“Just hanging outside a club, minding my own business.”

“That’s a first. So what set her off?”

“Got me. But she was with Jessie Ann Ward at the time.”

Using every bit of control he had, Smitty kept his face completely neutral and simply replied, “Is that right?”

His sister stared at him for so long he almost started to squirm. He hadn’t felt like that since his momma found that still he’d built when he was fourteen.

“Oh, my Lord,” Sissy finally said. “You’re fucking her!”

Ronnie grimaced. “Sissy Mae! You know Shaw hates when you yell stuff like that in the hotel.”

Suddenly, his sister laughed. “I always knew you had a thing for her,” Sissy accused good-naturedly. “Barely ninety pounds soaking wet, all that acne, and weird, but I knew those big dumb dog eyes of hers would get ya.”

“Let it go, Sissy Mae.”

“Now I’ll have to be an aunt to wolfdogs. And aren’t they a fun hybrid?”

“I said let it go.”

“And I hope this doesn’t mean we have to start hanging around that little yipping Pack of hers. That might be asking—”

His hand slamming down on the table silenced his sister. Actually, it silenced the whole room. Ronnie looked down at her hands, and Marty merely glanced away.

His sister, however, only glared at him.

“What is wrong with you? I was just jokin’.”

“I said—let it go.”

Sissy tapped her forefinger against the table, her gaze never leaving his face. Finally, she said, “Could y’all excuse us?”

“Yup.”

“See ya.”

Then they were gone.

Grabbing the bottle, Sissy poured them both another shot of tequila. “All right, big brother. Talk to me.”

Johnny knew the only way to get some alone time with Jess was to wait for her on the stairs leading to her apartment on the top floor of the Pack den. He read while he waited, having grabbed another Tolkien book from Jess’s personal bookshelf.

When Jess finally headed up the stairs toward him, she walked slow, her head down—obviously exhausted. But when she saw him, her eyes lit up, her energy jumped. She seemed so happy to see him. He didn’t know how to handle that. Since his mother died all those years ago, he’d never had anyone happy to see him.

“Hey!”

“Hi.”

Jess sat down next to him and visibly cringed when he marked off his place in the Tolkien book by folding the edge of the page. He could almost hear her internal scream of “Sacrilege!”

“What’s up, Boo?”

She always called him that when they were alone. Her personal nickname for him. He should find it annoying, but it had been so long since anyone had mothered him.

“Ithink there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Then tell me.”

He stared at her. This is when it could get awkward. But before he could say a word, Jess grabbed his arm and demanded, “Please tell me you didn’t sleep with Kristan.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that what you’re afraid to tell me?”

“No!”

Jess released his arm. “Whew! Had me worried.”

“Can I go on?”

“Sure.”

“Although this is about Kristan.”

“What about her?”

“She’s been meeting with her biological father. For a couple of weeks now.”

Slowly, Jess’s gaze locked on him. “And how is that possible, when she’s been with you or the library every time I or her mother asked?”

“I’ve been kind of covering for her.”

“So you lied to me.”

“Yes.” He’d never felt guilty about lying before until this very moment. With those caring brown eyes staring at him. She’d definitely kick him out now. Kristan was top dog among the pups. They would have expected him to protect her, not help her get away with shit. “I’m... I’m sorry.”

“You should be. You’re the oldest, you’re supposed to be protecting the pups.”

“I know.” No big deal. He could get someplace else to live. He had lots of contingency plans. He’d be seventeen this weekend. Not a full adult, but with a fake ID, he could get a job and—

“Say good-bye to your allowance for two weeks, bucko. And this better never happen again.”

He frowned, confused. Where was the rage? The disgust? The orders to get the fuck out of her house.

“Why are you staring at me like that, Boo?”

“To be honest, I thought you’d kick me out.”

“For what? I mean, you definitely screwed up, hence the loss of allowance, but you’re not going anywhere. Besides, we’ve already started the adoption process.”

Johnny’s heart literally skipped several beats. “Adoption?”

“Yeah.”

“You guys are adopting me?”

“Yeah. We didn’t talk to you about this?”

“No.”

“Yeah, must have been the brownies.” Jess stared off for a second and then smiled. “They were really good brownies. Dark chocolate.”

When he only stared at her, Jess said, “Wait. Don’t you want us to adopt you?”

“I’m seventeen on Saturday. I thought that when I was eighteen I’d be gone.” The system kicked foster kids out at eighteen. He had contingency plans for that, too, if the Pack showed him the door a year from now.