I mentally fanned myself. They’d done some ass play with me, getting me ready for having more than just a finger or two inside me. Their dicks were big, and it was going to be—
“What has you squirming and sighing like that?” Gibson whispered.
I blushed and didn’t say anything. Alan, with his shifter ears, would hear anything we said, even over the buzz of the needle.
I just shook my head, and he nipped my ear lobe. I’d never fooled around with a guy who had a beard, and it was soft and ticklish. Everywhere.
“Later, kitten. Whatever you’re thinking, we’ll do it to you later. Promise.”
Gibson inhaled, and I felt his chest rumble against my side. Yeah, he’d just figured out how wet I was.
My phone rang, and I looked down at the screen. “It’s my mom.” I slid off Gibson’s lap. “I’ll be right back.”
“Tell her we look forward to meeting her,” he rumbled in his deep baritone.
Butterflies’ wings flapped in my stomach. This was really happening. I was going to bring these two shifters home to meet my mom. To introduce my new mates.
“Hi, Mom.” I stepped outside for some privacy.
“Hey, sweetie, how’s it going?” She sounded tired. Working two jobs had aged her before her time. But she was strong in spirit and always had a smile, even in the toughest of times.
I never really questioned why she never took another mate. I loved her with all my heart. She was open and generous, caring and giving. There had to be a shifter out there who she’d be interested in. Lots of shifters never found their one true mate and settled down with someone compatible. It was more common than finding your true mate, honestly.
Thinking my mom should do so seriously hadn’t crossed my mind before now because I hadn’t had mates of my own. Now, though, I could see that my father was one kind of shifter, and Gibson and Ben were another.
She deserved someone to take care of her. Besides me.
“Mmm, good. Really good.” I stretched in the sunlight. My body felt worked over. The soreness disappeared immediately since I was a shifter, but I still felt traces of their touch. I’d been fucked hard and very, very thoroughly. Not with one guy, but two. My heart skipped a beat thinking about my mates and how they wanted to claim me. Yes, I was wary of them still, but I knew deep down they were mine. And I was theirs.
I couldn’t wait to tell her. While she hadn’t said it outright, I’d seen her look longingly at little Lizzie and Lily, the new babies in the pack. She wanted grandpups, and I was the only one who was going to give them to her. It had been a far-off dream, until now.
If I hadn’t made the guys use condoms the night before, it might actually be a reality. I set my hand on my stomach at the possibility. It wasn’t as daunting a thought as it had been not even twelve hours earlier. A pup. Man, I had it bad.
“I’ve got news,” I began.
“They want you to lead the children’s program at ski school next season, don’t they?”
I’d mentioned the possibility to her a few weeks ago when the nearby resort closed for the spring. The job would be good, and there’d be an increase in pay, but it didn’t start until next winter.
“I haven’t heard yet.” I walked out to Ben’s truck and leaned against it. “What’s up? Tell me what’s going on with you first.”
“Ugh. My news isn’t good. I lost the job at the motel.”
Oh shit. I froze in place, waiting to hear the rest.
“The boss’s niece is graduating college, and she’s returning to Cooper Valley. She’s taking over for me.”
“Taking over?” I asked, steaming. “That means you’re going to be doing something else. They gave your spot away.”
“I have two weeks left, so that’s good. I’ll have that time to find another. Maybe in Meade.”
I frowned. “Mom, you work at the grocery store the rest of the time. When are you going to look? And Meade?” I began to pace the cracked sidewalk. “That’s thirty miles from here. Your car can’t take that kind of mileage round trip every day.”
I’d paid for new tires over the winter because they’d been bald and unsafe. But that didn’t make the engine reliable, and there wasn’t money for a replacement.
“Something will come up. It always does.”
I plopped down to sit on the curb and rested my forehead in my hand. “This sucks.”
She sighed. “It’s not your problem, Shelby. I’ll figure things out.”
She wouldn’t, though. My mom had never made more than minimum wage, which just didn’t cut it when it came to paying the bills.
I needed to go back to Hoedown where I could make quick cash, so she wouldn’t be tempted to drive to Meade every day. Just the thought of her on those roads before dawn had me freaking. I had to stay. I had to. She needed support, and I couldn’t do it from Wyoming.