prayed for patience. “James?”
“Yeah, Dom?”
“Go away.”
“You sure? I’m great at giving relationship advice, and I…”
Tyce lowered his head and leveled James with a lethal glare that had the Walker Sentry clicking his teeth together as he backed up a step.
“Did you hear that?” James jerked his head to the side but kept his eyes on Tyce as he raced down the stairs and headed for the kitchen. “I think Conn is yelling for me.”
They both knew he wasn’t.
Turning, James walked backward, keeping his eyes on Tyce. “Yup!” He lifted a hand to his ear, straining like he’d just heard something. “Conn needs my help. Gotta skedaddle.”
Watching James turn and jog down the corridor, Tyce wondered absently if Monroe would take James on at StoneCrow if he offered him enough cash.
***
Briel sat with Fena settled into a seat between her and Tyce at the long oak table in the formal dining room that seated an astounding twenty. When they’d gotten back to Apex, the Sentries and the staff had crowded the kitchen to snag some food. Amused by the attempted grab and dash, Briel fisted the bags in her hands, clutching them to her chest protectively and suggesting, “Maybe we could all eat together?”
Everyone frozen, and silence filled the kitchen until the swinging door squeaked open with Tyce’s entry. Without hesitation, he crossed to Fena, who’d been sitting on the kitchen island in front of Briel. Scooping her into his arms, he nuzzled her cheek a moment before declaring, “You heard her.” He jerked his chin toward the cabinets. “Lok, James, grab plates. Conn, you got drinks. Pyper and Shane, get condiments.” He turned to Aries who stood near Conn with Wynter propped on her hip. “I’m assuming Bragg and Bronco are on patrol?”
Aries nodded.
“After we eat, can you make sure they get their share?”
Aries grinned. “You betcha, boss.”
“Good.” He turned to Briel, sliding an arm around her shoulders. “Then to the dining room we head, to eat like the civilized.”
Briel couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled up. Her life was so surreal right now. Shape shifters, Sentries, millionaires, badass bitches, and surgeons. Tyce’s ragtag team at Apex was actually starting to grow on her, especially James, who had a way of putting Tyce so off center that it was a joy to watch. It was also a joy to be sitting in the most elegant and formal dining room she’d ever seen while dressed in ripped jeans and with a greasy burger and salted pile of fries sitting atop an intricately painted fine china plate.
Conn circled the table setting out cans of Coke in front of each plate. Luckily, Aries followed with two large glasses of milk for the girls.
“Look, sissy.”
She looked down to find Fena with two French fries sticking out of her top lip like walrus teeth.
“Fena,” she laughed, “Don’t play with your food. Eat, nerd.”
Fena laughed hard, enjoying the nickname they took turns calling each other, and pulled the fries out of her mouth, holding them up toward Tyce. Briel was surprised when he laughed and bent immediately to bite the ends off both with an animalistic snarl that made Fena squeal excitedly and reach for two more fries. Fena didn’t see Tyce spit the fries into a napkin and hide them under the table. Briel did though, and balked. She worried that he was concerned about germs or his weight, or something equally as foolish, but when he caught Briel watching him, he quickly informed her, “I can’t eat just now.” His scarred lips twisted up in a sad smile. “Part of that me being ill thing I was telling you about.”
Sure enough, everyone got a plate with burgers and fries except for Tyce. Conn didn’t even place a coke or water in front of him.
Worried, Briel watched Tyce and Fena interact. He kept biting the tips off her fries before finally telling her she had to eat some too. It was nice that he was willing to play games with Fena, but not to the extent that she didn’t eat. Watching them together, Briel decided that he’d make a good father, and then was surprised by the ache of longing that started throbbing in her chest with the realization. Before stupid emotion could pool in her eyes, she turned and eyed the table. Suddenly, she was aware of just how good it felt to be surrounded by people for once.
She’d spent the better part of her adult life alone. At times she worried about becoming a hermit because she was a stay at home writer and, with the advent of food delivery and online shopping, she really hadn’t had much reason to venture out. It wasn’t until her father had run out and left her with Fena that Briel had started going out more and more. By then though, she felt awkward, like an outsider. Half the time she wondered if people could tell that she wasn’t used to social interaction. The other half, she just wanted to go back inside. But this, this was nice.
Tyce sat at the head of the table—of course—with Fena to his right and Briel beside her. On his left were Conn, then Wynter and Aries. Beside her, James was making a show of trying to fit an entire burger in his mouth while Shane chewed slowly, finally pointed a fry at him. “If you choke on that shit, I am not giving you mouth-to-mouth.”
James tried to retort around the bite only to start choking, and everyone at that end of the table jumped up…except for Shane, who kept right on chewing with a bored look on his face. It was hilarious and fun, and when Aries finished using her finger to hook the last of the burger out of James’ mouth, he coughed once before frowning up at her. “You ruined my shot at the record!”
Briel laughed again when Conn slapped him hard on the back of the head. It felt so good, it took her a moment to realize that she didn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. Warmth filled her, and when the table settled down, she looked over at Tyce. He was quietly watching her, wearing an intense expression as if his eyes had been on her the whole time.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, and Briel dipped her head as a flush seared her cheeks.
It was the second time that day he’d said that to her, and both times he’d done so in front of everyone like he didn’t care what they thought. She admired his boldness and wondered if he knew just how romantic he was being. Looking up, she gave him what he deserved, which was her eyes locked on his as she replied sincerely, “Thank you, Tyce.”