Grin and Bear It (Ursa Shifters Book 3), page 31
“See,” Maddox said in a small voice.
“Shut up, Mads.” Knox gave his brother a shove, but there was no real power to it, so I could tell it was just the usual bullshit.
I could hear Ellie’s voice when I walked into the house and she lured me closer like a siren, wanting more. Her and Cole looked up as I slid open the glass door and by that flush in her cheeks, he’d been suggesting something filthy to her. I sucked in a deep breath. Yep, real filthy.
“Hey,” my mate said, turning to the three of us and waving. “Boys, your Uncle Nash said you might like some help with your assignments. If you do, I’m happy to help. If not, I’ll head home and get some of my own work done.”
“I’ve got something you can help me with…” Cole murmured into her ear, but that was cut off by a big oof as her elbow found its way into his ribs. “God, woman—”
“Guys?” she asked, stepping away from my errant sleuthmate.
Maddox looked at Knox and the boy just shrugged, opening his bag up and pulling out an exercise book.
“Is this right?” Knox flicked to a page packed with dense writing. “Mrs Hollows said that I needed to show not tell, but I don’t really get what she’s trying to say.”
“Ah, this is a narrative?” Ellie asked. Knox nodded. “OK, so…”
She sat down at the table and I found myself doing the same, just watching her become this whole other person. Authoritative but not authoritarian, watching the boys as she explained, slowing down to check understanding and then using another method to make her point when that wasn’t working. I stared at her, knowing that I was probably being real creepy, but unable to stop, until Cole caught my eye and then nodded. He knew exactly how I felt. Ellie then grabbed out a red pen and started working through Knox’s draft with him, making suggestions and then helping him rephrase stuff.
“So champ, you want help with your math assignment?” I asked Maddox.
“Mine’s mostly done,” he said, pulling out his book. “But if you could check it for me?”
“Sure thing, kid,” I said with a wink. “Let’s take a look.”
Chapter 51
This was awkward. Really fucking awkward.
As a teacher, I liked to keep as much of my home life away from school as possible, and hopefully vice versa. I didn’t manage it well, often having marking, reports and endless emails to send when I got home, but the other stuff? The Ellie is a hot mess stuff, the Ellie as a woman stuff, I didn’t want that in the classroom at all. Walking in wearing my floral piñata dress was embarrassing enough. I hadn’t gotten my shit together enough to wash my clothes, so mad frock from hell it was, but this? I scanned Knox’s work, picking up typos and badly phrased sentences, punctuation errors and underlining them, all the while conscious of them.
Tyson was so damn big I was never going to miss him, but sitting at the table two places away from me? I could almost feel the heat radiating off his body from where I was sitting and then there were those wafts of fresh, piney, masculine scent. I frowned, willing myself to ignore that and focus more on Knox’s work.
“Is it shit?” There was a slightly tremulous element to the boy’s voice that I never heard in class. “It is, isn’t it? It’s shit, total shit.” Knox threw himself back in his chair. “I never—”
“It’s not shit, Knox.” He paused then, eyeing me closely, a hint of suspicion in his eyes, but I just stayed as I was, waiting him out. “It’s not. I teach English too, sometimes, so I can tell you categorically it's not shit. It just needs some work.”
“So why were you doing that frowny thing then?” he demanded.
I snorted and shook my head. “I was concentrating and my head hurts.” It didn’t, but I couldn’t exactly tell the truth. “I think I need a coffee.”
“I’ll make you one.” Cole’s rich, deep voice, his presence as it got closer, I frowned when I felt his hand on my shoulder, giving it a little squeeze, the heat still there after he’d moved into the kitchen. Probably because I could still hear the words he uttered as the boys walked in the door in my ears.
“I want to paint you,” Cole had said when we got to his home.
“What? If this is more of the paintbrush kink shit,” I’d replied in a hiss, “this is so not the time. I’m here to help the boys. And only to help the boys.”
