Chapter 596

When I get into the room, though, I'm a little surprised to see that no one's sitting in the living room area - that there's only a little covered plate there, apparently waiting for me.

"Over here!" Rafe calls, and I turn my head to see him sitting on his bed with Jackson across from him, a bunch of papers spread out between them. My face bursts into a smile to see them hard at work. Jackson's eyes move immediately over me, assessing, making sure that I'm all right - always his first priority. But down the bond I feel a warm rush of love and affection and happiness that I instantly return.

"Hi!" I say, bouncing over to them. "What are you -"

"Nope!" Rafe says, pointing a finger at me that stops me in my tracks. "We're busy, and we're tired, and we need to get this done. You, baby trouble, will only distract."

My mouth falls open and I cross my arms over my chest. "So rude, brother. I just wanted to say hello."

"Liar, you wanted to jump up in Jacksons' arms and get him all worked up," Rafe murmurs, dropping his attention back to the papers in front of them plans for the Game, surely.

I shift my eyes immediately to Jackson, who looks at me a little wistfully, and guilt pulses through me because...well. Yup. That's exactly what I want to do.

Jackson's face bursts into a smile and he turns away from me, even though his wolf howls to see him do it. "Rafe's right," he says with a sigh, "I'll see you in a little bit. Let us concentrate while we can."

I push my luck for a minute, taking a second to tell Rafe that I've been down to see Daphne and asking if he's okay with it that I invited her over to the room tomorrow. He stills for a moment but then clears his throat, trying to hide a smile as he assures me that it's totally fine - why wouldn't it be?

"Just wanted to make sure it was okay," I say with a sly smile, looking between the two of them.

"Of course it is," Rafe growls, looking down at his paperwork and waving a hand at me. "Now away, distraction. We have things to do."

"Fine fine," I sigh, looking around. "Where's Jess?"

"In the nook," Rafe murmurs.

I squeak in horrified surprise, looking over at my special cozy area and noting that the curtain is indeed closed. "What the hell is he doing in there!?" "He said he needed to decompress," Jackson says, his voice low like he doesn't believe it at all. "And that he was usurping it as an unclaimed and unused private territory."

"What a nerd," I mutter, waving to my brother and my mate over my shoulder as I storm over to my nook, grabbing my plate of food on the way. When I get there, I rip open the curtain.

Jesse goes still as his eyes flash to me, a cookie halfway to his lips, Tiger pressed close to his side and Jackson's DVD player open in front of him in the darkness.

"Jesse!" I protest, appalled.

"Do you mind, Ariel?" he asks, raising an equally perturbed eyebrow my way. "I'm taking some me time."

"With all of my stuff!"

"This is Jackson's tiny TV, not yours."

"They're my cookies!" I shout, setting

my plate safely on the bed beforenoveldrama

leaning across it and making a snatch for the packet of cookies. But Jesse grabs them out of my reach, holding them high. I just glare at him from my ridiculous position sprawled out over my comforter, one hand still poised high.

"I'll make you a deal," Jesse says, smirking at me in that way he's been doing since a kid that always makes me laugh I can't help it and grin back. You go take a shower and them come back here and wett watch TV together and eat snacks."

"What do I get out of this?" I ask with a sigh, letting my arm fall down onto the bed. "I can do all of that without you in the nook."

"You will get the pleasure of my

company Jesse says, smiling like it's a great prize. "Now get going, you smell. Without waiting to hear my reply Jesse turns back to the DVD player and presses play.

But I give in, knowing that Jesse has had a hard day, and that I do smell, and that a TV night with my cousin might be precisely the thing I need.

"If you eat all those cookies before I get back," I say, pushing myself up from the bed and looking over towards the bathroom. "You die."

"Shower fast, I have limited self-control," he mutters, his eyes fastened to the screen, his mouth full.

"No crumbs on the comforter!" I growl, walking away.

"No promises!" he returns.

But I just laugh and tug off my cap, loving my cousin and looking forward to the rest of my night.