Gifted Connections 3

“At least we know Gavin won’t starve to death when they live together,” Noah joked as he slid up behind me to wrap his arms around me.

Jemmy snorted and glared at him.

I leaned back into him for a moment, savoring the feel of his strong arms around me. He hummed quietly and swayed us back and forth. “You know, there’s this club in town. Wanna come dance with me?”

“Yessss!” Jemmy cried out in excitement as she slid into a stool at the bar.

“No one invited you!” Noah said smugly as he ran his hands up and down my sides.

I looked up at him and smiled. “I don’t have anything to wear, and we don’t know if we’re going to be on the first shift tonight.”

He dropped his head and whispered in my ear. “I found something in town earlier. It’s hanging in your closet if we don’t have to work tonight.”

“What’s going on tonight?” Terrance asked in confusion as he dipped a cucumber in some ranch dressing.

“We may have found…Miranda,” I said having a difficult time saying ‘mom’ or even bio mom. I never had a mother. I never had any real positive female role model in my life.

“Shut the front door!” Jemmy squealed. “No way! How?!”

“After she did the most epic melt down ever,” Jaxson crowed. “Can we get an encore? But maybe this time you can undo a few buttons on that white blouse.”

I ducked my head, feeling my cheeks warm as I glared at Jaxson. It wasn’t one of my proudest moments, and I had already called Pops and Paul to apologize for my behavior.

I chose to ignore him and quickly explained my version minus the school girl outfit, desk, bubbles, and unicorn. “I went for a run and stumbled across a mail box with no house and tire tracks with no car. When I reached out, I felt the emotions of the people there. They verified the county records and satellite images that there should be a house there. Jace wants us to continue our surveillance downtown and add additional bodies near the vacant lot just in case Miranda drops her cloak.”

“Time out,” Rachel shaped her hands into a capital “T”. “What meltdown?”

“All that, and that’s all you heard?” I asked dryly.

“I want to hear it, too!” Jemmy whined. “What did your melt down look like? And I want to go clubbing tonight, too!”

“No, Jem.” Noah sighed. “We’re always surrounded by family and friends, and I want a few hours with Blake, by myself.”

“Go,” Remy said gruffly as he came back into the kitchen shrugging on a button up shirt. His hair was still wet from his shower. “Even if Jace put you guys on first, we can switch it around.”

I smiled at Remy and then Noah. Noah was right to want some alone time. We needed those moments of just us. Most of my evening last night was spent with Jace and Remy, and even though most of the time was spent i

n carnal bliss, we still got to spend time together without all the other distractions. “Let’s go,” I told him softly.

He smiled at Remy in gratitude and then squeezed me.

“So, the melt down looked something like this,” Jaxson said full of mischief.

“Jaxson James!” I yelled as I saw myself in the middle of the living room on top of a unicorn with a school girl outfit that was rated R, and not PG-13.

The room was filled with stunned silence and laughter.

“Jaxson,” Remy growled and the illusion was dropped immediately. I instinctively knew he didn’t like the idea of me being a fantasy of any of the other men in the room. Even I had to admit my breasts looked a little bigger and my butt a little fuller in the illusion he had cast of me.

Jemmy was in hysterics and demanding another encore.

The living room, dining room, and kitchen were packed with everyone that wasn’t on duty. The Illinois teams came over bearing a salad and a scrumptious looking chocolate cake. The Nons went into down and brought back freshly baked bread and a carrot cake. Terrance already placed another grocery order for us, despite the fact we insisted that it wasn’t necessary.

I sat cross legged by the fireplace to soak in the warmth. I still needed to jump in the shower and get ready for tonight. I had no clue what kind of outfit Noah chose for me. I could only imagine. I wondered what club allowed people under twenty-one in it as well.

As predicted, some of the guys were ruthless when Faith showed up for dinner and to hang out. I was somewhat surprised her parents didn’t even bother meeting us before driving off. I had seen the ugly in this world. There was no way I could drop Ella off- or any of my siblings for that matter- to a stranger’s house without meeting their parents first.

“Did you look at your outfit yet?” Jemmy asked a bit disgruntled as she sat down next to me.