Avery shook his head. “No. But I’m sure you’ll see her soon. She likes you.”

I liked her, too. But Ben’s sister wasn’t the thing weighing most on my mind. “Do I have to tell the others? About what we talked about?”

“I think it’s important for them to know.” Avery took my hand and made sure I didn’t get hit in the head with one of my new bedposts. “But if you want me to tell them the basics so you don’t have to, I can, with your permission. No one is going to think less of you.”

Something in my chest eased. I didn’t think I could look at all of them and go through the memories again. Especially since I already knew they’d be upset for me. “Yeah, that’s fine with me.”

They were in the kitchen, and Rylan was face deep in one of my cupcakes.

“What do you guys want for dinner?” I pulled out my phone. “Ben promised me I could buy it since I’m sure you just spent a fucking fortune on me.” Kade opened his mouth and I pointed at him. “Nope. I’m doing it.”

He smirked. “I suppose I’ll let you get away with it. Once, Omega.”

The way his voice rasped over the word Omega had chills running over my skin.

“How do you feel about Thai?”

“I theel gooth aboud it,” Rylan managed, the last of the cupcake in his mouth. Luke rolled his eyes, and I saw him kick Rylan in the leg.

They all agreed, so I pulled up the app for my favorite Thai place in the city. Pad Thai had been on my mind for days, and I desperately needed some.

A man stepped into the doorway. “It’s all unloaded. We’ll be back tomorrow with Miss Gray for the rest of it.”

“Thanks.” Ben lifted a hand.

I kept adding food to the cart. “Do I even dare ask what ‘the rest of it’ means?”

“Oh, they’re going to paint the room tomorrow,” Luke said. “We need to go back to the studio. Do you have any plans?”

“No.” I shook my head. It was the weekend, but that was when tattoo studios were the busiest. It was right that they needed to get back. “But I’ll probably go to my house and catch up on paints. The heat set me behind schedule. I’ve been ignoring the notifications.”

I’d been posting on the Elyse Taylor paint account nearly every day for years. People were asking if I was okay, and I hadn’t wanted to dive into everything. But I did have to get back to some kind of real life. “Am I sleeping in the nest? Since the bed isn’t ready?”