Jessi & the Hyenas, page 14
part #1 of Book Four Series
“Mom wears leggings and a gym logo shirt,” Rubin said as he walked into the closet. He was wearing track pants and a Stone’s Gym golf shirt.
“She sometimes wears what she calls workout clothes, like yoga pants and a dry-fit shirt,” Jett said. “Honestly, you can wear whatever you want.”
He dropped the towel and opened a drawer to pull out boxer briefs.
“Like what you see, sweet thing?” he asked with a growly tone.
“You know I do,” she giggled. “You’re all so sexy. I’m very lucky.”
“We’re very lucky,” Rubin said.
She found herself suddenly sandwiched between her mates, kissing Rubin and shivering as Jett slipped his hands down her hips.
“Hey. Hey!” Gavin said. “None of that, we’ve gotta leave in ten.”
“I can be quick,” Jett said.
“That’s a lie straight from the devil,” Jessi said with a laugh as she extricated herself from their tempting embrace. “Okay, so casual seems to be the word of the day. I think I know just what to wear.”
She settled on a long white sweater and thick dark green leggings, paired with her favorite knee-high brown boots. As she was braiding her hair, her mates joined her in the bathroom, which had a counter with three sinks and a very long mirror.
“You look amazing,” Gavin said.
“Thanks. I’m excited to see you guys in the gym.”
Rubin grumbled. “I’ll be busy fixing the heater on the pool. Not very exciting.”
“Well, I think it’s awesome,” she said as she wrapped a thin scrunchie around the end of the braid. “I can’t fix anything.”
Rubin grinned at her compliment.
They left shortly after and arrived at the gym by eight. Gavin had a client at eight-thirty and Jett was teaching a kickboxing class at nine. They took her on a tour of the gym, from the pool to the offices to the small lunchroom. They stopped at the front desk where Alyssa was checking in a client.
“How’d you like the tour?” Alyssa asked, waving the client into the gym.
“It’s so big!” Jessi said.
Dante called from the office, “Do we have time to do this?”
“Do what?” Gavin asked.
“We want to have a quick meeting with you four,” Alyssa said. “Your client is due at eight-thirty, right, Gav?”
He nodded.
“We’ve got maybe five minutes before Gav has to go,” Alyssa called to her mate.
“Then hurry into the office,” Dante said.
“What’s this about?” Jessi asked her mates.
“No clue,” Jett said.
“Hopefully it’s something good,” Jessi said. She wasn’t sure she could handle any bad news from her in-laws, since things were still up in the air with the pack.
Rubin put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Dad was smiling when he called us into the office.”
“Good point,” she said.
She had a brief thought about walking into the principal’s office as she entered the room which had two desks, a large filing cabinet, and a comfy looking couch. Dante, Mason, and Cairo were in the office. Alyssa joined them.
“So we’ve got a proposition for you, Jessi,” Dante said.
“I’m all ears,” she said.
Gavin wasn’t sure what his parents were going to talk to Jessi about, but their smiles told him that it was something good.
Chairs had been set up in front of the couch. Dante gestured to the couch. Gavin, Jessi, and his brothers sat while their parents took the chairs.
“First,” Dante said, “we wanted to tell you how sorry we are that things went bad with your pack and your job.”
“Thanks,” Jessi said.
“Unfortunately, that kind of behavior does happen to us because we choose to live a polyamorous lifestyle,” he continued. “We always hope that shifters will be understanding of our mating needs, but outside of hyenas, we face what you did and we’ve come to develop a thick skin over the years.”
“Since it’s your home pack, it’s a little different than us coming across a jackass stranger out in the world,” Alyssa said, “so it would certainly sting more coming from people you’ve known your whole life. Still, we’re sorry that it happened.”
Jessi nodded.
“When you mated our sons,” Mason said, “we knew exactly what we wanted to ask you to do for our gym, but we weren’t sure if you were going to stay in Dalton and look for a job here, or if you were going to move to Allen or even commute. We’ve wanted to open a daycare in the gym for a long time, we just didn’t have anyone to run it. The first question is would you be interested in being the supervisor of the daycare?”
“You’d need to be certified,” Cairo said, clearing his throat. “We’ll pay for that, of course, and we’ll also let you set the hours, most likely mornings, such as seven to noon, and maybe an afternoon or evening once a week.”
Gavin knew his parents had wanted to set up a daycare. Clients often mentioned the desire for one, too. He’d not actually thought about Jessi running it.
“Well,” Jessi said, “I love kids. I actually considered going into early childhood education when I was in high school. I babysat all the time, and I thought it would be a fun career to go into.”
“Why didn’t you pursue it?” Gavin asked.
“I started working with my mom and I loved that too. The pay was great and so were the people, so I didn’t feel the need to go to school.”
Alyssa smiled. “That’s totally understandable. So what do you think?”
Jessi looked thoughtful. “I like it. Actually, I love it. What about over the winter when we’re supposed to den-in?”
“We’d eventually hire another person,” Dante said. “It’ll take us a few months to get permits and inspections and get it all ready, so we don’t anticipate being able to open until late spring or early summer. You can run it through November and hopefully by that point we’ll have another person on staff, but we can always go down to one day a week for the winter months if it doesn’t work out to bring two people in.”
