The wind is… quiet. Not gone, but softer. Normal.
My next thought, immediate and unwelcome, is: Is she awake?
Great. Love that for me.
I scrub a hand over my face. Since last night... since that drunken "Fuck Scent Matches" toast... my chest is feeling… looser.
I’m still acutely aware that there is an omega in my house, but somehow I don't feel like that's a problem anymore. If anything, I catch myself actually looking forward to seeing her.
Damn, that’s probably a bad sign…
I pull on clean sweats and a long-sleeve shirt and head out.
I find everyone in the kitchen, exactly where I expected. Liam is already at the counter, reading his book, mug in hand. Felix is, predictably, into some kind of conversation with Naomi, his voice bright and painfully energetic for this hour.
Naomi's wearing the same kind of clothes she's been wearing since we got snowed in. Her hair is pulled back in a simple ponytail and still manages to look... elegant.
And I notice she and Felix are standing a little closer than usual.
“—and then the entire B-squad tried to copy the move in practice,” Felix is saying, flipping something in the pan. “Half of them high-sticked themselves. It was like a live-action blooper reel.”
Naomi snorts. “That sounds physically impossible.”
“You haven’t met the B-squad,” he grins back at her.
She glances up at him, and for a second they both just… linger there. Her smile catches, his eyes flick to her mouth and back. Then they both look away a little too fast.
Huh.
Guess maybe the movie got more interesting after I passed out on the couch? Good for them. Though, if so, I might be feeling a bit left out…
“Morning,” I grunt, heading for the mugs.
Naomi startles, then straightens. “Morning,” she says quickly.
“Hey, sunshine,” Felix adds, just a beat after her, his voice a touch too bright. “Slept okay?"
Their shoulders brush when they both move to give me space.
Yeah. Something definitely happened.
"Actually yes, although I did have nightmare where I was snowed in with a lawyer," I say, pouring coffee. "Oh wait. That's real."
Naomi just rolls her eyes, but the smile doesn't fade. "Glad to see you're still embracing your natural charm."
A small smile tugs at my lips as I take a sip of coffee.
Liam looks up from his book. “By the way, in case no one’s noticed, the storm’s breaking,” he says, calm as ever.
As if on cue, a shaft of sunlight hits the drifts outside and bounces, flooding the kitchen with white.
“Whoa,” Felix says, abandoning the stove to go to the glass. “Look who decided to show up.”
Naomi moves to stand beside him, mug cupped between both hands. Right at this moment, a sharp ping cuts through the room.
Her phone, on the counter, lights up. Then it buzzes. And buzzes again.
She stiffens, sets her mug down, and snatches the phone up. “Mia? Yes, I'm fine. Everything's okay."
