“They do,” Otter said, frowning at me pointedly. “And we haven’t decided anything yet… but, yes. There might be someone we’re interested in.” He winced. “That sounded weird.”

“When did you start looking?” Anna demanded. “I thought you just went to the center for the first time a week ago!”

“Um, surprise?” I said. “We actually went up to Portland after Ty went to Tucson. And before we say anything more, you have to promise us this stays here. No mentioning this to anyone. As far as the rest of the nutjobs are concerned, we just started, okay? Especially Tyson. I don’t want anything distracting him right now. He’s got more important things to focus on.”

“Because that’s going to end well given our history,” Creed said.

“This isn’t like that,” I said. “This isn’t something bad. I just need him to do what he went back to New Hampshire to do.”

“And how’s that going for him?” Anna asked. “Because if I recall correctly, you weren’t a fan of the idea to begin with.”

She had a point. I hadn’t thought it was a good idea, even though I’d known for a while it could be a possibility. “It’s going okay,” I said begrudgingly. “I still think he should have taken some time off, but he’s not a little kid anymore. He makes his own choices, even if they’re terrible and I dislike them immensely.”

“He’ll be fine,” Anna said. “You know that.”

“Of course he will,” Otter said. “He’s got all of us.”

“And Dominic,” Creed said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “And Dominic.”

“Who sexes him up.”

“Creed,” Anna growled.

“What? He does. I know none of us like thinking about it, but it happens. You know it does.”

“I hate you so much right now,” I muttered, trying to find something to throw at him. But Otter had taken away everything sharp within my reach without batting an eye.

“You should see some of the things I do to Bear,” Otter said mildly.

Creed gasped and started choking on garlic bread.

“I love you so much right now,” I said.

“It’s like nothing ever changes,” Anna sighed.

“Dude! Wrong! So wrong!”

“You brought this upon yourself,” Anna reminded her husband. He opened his mouth to retort, but Anna narrowed her eyes at him, and he subsided. She waited a beat to make sure he wasn’t going to speak before she turned back to us. “So, spill.”

“What?” I said distractedly, staring at Otter, thinking about some of those things he’d done to me.

Otter was smug, of course.

Anna snapped her fingers at me. “Bear. Close your mouth and wipe your chin so you can tell us about this poor woman you’ve decided to inflict our family upon.”

I blinked. “Oh. Um. Right. So, I have some questions.”