“Interesting that that’s where your mind went, beautiful, but no, not that kind of painting.” Cole had nodded to a solid wooden building in the garden. “That’s my studio. I paint whatever takes my fancy in there.”
“I thought you gave up wanting to be an artist,” I’d replied.
“I have, but… Some blokes like to go fishing or hunting.” He’d shrugged then. “I like to paint in my spare time.” But any hint of awkwardness on his part was shoved to one side as he stepped closer. “I’d really like to paint you. Nude, sitting on the little daybed I’ve got inside there. I’d use these soft brushes I’ve got to paint every curve, right before I—”
The sound of the sliding door opening had stopped that conversation cold, but I wasn’t exactly feeling chill about it.
Then Cole returned.
“This might help,” he said, putting a coffee before me. I was reaching for all that hot milky goodness, without a thought, mumbling a thanks. “Might not be as good as Todd’s and I don’t have any muffins—”
“Muffins are in the Tupperware container in the fridge,” Tyson replied, only looking up when he caught the two of us staring. “What? I… couldn’t sleep last night so I baked.”
“Can we have one?” Knox said, perking up instantly.
“You just had ice cream.”
“So. Muffins aren’t the same as ice cream,” Knox shot back.
“Did you make those chocolate, macadamia ones with the dried apricot bits in it?” Maddox asked, his focus shot now too.
“Tell you what,” I said. “How about we get…” I looked at my watch. “An hour's work done and then I’ll lobby hard for you to get a muffin as well.” I winked at the suddenly hopeful look in the boys’ eyes. “Maybe two.”
“Two muffins for an hour’s work?” Cole grumped, all that easy good humour. “And ice cream. Jeez, my dads—”
“If you’re going to go with an ‘In my day…’ story,” I said in an exaggerated, creaky, voice. “Save it, old man.” I heard a surprised snort from behind me, and I was willing to bet it wasn’t Tyson. I charged on, even as I caught a dangerous gleam in Cole’s eyes. “Do you really hate working on your assignments like this, fellas?” I asked the twins.
“Oh my god, Miss, it suuucks…” Knox moaned.
“But you’re doing it anyway. If it takes a couple of muffins to sweeten the deal, let's just do that this once,” I told Cole. “I admit, I mainlined carbs and energy drinks through most of high school and all of university, just to get all my assignments completed. You can go back to your regularly scheduled sugar rationing after their assignments are done.”
“You kids are soft,” Cole complained, but his eyes twinkled when they met mine. “But fine. One muffin each after an hour’s work and no more. You’ll ruin your appetite.”
“He meant to say two,” I said to the boys with a smirk. “I know he did.”
“I’ll be in my studio,” Cole replied with a hiss of breath. “Come and see me when you’re done, Ellie, and I’ll give you a lift home.”
“Well, OK then.” I took off my watch and set the timer. “Let's smash out some work and then get those muffins. If Grumpy Mc Fartypants isn’t in the same room, then he can’t be the muffin police.”
“I’m so calling Cole that…” Knox muttered, but he actually smiled as he bent his head, working on his story.
And that’s when it got awkward.
In some ways, Tyson and I were the perfect team. He coached Maddox gently through his maths assignment, patiently explaining where the boy was going wrong and he was good, real good at that. Maddox took over quickly, seeming to apply everything his uncle had told him. And Knox was now in control of his narrative writing assignment. He was working on my edits, revising and re-drafting his work and a quiet fell over the room. I got it in class sometimes and I loved it, that flow state where kids stopped distracting each other or acting like dicks and just committed to doing the work. It wasn’t sustainable for long and they often needed a break afterwards, but it was a beautiful thing. But the two adults in the room then sat back, unneeded.
And drawn to each other.
