his shot of whiskey in between laughing without spilling a drop.
Aviana drank her orange juice down a few seconds later after Willa reminded her. She was having trouble keeping her eyes from the dimples that bracketed Beaston’s smile. He was mesmerizing and more relaxed in a crowd than she’d ever seen him, and her stomach flitted this way and that, like little bird wings in her middle.
Two of the Ashe Crew women, Skyler and Everly, joined Denison and Brighton up on stage and dedicated the next song to her and Beaston. Their voices rang out in perfect harmony as they belted out an upbeat holiday song.
“I want to dance,” Beaston said in a velvet stroke against her ear.
With a nod, she followed him out to the dance floor and giggled and laughed as they shook their hips in the middle of the crowd. Her man could dance. He admittedly didn’t remember much from the time of his life he often called the before , but he did remember his mother teaching him to dance in the living room of their tiny cabin when he was seven. And as Beaston spun her and dipped her, his grin grew bigger, and the blazing inhuman color dimmed from his eyes, revealing the soft forest green she so rarely saw in her mate.
And when the song changed and slowed, he slipped a hand to her waist and held her palm in his other. He brushed the pad of his thumb over her stomach in soothing circles that told her their baby was on his mind, and he looked down at her with such deep adoration.
“I traded you.”
She shook her head, confused. “Traded me for what?”
“You gave me shiny trinkets, Ana.” Resting his cheek against her temple, Beaston pulled her in close and slid her hand between them. He pressed her palm to his pounding heart. “I gave you this.”
Chapter Seven
Beaston looked over at Ana and Mason and gave a private smile. His mate was asleep against his shoulder, and Mason was asleep against her. Outside, snow had just begun to fall, but it wasn’t the tumultuous storms that had been striking randomly over the last couple of weeks. This snowfall was the soft, stable kind, with fat flakes that the windshield wipers easily brushed off the front window. The woods surrounding him were a wonderland of white. Evergreen branches were dusted with snow, and animal prints dotted the piney woods beside the road.
The Christmas station was still playing low, and when Ana cuddled closer against his side, he turned up the heat and pointed the vent toward her.
This was going to be one of those moments he would remember forever. Ana had picked up a shiny penny, heads-up, in the parking lot on the way out of Sammy’s and smiled so sweetly when she had handed it to him. Beaston hadn’t told her at the time, but that penny was as important a gift as any of her others. He would keep it for always and remember the night he finally felt normal. Tonight had been easy and fun. He’d stayed lost in his mate’s smile, touching the swell of her stomach as though they had this secret between them that no one else could understand, feeling lucky that she’d picked him. It was celebrating a holiday with all of these people who had taken him in and had accepted him no matter how bad he got.
He’d never been so happy.
He would keep that penny with all of her other trinkets in his tackle box beneath the bed and always remember this first Christmas Eve that meant something.
Beaston pulled under the Grayland Mobile Park sign. Tires crunching against the snow, he stopped in front of 1010 and smiled at the other Gray Backs who were stumbling sleepily from Matt and Creed’s trucks and into their homes.
It was late, and tomorrow was Christmas, but Beaston wouldn’t be going to sleep with the rest of them.
He had work to do.
Mason inhaled deeply and frowned at the multi-colored holiday lights that were turning on around the trailer park. “We home?”
Beaston nodded. “Home. Yeah.”
Nodding, Mason smiled at the dash clock. 3:15 . “Hey,
Aviana drank her orange juice down a few seconds later after Willa reminded her. She was having trouble keeping her eyes from the dimples that bracketed Beaston’s smile. He was mesmerizing and more relaxed in a crowd than she’d ever seen him, and her stomach flitted this way and that, like little bird wings in her middle.
Two of the Ashe Crew women, Skyler and Everly, joined Denison and Brighton up on stage and dedicated the next song to her and Beaston. Their voices rang out in perfect harmony as they belted out an upbeat holiday song.
“I want to dance,” Beaston said in a velvet stroke against her ear.
With a nod, she followed him out to the dance floor and giggled and laughed as they shook their hips in the middle of the crowd. Her man could dance. He admittedly didn’t remember much from the time of his life he often called the before , but he did remember his mother teaching him to dance in the living room of their tiny cabin when he was seven. And as Beaston spun her and dipped her, his grin grew bigger, and the blazing inhuman color dimmed from his eyes, revealing the soft forest green she so rarely saw in her mate.
And when the song changed and slowed, he slipped a hand to her waist and held her palm in his other. He brushed the pad of his thumb over her stomach in soothing circles that told her their baby was on his mind, and he looked down at her with such deep adoration.
“I traded you.”
She shook her head, confused. “Traded me for what?”
“You gave me shiny trinkets, Ana.” Resting his cheek against her temple, Beaston pulled her in close and slid her hand between them. He pressed her palm to his pounding heart. “I gave you this.”
Chapter Seven
Beaston looked over at Ana and Mason and gave a private smile. His mate was asleep against his shoulder, and Mason was asleep against her. Outside, snow had just begun to fall, but it wasn’t the tumultuous storms that had been striking randomly over the last couple of weeks. This snowfall was the soft, stable kind, with fat flakes that the windshield wipers easily brushed off the front window. The woods surrounding him were a wonderland of white. Evergreen branches were dusted with snow, and animal prints dotted the piney woods beside the road.
The Christmas station was still playing low, and when Ana cuddled closer against his side, he turned up the heat and pointed the vent toward her.
This was going to be one of those moments he would remember forever. Ana had picked up a shiny penny, heads-up, in the parking lot on the way out of Sammy’s and smiled so sweetly when she had handed it to him. Beaston hadn’t told her at the time, but that penny was as important a gift as any of her others. He would keep it for always and remember the night he finally felt normal. Tonight had been easy and fun. He’d stayed lost in his mate’s smile, touching the swell of her stomach as though they had this secret between them that no one else could understand, feeling lucky that she’d picked him. It was celebrating a holiday with all of these people who had taken him in and had accepted him no matter how bad he got.
He’d never been so happy.
He would keep that penny with all of her other trinkets in his tackle box beneath the bed and always remember this first Christmas Eve that meant something.
Beaston pulled under the Grayland Mobile Park sign. Tires crunching against the snow, he stopped in front of 1010 and smiled at the other Gray Backs who were stumbling sleepily from Matt and Creed’s trucks and into their homes.
It was late, and tomorrow was Christmas, but Beaston wouldn’t be going to sleep with the rest of them.
He had work to do.
Mason inhaled deeply and frowned at the multi-colored holiday lights that were turning on around the trailer park. “We home?”
Beaston nodded. “Home. Yeah.”
Nodding, Mason smiled at the dash clock. 3:15 . “Hey,
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