Gavin grinned. He loved the idea. “I think it’s awesome. We were all wondering what might happen when she found a job if it wasn’t in the gym and had to explain she wouldn’t be around for the winter.”
Alyssa nodded. “We would absolutely have found a place for you in the gym no matter what, but this is something we’ve wanted for a long time.”
Cairo suggested they go see the room, so the group left the main office and walked across the gym to what was currently a storage room. Mason explained they’d cut open the wall and install a large window so parents could see their children.
“So are you accepting the job?” Alyssa asked Jessi.
“Yes!”
Everyone cheered, including Gavin and his brothers. Alyssa and Jessi hugged, and then Jessi moved to her clan, and they all surrounded her in a big group hug.
“I think some of you have work to get to,” Dante said. “The meeting went a little long.”
“Come to the desk with me,” Alyssa said. “We can look over the certification requirements and see about signing you up.”
Gavin gave Jessi a kiss. “My client’s waiting. See you in an hour.”
“Have fun!”
He left his family and met with his client, getting right to work. His mind was spinning with thankfulness to his parents for finding Jessi an amazing job in the gym, one that she was excited to take. While his client stretched, he glanced at his mate sitting at the desk with his mom, their faces lit up with smiles.
He couldn’t believe he finally had his dream life—a beautiful, sweet mate for his clan, a place for her to work, and the den waiting for them. It was everything he’d ever wanted.
Rubin adjusted his tie as he looked at himself in the mirror. They wanted everything to be perfect for their special date tonight. They were going to ask her to marry them, and while he was certain she would say yes, he was still nervous. They’d spoken to her parents earlier in the day and had their blessing, and their parents were excited for this next step in their lives. While things were still up in the air about the pack and the full moon the following week, at least they could move forward with this next step in their relationship.
Jett knocked on the doorjamb of the spare bedroom. “Ready?”
“Yep. Jessi all set?”
“She was, then went to change her shoes because she said they were pinching her toes.”
Rubin gave another look at himself in the mirror, grabbed his cell and wallet from the dresser, and followed his brother out of the room. Gavin was waiting at the front door. They’d all opted for dress pants and shirts with ties. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d dressed up.
He heard Jessi’s footsteps coming down the hall. They turned to watch her, and when she appeared, Rubin felt like his jaw was on the floor. She was so beautiful in a curve-hugging short dress with a wide scarf around her shoulders and black heels. Her hair was pulled up at the back, showing off the mating marks on her neck.
“You look amazing,” Rubin said, his brothers echoing the sentiment.
“Do we have to go out? I’m feeling very much like staying in with my sexy mates,” she said as she greeted each of them with a kiss.
It was so tempting to follow her lead and stay home, but they had plans involving dinner and a proposal and none of them wanted to mess it up.
Gavin pulled her close. “Dinner first, then we’ll see where the night takes us.”
“I know exactly where it’s taking us,” she said with a giggle.
Rubin did too.
They hurried outside to the waiting SUV which Jett had turned on in advance, so it was warmed up and free of ice on the windows. The restaurant they chose was a quaint Italian bistro owned by their parents’ friends. When they’d told their parents about their plans for a romantic date, they’d immediately suggested AnnaMaria’s, and reached out to the owners for them.
“This place is so cute,” Jessi said as Rubin helped her off with her coat in the warm vestibule and hung it up on the rack along with theirs.
“It’s a favorite of our parents,” Gavin said.
A plump woman in her sixties wearing a black dress with an apron hurried to greet them, giving them all cheek kisses.
“This is your lovely mate? What a beauty,” AnnaMaria said.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Jessi said. “I’ve heard amazing things about your food.”
“Of course, I’m amazing!” AnnaMaria said with a hearty chuckle. “Come, come. Let’s get you fed.”
Instead of eating in the regular dining room, they were ushered into the kitchen and the private chef’s table, where they’d have a view of the goings-on in the kitchen. AnnaMaria waited on them herself, reciting the menu from heart and the day’s specials. An appetizer of tomato and mozzarella was first up, and a bottle of expensive red wine appeared. While they ate the thick slices of tomato and mozzarella drizzled with balsamic, they talked about the new daycare center and what it would be like for all of them to work at the gym. Rubin didn’t work there every day unless there were repairs to be made, but he’d certainly be hands-on for the remodeling and decorating of the storage room.
They ate mile-high lasagna and piping-hot rolls.
“Dessert, yes?” AnnaMaria asked as she watched her staff clear the plates and scrape the table clear of crumbs with little tools.
“Oh, I’m stuffed,” Jessi said.
“By the time it arrives, we’ll all feel like eating I’m sure,” Gavin said quickly. “Do you have a sampler platter?”
“Indeed,” AnnaMaria said. “I know just the thing.”
Rubin’s heart rate kicked up a notch as their plan came together.
The kitchen lights went out suddenly, plunging them all into darkness save for the single, flickering candle on the table.
“What happened?” Jessi asked.