I was trying to pretend like this wasn’t the boys’ home and that their uncles weren’t… what they were to me. I was trying to pretend that I didn’t feel Tyson staring. Eventually I had to look up, the man’s gaze feeling like it was burning into my skin and, when I did, time stopped for me too. Those golden eyes were like molten honey, and I wanted to drop right down into them. We were sitting opposite each other at the dinner table, the distance feeling immense and nothing at all, all at the same time. I watched his body shift as he leaned subtly closer, his hand sliding across the lace tablecloth. I eyed it with both fear and anticipation, my fingers tingling as if he was already touching me, while my eyes widened at the thought he would. I shook my head subtly, making clear what a bad idea this was when Maddox’s head jerked up.
“Done!”
“What? Was that an hour?” Knox glanced at the watch in the centre of the table and then frowned. “Fifteen minutes? Shit, Miss, can we make this shorter because—”
“No.” Tyson’s response was quietly implacable. “You committed to an hour, so let's get that done. Good job, Mads, for finishing that off, but you’ve got a few more questions—” He interrupted with a long groan “—Before the whole thing is done and you can submit it. It’ll be finished and you won’t have to worry about it.” Maddox nodded slowly, slumping back over his work and flicking to the next page of the assignment.
“What about you, Knox?” I asked the other twin. “Getting close? Look how much work you’ve done already.”
“I know…” he moaned. “Miss, it's hard.”
“But important. Hard but important. Not long until you get to introduce me to muffin heaven. Let's just get it done so we can move on,” I urged.
I watched a war be fought in Knox’s eyes. He was never the most diligent student, but he always had a go at every task set for him, the combination of having engaged, hands-on parents and a willingness on his part being what helped propel him along. But now one of those things had been taken away, and I could see him struggle to reconnect, recommit and I knew exactly how he felt.
I was well and truly smart enough to cope with all the different aspects of my life. It might sound weird, but it took a long time for me to be able to say that. I’d had so many comments from Mum, my teachers, other adults in my life, that implied there was something wrong with me that I couldn’t manage my time or schedule myself correctly. They always said that when I got the job that had been hanging over me done, I’d feel better. I didn’t. They said if I got into the right habits, it’d become automatic. It didn’t. It felt like every time I had something I didn’t enjoy on my slate, it was just one long shitty experience from start to finish and nothing helped me.
It never got better.
But that didn’t change anything. I still needed to function, perform and so did Knox, so I shot him a rueful smile.
“Not long now. You can do it. I know you can, because I’ve seen you do it over and over. Just gimme another forty five minutes and you’re off the hook. I’ll fight your Uncle Cole if I have to.”
He smiled then, it feeling like the first genuine smile I’d seen from Knox since the news about his parents.
“I think I want to see that more than I want a muffin,” he replied.
“How about a muffin, and I kick his arse. Deal?” I held out a hand then and the boy reached over and shook it.
“Deal.”
The two boys settled down again and I tried to keep my eyes on them, on the watch and the minutes ticking by, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from looking up. Tyson was watching me then, his expression unreadable, as he didn’t even pretend to pay attention to what Maddox was doing any longer, entirely fixated on me. I wasn’t sure that was a good thing, but part of me also revelled in the attention. So I lost track of time, space, even the room as I met his gaze and held it.
Had any man ever paid me this kind of attention? He wasn’t cataloguing the parts of me and deciding what he liked and disliked. He wasn’t measuring me against some internal yardstick. Just looking at, seeing me. His throat worked, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard, his brow creasing slightly as if he was about to say something, anything, but the minutes ticked by, stretching out for an aeon, the two of us trapped in some kind of temporal glitch, broken only by the sound of my watch alarm.
“Yes!” Knox threw his hands up in the air after tossing his pen down. “Muffins, get in my belly.” He leapt out of his seat, going over to the fridge and pulling down a round container sitting on the top of it, revealing the sweet scent of sugar and chocolate. “Heads up, Mads.” His brother held his hands out, catching a muffin expertly when it was tossed across the table, Knox stuffing one into his mouth.
“Hey, guests first, you little animals,” Tyson growled.
“Sorry…” Knox’s voice was muffled then, crumbs of muffin going everywhere, but he brought the container over and offered the contents to me.
