I glanced at his pale face. “Yeah?”
“Thank you for coming back for me. No way could I have made it on my own.”
I shrugged, not comfortable with the praise. “Monique wouldn’t have forgiven us if you died. I couldn’t have that. Besides, we owed you.”
The guy had risked everything—even his relationship with his parents—to break us out of prison, then stayed behind to make sure we got away safely. I didn’t understand the magic behind it all, and how the high warlock could be affecting the weather even here, but I was pretty sure Michael would have died if I’d left him there.
“Not sure that’s true,” Michael said. “But I want you to know, in my mind,Ioweyou. Both of you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Was he talking about because he’d gone ahead and married Monique? Or something else?
“It’s my fucked-up family that imprisoned you in the first place. And if my dad had found me in the woods, I don’t think I’d be alive to tell the story. So, I owe you. Both of you.”
He meant it.
I nodded at him and got to my feet. “I’m gonna throw a pizza in the oven. You guys want something?”
“Pizza for me too,” Kyle said, grabbing a big handful of the candy.
“There’s garlic bread and other stuff in the freezer too,” Michael said, closing his eyes as though he couldn’t keep them open any longer.
The water pipes were running, so that meant Monique was in the shower. We had time to chill, and I needed it.
I raided Michael’s swanky kitchen and pulled a heap of stuff out of the freezer, then stuck it all in his oven.
I didn’t know how I felt about Michael. I definitely didn’t want a fourth in our relationship, and I didn’t trust a warlock. But the wolf in me hadn’t been able to leave him behind, which confused me.
It was almost like my wolf had recognized him as part of our little family, even as my human side wished that wasn’t the case. Despite how I felt, it was obvious Monique wanted him. I was going to have to make some hard choices.
And soon.
The food was done cooking in about fifteen minutes, so I put it on plates and carried it into the living area.
“It’s not gonna fit on the coffee table.” I made an executive decision and put it all on the dining table.
When I glanced back at Michael, he wasn’t moving.
“You want me to bring some food to you?”
I didn’t want to pander to the guy, but since he’d almost just died saving us, I felt the need to feed him something.
Michael shook his head. “No. I think I can get up.”
Kyle put his hand out and Michael took it. Kyle hoisted him to his feet, where Michael swayed, then they both walked over to the table and sat.
I grabbed my pizza and sat down. I was halfway through the pepperoni before Monique finally wandered back into the room. Her hair was wet and her face was pink from the heat.
“Wow. That’s a lot of food.”
I shrugged, grinning around my pizza. “We’re hungry.”
She sat beside Kyle and grinned back. “Me too.”
We all ate in comfortable silence.
When the plates were empty, I leaned back in the chair and groaned. “Damn, I needed that.”