Page 47 of Claimed By the Werewolf Boss

I don’t pay for anything now. In true book boyfriend fashion, as the movers carried my boxes into his house, Valentino handed me a debit card and a credit card. Those are for my everyday purchases. He also set up an account in my name only, that has money paid into it monthly for me to use for emergencies or to keep me living comfortably if anything were to happen.

As if my book money hasn’t been the thing funding my retirement for years, anyway.

But there is something about taking this jump that I am scared to do. I spent years at college getting my degree, years in the classroom working with nightmare preteens. It feels like I’m throwing a part of myself away by leaving teaching. It’s stressful, more so every day, but it’s been my security blanket for years.

“Oh, thinking of next summer,” Junelle says well after our conversation had moved on to book plans and the store-bought brownies I bought yesterday in a fit of sugar deprivation. “I can’t be your assistant next July.”

“What?” I garble, brownie stuck to the roof of my mouth. I only just paid our deposit for us to go. It wasn’t expensive, but that con is supposed to be our thing. A first for both of us. I take a drink of my wine to clear my mouth.

“Well, I don’t think a newborn is really going to be helpful,” she explains.

I spew my drink across the table. Thankfully, it doesn’t spray anyone, but oh my god.

Oh my god!

Valentino stands so fast his chair falls over as he rushes to get to Andrea. He hugs him tight, and I don’t know what they are saying, but I hear the sniffles. Once I’ve cleaned myself up enough, I launch myself at Junelle too. Every bit of love I have for her, I pour into this hug.

“Congratulations, I’m so excited for you,” I murmur. “You’ll be such a great mom.”

“Well, when they’ll have an auntie like you,” she says.

My breath catches and tears drip down my cheek. I pull back and look at Junelle, her eyes misting with tears. She cracks a smile, then I’m giggling, and soon it’s a screaming fest of excitement because my best friend is having a baby. I’m going to be an auntie.

Valentino wraps both of us in another hug, Andrea closing up our little circle. We stand likethat for a long while, our familial embrace making me cry all the more. The love I feel for everyone here is so overpowering. Nothing could tear us apart.

“How far along are you?” I ask Junelle.

“Ten weeks, but I couldn’t wait another two. I needed to tell you. It’s been eating me alive keeping this a secret.”

As we wind down for the night, it’s hard to say goodbye. I know we will see them again soon, we’ve got a whole homecoming dinner planned for Ezio in a week’s time, but my clinginess and anxiety are begging me to latch on to my best friend. She will text me when she gets home. We’ll video call when she’s on her lunch break tomorrow.

Our friendship will always be here, growing and changing until we are the coolest old ladies at the villa. I know this, but I still hug her extra tight.

“Text me when you get home safe.”

“And text me when you finish that last spicy scene,” she says, squeezing me tight before she and Andrea walk out the door.

Valentino and I clean up the kitchen, pouring ourselves another glass of wine to kill the bottle. We’re quiet as we come down from the news, but I feel his excitement and worry through our bond. I’ve got a lot better at picking apart our emotions, but tonight there is nothing to sort through. We feel the same thing.

I take his hand and guide him into our bathroom.

“We deserve a bath,” I say.

“You read my mind.”

Slowly, we peel off layers of clothes, constantly stopping to touch. Neither of us is very good at separation. We crave physical touch. I need his hands on me, grounding me, reminding me that he’s just as obsessed with me as I am with him.

Valentino climbs into the steaming tub first, holding his hand out for me to sit in front of him. The heat makes my skin tingle and flush. I pass him his glass of red and lean back. His skin is hot, hairs tickling me as his legs squeeze around my body.

We sigh in unison.

I raise my glass slightly. “To family.”

“To romance books.” Valentino grins, and I can’t help but agree.

To making your book boyfriend a reality.