Twenty-Five

Jesse Made me drinks a bottle of chocolate milk, a bottle of strawberry milk, and a bottle of some cinnamon-flavored milk too. 

I expected to feel full and sloshy when I finished off that much liquid cash, but my stomach was a damn bottomless pit. It was like my body burned through the calories as soon as I consumed them. 

"Why do you have so many bottles of milk?" I asked Jesse. Those hadn't been in the fridge when I moved in or before Jesse bit me; there hadn't been bottles of anything. 

"The other guys filled our fridge with easy high-calorie foods while I was unconscious," he explained. 

"It was drilled into us that we'd need to feed our mates a hell of a lot while they adjust to becoming werewolves." Ah. 

"So they went with milk? Why not donuts or something?" 

"The kind of calories matters. Sugar won't make you stronger; at least milk's got calcium and some protein." I guess that made sense. 

"Can you just throw that towel over your lap?" I asked, trying to gesture toward the towel with my nose since my arms still felt like noodles. 

"Why? Am I distracting you?" He gave me a sly grin, reaching for the towel. "No. I just want you to be comfortable," I drawled. 

"What about your body would distract me?" I had eyes; of course, he was distracting. The man was built like a damn football player. And not the high school or college kind; the professional ones. Plus, as he'd said, his dick was huge. 

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about my comfort, Tea?" He dropped the towel down beside him, not throwing it over his lap. 

"And here I was, thinking my body would affect you the way yours affects me." My face heated. "How does my body affect yours?" He gestured to his erection. 

"It's pretty obvious." My blush grew hotter. 

"Here." He grabbed a tub of yogurt and a spoon. 

"Can you hold the spoon?" I tried to lift my hand and failed, swearing under my breath as it dropped back to the edge of the tub. 

Peeling the lid off the yogurt, Jesse dipped the spoon and lifted it to my lips. 

"Don't we have any more chocolate milk?" I huffed, not wanting to be fed like a baby.

 "Sure. It's in the fridge, though. I'd be happy to haul your pretty little ass down there if you want to grab it," he offered with another grin. Dammit. 

With a sigh, I opened my lips. Jesse fed me two yogurts before pulling out the next snack. A huge jar of peanut butter, and a loaf of bread. 

He slathered the bread in peanut butter, slapping together a sandwich and lifting it to my mouth. I reluctantly took a bite, chewing and swallowing quickly. 

My stupid stomach rumbled again, just as loud as before. Jesse cracked another grin. The man's happiness was contagious, even though I wasn't feeling happy myself. 

By the third peanut butter sandwich, I could finally lift the food to my own freakin' mouth. But, when I finished off the loaf of bread, my stomach was still growling.

 "I can't afford to be a werewolf," I sighed. 

"You can't afford to eat, either," Jesse countered. I glared at him. Why did he have to be right? 

"You've got to be hungry too," I said. "Why don't you eat some of that?" I gestured to the bag as he pulled out the leftover pizza. That food, I could get behind. 

"I'm built this way for a reason." He gestured to his body again, and I tried not to check him out. Yeah, I failed. 

"The extra food you eat will help you get used to the toll of shifting back and forth while you build up the fat and muscle required to maintain a werewolf body," he explained. 

“I’ve heard it takes about a year for a human to finish adjusting, and then the hunger is much more manageable.” 

I sighed and then wolfed down what had to be an entire leftover pizza, courtesy of Jesse's packmates. 

I guessed if you were feeding that many hungry werewolves, one extra pizza wasn't that much leftover food. 

"How are you feeling?" Jesse asked. "Strong enough to wash up and go down to the kitchen?" 

“Yup.” I washed up quickly, and by the time I was clean, was already starving again. I wasn’t feeling weak, though, so it was alright.

 Jesse followed me out of the bathroom, but I stopped in the doorway to his bedroom first. I gestured toward his closet and saw the humor in his eyes. 

"I was planning on showering after I finish feeding you," he said. "I'm not eating anything else unless you wear shorts," I warned. 

His expression was amused as he strode to his closet, and TBH, I didn't avert my eyes as his chiseled backside stepped into a pair of basketball shorts that hid absolutely nothing. But, since he'd done as I asked, I followed him to my room next. 

He turned around and faced the hallway at my insistence as I slipped into underwear, cotton shorts, and a loose long-sleeve t-shirt. 

One of my boobs was still feeling sensitive after being crushed against the rock earlier, so a bra was out of the question. But going braless would keep Jesse on his toes, and I liked keeping him on his toes. 

We were in the kitchen a few minutes later, and Jesse pulled a massive chicken pot pie out of the freezer, sticking it in the oven without waiting for it to preheat. 

"How long does that need to cook?" I checked, leaning against the counter. "Not as long as you're going to be up studying." 

He started some coffee, next, and then grabbed another loaf of bread and the jar of peanut butter. 

"More sandwiches until then." I made a face but didn't mind. 