“Oh my god, these do look amazing!” I said, plucking one out. “A two muffin day is always a good one.” I took a bite and then groaned.
“Good?” Tyson seemed to record my every reaction. I nodded enthusiastically, covering my mouth with my hand as I chewed.
And they were. Just as the boys described, the combination of chocolate, dried apricots and waxy macadamias was beyond rich and indulgent.
“Ty cooks the best shit,” Knox said with a big grin, reaching for another muffin. “You’ll have to get him to cook one of his cakes for you, Miss…” His smile faded slightly and he blinked for a second, seeming to realise what he was saying. I braced myself for a negative reaction, but the boy straightened up in his seat and then looked at his uncle. “You could make that triple chocolate cake you made for my birthday.”
“Knox—” Tyson started to reply.
“I mean, Miss is your mate. You have to make your best shit for her, right?”
Tyson went quiet then, a small smile forming before he turned to me.
“I’ll always do my best for my mate.”
The twins looked at us, then each other before erupting.
“Gross!” Knox declared, getting to his feet after snagging two more muffins, handing one to his brother. “C’mon, Mads, let's go shoot some hoops.”
“Knox?” Nash called out from the front door. “Maddox?”
“In here!” they replied.
“Where’s… Oh, hey.”
I blinked as Nash appeared in the dining room, Lin at his back.
“Hey…” I said weakly, my mind’s eye showing me the versions of Nash I’d gotten up close and personal with over the last few days. Neatly dressed Nash of last night, naked Nash as he… I shut that train of thought down abruptly. And now here was tradie Nash. Dressed in a high vis shirt and jeans, worn work boots on his feet. I admit I had a little moment. Because his sleeves were rolled up over thick forearms. Because those big, broad hands that had worked so hard to wring every pleasure out of me were grimy now, looking like he’d put in a hard day’s work. He looked rough, immediate and somehow that was fucking catnip for me. Something he must’ve noted, because he and Lin grinned suddenly.
But then he turned to the boys. “Get your basketball uniforms on. You’ve got training in twenty minutes.”
“Training?” The hope and fear in Knox’s voice was obvious. “But the coach kicked us off the team.”
“And I had a big chat with him and let the coach know that I fucked up.” There was a pause then as Nash nodded slowly. “But you need to get your arses ready and…”
Anything else he might have to say was cut off by the boys wrapping their arms around their uncle's neck, hugging him so hard and fast it took him a moment to respond. But just as I felt like I was intruding on this incredibly personal moment, the twins jerked away, running down the hallway, doors opening and slamming shut as they got ready.
“Lin and I will be out for an hour or so,” Nash told us with a wink. “So don’t go doing anything I wouldn’t.”
“You’d do literally anything with Ellie,” Tyson shot back.
“Well, that leaves you with a lot of latitude, doesn’t it?” Nash replied with a wink.
Chapter 52
“So, I should—” I started to say, getting to my feet, but Tyson was up and reaching across the table before I could do anything, his hand going to the nape of my neck, tugging me closer. He didn’t kiss me, not yet, just stared into my eyes, making clear how much he wanted to until the two of us gave up any hope of pretending otherwise and then darted closer.
Fuck…
The muffin fell from my fingers, forgotten now, because nothing was as sweet as this.
His mouth was hungry, demanding entrance and I could hear the faint whistling sound as he dragged a breath in through his nose. My lips parted and he took control, sliding his tongue within, like he wanted to suck the taste of his baked goods from mine. I blinked, realising that we were kissing in my students’ dining room, but his grip on me tightened, not letting me back off for a second.
And I didn’t want to, not really.
We were like naughty teens, kissing the moment the adults were out of the room, but it was the twins, Nash and Lin that had left.
And I was his, he was mine.
Did it always feel like this? I wondered, the thought coming and going, falling to pieces as he deepened the kiss, letting out a deep growl before pulling away and prowling around the table. He picked me up and set on the edge, then pushed his way between my thighs, to go back for more.