The lights came on and AnnaMaria stood before their table. A silver tray covered with rose petals was on the table, with three black boxes nestled in the deep red petals.
“Oh!” Jessi said, her hand covering her mouth.
AnnaMaria nodded with a smile and backed away silently. The entire kitchen was watching, but Rubin didn’t care.
One by one he and his brothers got up from the table and took a box. They’d opted for identical eternity bands of tiny diamonds. Gavin asked her to marry him first and when she said yes, he slipped the first band on her ring finger. Jett was next, and then it was Rubin’s turn.
His hands were shaking when he dropped to one knee next to her and took her hand.
“I like the eternity band,” he said, his voice wavering a little with emotion. “It’s a circle that’s not broken by anything, like the love I have for you—never ending.”
“Oh, Rubin,” she said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“I love you sweetheart. Will you marry me?”
“Of course!” She watched him slide the ring onto her finger on top of his brothers’ rings, and then she kissed him and hugged him. “I love you too. So much.”
A cheer rose in the kitchen, the cooks and waitstaff clapping and hollering. Jessi stood and they all hugged.
When they’d taken their seats, Jessi said, “So no dessert then?”
“I thought you were stuffed?” Rubin teased.
“Well I was, but happy tears made me hungry.”
AnnaMaria, as if she were psychic, appeared with a long plate with several desserts. “On the house with my sincere congratulations on your engagement,” she said.
They dove into the plate, sharing the four amazing desserts, and then they were headed home to spend the rest of the night together with a celebration of their own.
Jessi leaned on his shoulder in the SUV’s second row. “Did you ask my dad?”
“Of course,” Gavin said from the front seat. “We definitely want to stay on his good side.”
“Plus it’s good manners,” Jett said.
“And it’s tradition, and hyenas are nothing if not big on tradition,” Rubin said.
“I’ve always wanted to get married at the lake in Allen. There’s a big dock that stretches out into the water and when I was little I pictured getting married there.”
“That sounds perfect,” Gavin said. “Maybe this June?”
“That works for me,” she said. “And a honeymoon?”
“What did you have in mind?” Rubin asked, rubbing his thumb along her hand.
“Somewhere warm with a beach.”
“I think I know just the place,” Rubin said. “Do you want to help with the planning, or do you want to be surprised?”
“A surprise sounds fun. This was certainly a good one tonight.”
“You didn’t expect that we were going to ask you to marry us tonight?” Gavin asked.
“Nope. It was all so casual,” she said. She lifted her hand high enough so the headlights of the vehicle behind them lit up the diamonds. “I love the rings. I love that they’re the same and stacked together. I feel like it’s a perfect metaphor for our lives. All of us as one.”
“That’s what we wanted it to mean,” Gavin said.
She let out a soft sigh. “Can you drive a little faster, Gav? We have some serious celebrating to do.”
“Whatever my sweetheart wants.”
“Whatever,” Rubin whispered, tipping her face to his for a kiss.
“I love how you think,” she whispered back as she kissed him again.
The morning of the full moon, Jessi woke with an insatiable hunger that was entirely focused on her mates. She’d always been mildly horny on the full moons, and when she was younger, she’d tumbled in the sheets with males to satisfy her baser needs. But being with males who didn’t see her as mate-material, or even a female worth dating, had soured her on casual hookups and she’d given them up years ago.
Now, though, her libido was soaring because she had mates. Not just one male to call her own, but three delicious sexy males who tended to her every need. As a kid she’d imagined finding a mate and having a house like she’d grown up in—a dad who worked outside of the house, a mom who juggled a job but also took amazing care of the house and kids. Her life with three mates was going to make things entirely different. She wasn’t going to be doing the lion’s share of work in the house, she had Rubin as the caretaker, but Jett and Gavin had proven over the last week that they were just as interested in working together as a family to make a home.
She stared at the ceiling of the den. Her wolf let out a curious hum when the bed dipped, and Gavin stood with a stretch.
“Morning, gorgeous,” he whispered with a smile.
“Morning.” She went onto her elbows and returned his smile.
“Don’t go looking all sexy at me, I have to go into the gym. I’ve got clients in an hour,” he said. He planted his fist on the bed and leaned over to kiss her.
“Boo.”
“Save the sexy thoughts for later, I’ll be back around lunchtime.”
“I’ll definitely be waiting.”
He groaned softly and straightened. “You’re killing me.”
“Sorry.”
“No you’re not,” he chuckled. He headed into the bathroom and closed the door quietly. She was tempted to follow him into the bathroom, but she didn’t want to make him late for work. But being back at lunch seemed an impossibly long time away.
Snuggling back between Jett and Rubin, she smiled when they both turned toward her, still half-asleep.
She woke sometime later, sandwiched tightly between two of her three mates, an ache blooming in the apex of her thighs.
Jett, who was curled around her back, growled softly and pulled her a little closer. She could feel the ridge of his erection as he pressed against her. With a kiss to her neck, he inhaled and murmured, “You smell fucking amazing, sweet thing.”
She wiggled in his embrace.
Rubin rolled over to face her. He gave her a kiss punctuated with a growl. “You really do.”