Peanut butter sandwiches weren't as bad as starving, and they were cheap. Could a person survive on peanut butter sandwiches alone? 

I considered it as I walked over to the spot at the kitchen table that I'd turned into a desk. They had grains, fat, protein... No fruits and veggies, though. 

Eh, peanut butter sandwiches probably wouldn't give me all the nutrients I needed. I pulled up the assignment list and got to work again. 

Jesse brought me a tower of peanut butter sandwiches a few minutes later, and I sniffed at them. "Is that honey?"

 "Yep. Now that we're down here, we can eat fancy." He winked.

 "Damn, we're cool." I grabbed the top sandwich and one of the paper towel sheets he'd brought as makeshift napkins. Jesse was a man after my cheapskate's heart. 

"Better believe it. Coffee will be up in a few." His fingers skimmed my shoulder before he headed back to the French press and the huge coffee mugs he'd already gotten ready. 

He had a bit of an addiction to the stuff, but there were worse addictions to have. By the time the sun rose, we finally fell asleep on the table together. 

We'd gone through a total of three loaves of bread between the two of us and devoured the entire chicken pot pie as well as two massive cups of coffee each. 

My alarm went off at 6:30, only an hour after we fell asleep. Jesse shut it off with a groan. I didn't even lift my head, too tired to turn the damn thing off myself. 

As I started falling back asleep, I felt a warm hand on the back of my neck...and another on my arm. 

I lifted my head, confused at the contact. My eyes found Jesse passed out on the table, his hands tangled in my hair to rest on my neck and arm. 

I'd scooted closer to him at some point in the hour I'd been asleep, and my books and papers were scattered haphazardly. 

"We should go to bed," I told Jesse. He mumbled something I couldn't hear. My fingers found his shoulder, and I shook gently. 

"Jesse. We need to go upstairs, to our beds." He mumbled again, and I grabbed his arm. 

When I pulled it over my shoulder, sliding out of my chair and easing to my feet, he opened his eyes. His head jerked around the room, before tilting to rest against the top of mine as we headed up the stairs. 

I hadn't been thinking properly. Jesse was still exhausted from his time in wolf form; I couldn't keep him awake all hours of the night with me. 

He needed rest. And I needed to look out for him since he was looking out for me. I helped him onto his bed, lifting the blankets so he could get his legs beneath him. 

I'd figured out that werewolves ran a bit warmer than humans, but it was pretty damn cold in the house. After getting him settled, I tried to step away. He was already snoring, but sleep Jesse picked that moment to roll over. 

He landed up against me, and his arms wrapped around me. I sighed. I could’ve tried to leave… but my wolf probably wouldn’t take that well. 

And since I was still fully dressed, a few hours of sleep next to him wasn't going to kill me. I tucked my legs up underneath the blankets, keeping them a bit away from Jesse's. 

After setting an alarm, I closed my eyes and was asleep again almost instantly. My alarm went off at 11. 

I'd only wanted to sleep until 9, but my damned conscience made me give Jesse the extra two hours. 

Since I couldn't leave his side without my wolf taking over, I'd need to wake him up if I was going to get back to my homework. I woke up curled against Jesse, my front to his. 

His breathing was steady, his body so damn warm I wanted to melt into him. I'd never spent a night with a man before, but something about waking up pressed against those muscles made me feel a bit fluttery. 

"Jesse?" I wiggled but was pretty much completely trapped. "Jesse." I rocked against him. His erection throbbed against my pelvis, and I stopped abruptly. Shit. WTF was I thinking? 

"Jesse." I nudged his chin with the top of my head. His lips curved upward in a hint of a sleepy smile. "Damn you!" I hissed. "You're not even asleep!" "Your alarm was loud," he said drowsily.

 "And you seemed like you were having fun trying to escape." My face burned. "I wasn't trying to—” I made a frustrated noise. “Just let go of me." I shoved his arms off of me, got off the bed, and striding toward the bathroom.

 "Stay where you are.” I could see his feet sticking out the bottom of the comforter on his bed with the bathroom door open, so I used the facilities without him standing in the doorway for once. When I was done, I headed back to the bedroom and crossed my arms. 

He had stayed where he was, looking entirely relaxed with his arms behind his head as he watched me. 

"I've got to get back to studying, so I need you to get out of bed," I warned. 

 "Alright." He stayed where he was. "Come on." I waved him toward the stairs. 

"Easy, Teapot. We can take a couple of minutes to relax.” I rolled my eyes. 

"Relaxing is for people who don't get shit done." He chuckled.

"Just come here." I reluctantly trudged over to the bed, only because I was pretty confident that he wouldn't get up unless I did.

 "What?"

 "Come on." He patted the mattress beside him. 

"You do know I didn't get in this bed earlier intending to cuddle with you, right?" I checked. 

"We're not a thing." 

"I'm aware." There was humor in his eyes. 

"Just get in."