Silent Desires (Shattered Silence Duet Book 1)
Silent Desires: Chapter 42

I putter around the kitchen, preparing lunch for everyone. I hope Mina likes tacos. I have all the ingredients laid out so she can make her own, or we can make them for her if she’s unsure. I double check that I have enough cheese and start grabbing drinks. She normally chooses water. Is she choosing that because she thinks it’s a safe choice or does she really prefer it? I grab a few different flavors of soda along with iced tea and flavored water that I picked up from the store earlier for her, and put them all on the counter, hoping she’ll pick the one she prefers.

I don’t know why I feel nervous about seeing her again. I just get so little time to spend with her in person, I want to make a good impression. And now that we’ve all spoken about wanting something with her, it feels even more important to make her feel comfortable here.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a message from Jasper.

Jasper: Mina finally remembered she has an independent study project to do. She tried to stay behind to work on it in the library. I told her we’d help her at home.

Me: I’m on it.

Knowing exactly what to do, I move to the hall and yell, “hey! Dom?” I only have to wait a few seconds before I see him come out of the main floor office.

“Yeah, what’s up? Are they here?”

“No, not yet, but Jasper just texted and said Mina wants to work on her independent study. She tried to stay in the library, but Jasper convinced her to do it here.”

“Good.” He nods his head as he glances around at all the food and drinks I’ve laid out on the island.

“Ah yeah, I maybe got a little carried away. Can you help finish up cooking while I get something setup out here for her?” I ask, pointing to the living room.

“Yeah, of course, what do you need me to do?”

“Everything’s ready except the ground beef, it just needs a few more minutes, then you can drain the fat and put it in this serving dish here,” I tell him, pointing to the serving dish.

“I think I can handle that,” he says, taking the spatula from me and moving to the stove.

“Thanks, Dom.”

I jog upstairs to my room, grab what I need, and bring it all back downstairs. I set up a spot at the coffee table for her. She can sit on the floor and use the table or sit on the couch and use her lap. I grab a couple of generic textbooks on broad themes she might like, then open several tabs on the computer to some good online resources. One of them includes a list of suggested topics. I also set out a pad of paper, pens in different colors, a pencil, sticky tabs, and a bottle of water.

Just as I’m repositioning the textbooks for the third time, I hear the door open, and the three of them come in, followed directly by Gideon and Tuck. I didn’t hear their vehicles pull up today, and apparently neither did Dom or Atlas, who are both standing in the kitchen.

They both look at her, then at each other. I see the glint of challenge in their eyes, they both want to be the first to greet her. Suddenly, at the exact same time, they reach out to shove one another, except they end up colliding and falling to the ground, tangled in each other’s arms and legs.

The room goes deadly quiet for about three seconds before I hear the most amazing sound.