I know if I don’t have a wall of muscle to hide behind, it’ll be too easy for Kai to suck me right back into his orbit. He was my first love, my first everything. Something like that doesn’t just disappear, even after a heartbreak. It only means I’ve built a wall around my heart that I’m too scared to take down for anyone, especially the man who made me put it there in the first place.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be bulldozed. Kai used to know everything about me. If there’s a wall around my heart, then Kai is a fucking wrecking ball, and I’m going to fight like hell to keep him far, far away.
So, I take Benson’s hand in both of mine and look up into his bluish-green eyes, pouting.
“Please, do this for me, Benson. I promise not to get attached. I’m not going to turn into a psycho stalker, and the second Kaigoes back to the city, I’ll never ask you to do something like this again. Please, be my fake boyfriend.Please,” I beg him, batting my lashes at the man while clinging to his hand for dear life, afraid he’ll pull away and leave me to face my wrecking ball of an ex alone.
“Alright, Plum.” Benson nods, taking a deep breath as he squeezes my hand back. “I’ll do whatever you need.” His tone is so gentle and not at all teasing. It surprises me.
Once his words click in my head, though, I immediately freak out.
“Oh my fucking god! Thank you!” I squeal, leaping into his arms and hugging him so tightly I think I hear him struggling for air. It’s the closest I’ve been to a man in a very long time, and I’m about to push away from him but fight off the urge to retreat with a mental stick. I need to get used to showing him physical affection now.
“You’re welcome, omega,” he grunts, hugging me back.
“Seriously,” I say as I finally release him, dropping to my feet and taking a step back. “You should come over so we can talk about this more. Are you free tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” he nods.
“Great. If you give me your phone, I can text you my address, and then you’ll have my number as well,” I offer, holding my hand out for it. He gives it up without any protest, and I enter my number and send myself a text so I have his to send the address to.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sugarplum,” he murmurs, his cocky smirk returning as he takes his phone back. He looks me up and down one last time, then turns back to the goat pen he was fixing when I arrived.
“See you then!” I reply, practically skipping away. I’m grinning like a madwoman when I turn to head back toward the front of the farm.
At least, I am until I see Nick.
He’s watching me with wide, confused eyes. How much of that interaction did he witness? When he snaps his attention to Benson, then back to me, I blush. He saw enough, clearly. I wonder what’s going through his head after seeing that.
Nick has known the entire time I’ve had a crush on him. There’s no way he couldn’t have known, considering I’ve made it horribly obvious and he’s rejected me every chance he’s gotten. It was expected. Predictable. He rarely went off script, and even then, it was brief. So, right now, as he looks at me like he’s not sure what he’s seeing, I don’t know how to act.
I’m certainly not going to march over there and flirt with the man the way I usually would, not after the conversation I just had with Benson. Especially not when he’s one of the many people we need to convince that this relationship is real. Besides, he’s probably just concerned about his brother getting involved with an omega like me. That frown isn’t jealousy at all. It can’t be. He doesn’t want me.
I’ve known him for a long time, but that doesn’t mean Iknowhim or what that look on his face really means…
NICK
With Halloween over, I have to get the farm ready for not only Christmas but also my baby sister's wedding. Which means I need to get the decorations from this year stored away. Easiersaid than done. I shove another spiderweb into an already overstuffed crate and then stomp the lid until it clicks shut.
We’re getting the Christmas Village running one week earlier than normal. The weekend of the twentieth of December is the wedding, which means the last day of the Christmas Village is going to be the fifteenth.
I’ve spent most of my adult life doing all of this alone, but I’m having to rely on Benson more every year as the farm expands.
He’s a hard worker, but the farm isn’t his passion. He’s a baker. Which is great this time of year, because we sell out of his pies every weekend, but it doesn’t help me get chores done or set things up for the coming weeks. We have less than two weeks left until the Christmas Village opens.
Thankfully, the pumpkin patch did so well this year that we’re able to hire help for December. We’ll need the extra hands once my sister arrives. She’s got a lot planned, on top of our already busy holiday schedule. The application process is time-consuming and a pain in my ass, though, so my brother, Rhian, is handling it.
Tomorrow morning, I’m heading to the tree farm to pick out the Christmas trees we’ll need, and after, I’m planning to ask Plum if she wants to stock her ornaments in our shop. I should’ve asked her last year, but I didn’t.
She’s been getting more flirtatious lately, and it’s distracting as hell. Can’t say I don’t enjoy it, though. She sure has a way with words. I smirk, just thinking about some of her most used one-liners.
“Are you a teacher? Because I’d let you give me a few lessons.”
I’m distracted by thoughts of Plum as I walk out the barn doors, doing a double take when I find a certain white-haired omega wrapped in Benson’s arms. I don’t know why the sight has my chest tightening.
Why is he holding her like that? Why is my little brother burying his face in Plum’s hair? And why does she look so damn excited about it? They must be saying their goodbyes, since she’s turning to face me as he returns to the broken post.
The joy lighting up her beautiful face is wiped clean when she sees me watching her. I glance from her to my brother and back again. What’s happening? The shock of seeing me wears off as she drops her gaze to the ground and hustles toward the exit.
