I have nothing to say to that, but thankfully, Benson does.
“We’re taking it slow. Enjoying each other.” The alpha turns to me, caressing my cheek in an intimate gesture that sends shivers down my spine. “Isn’t that right, baby?” he purrs, and the shivers intensify.
Oh hell. What have I gotten myself into? I might have bitten off more than I can chew with this.
This whole situation is unhinged, especially because I’ve liked Nick, Benson’s older brother, for years now. Hell, I flirt with the man who’s ten years older than me every chance I get. Everyone knows that Nick practically raised Benson and their siblings. Including my good friend, Stella.
But the way that Benson is staring at me right now? How he’s holding me? Fuck me, it feels so good. I could get addicted to this feeling.
The crisp autumn air and the crunch of the leaves under my feet bring me back to the present.
I wasn’t expecting him to play along so well, but now I can’t stop thinking about Benson calling me baby last night. The tone of his voice when he said we’re enjoying each other. The heatin his eyes as he caressed my cheek. I swallow thickly, trying desperately to shake off the memory.
I’ve never been so confused by my reaction to an alpha in my twenty-three years of life.
Benson isn’t an alpha that I spent much time thinking about before last night. Minus a couple of weeks ago, but that was a very different situation. I’d dragged Sable to the bar, and while she got herself into some alpha drama with the owner, I’d spent an hour flirting with Nick. Well, I attempted to flirt, anyway. Later, I drove her home, smelling like slick and pheromones. At least someone had fun.
After dropping Sable off, I spotted Benson walking alone on the side of the road. Honestly, he was stumbling at best. It was just after midnight, though, so I pulled over and offered him a ride home.
We ended up back at my place because he begged me not to take him to the farm, mumbling something about disappointing his brothers. It was no big deal. He crashed on my couch, attempted to make me coffee in the morning after interrupting my phone call with Sable, and then passed out once again. He made his way home later in the day, and that was that.
Until last night.
Seeing Kai. Hearing his voice. Getting a lung full of his scent of balsams and cedar wood… Well, it was more than I could take. I panicked, latching onto an alpha-shaped lifeline.
Which leads me to this morning. My head filled with conflicting emotions, panic gripping my chest. Thankfully, my father’s tree farm, where my glass art workshop is located, offers the perfect outlet for all this pent-up energy.
I storm past the old alpha, leaving him in a cloud of my angry scent. Dad sells Christmas trees, and now that Halloween is over, he’s got a lot of stores to stock across not only our town but several adjacent ones as well. Which means he also has a lot ofwood that needs chopping. He has machines for it, but he always leaves a pile of logs for me to massacre when the mood strikes.
“Uh… Good morning, Plumdrop,” my father says cautiously, watching me with a wary frown.
“Morning, Dad,” I grumble as I tug on a pair of leather work gloves, then grab the safety goggles and snatch an axe off the tool rack. I can feel his concerned gaze following me as I stomp my way over to the stack of un-chopped wood. Lifting one of the logs, I place it on the chopping block and swing the fuck out of the axe.
The wood splits with a satisfying crack, so I reach for another one.
Kai is back in town four weeks early. Stella’s wedding events don’t start until the day after Thanksgiving, yet he’s here now, already disrupting my peace.
If I didn’t love the girl as much as I do, I would bail on being a bridesmaid.
Even though Sable is my best friend, Stella and I grew close after Sable moved away for school six years ago. Especially after Kai dumped me. She realized I was struggling and swooped in to fill the void two very important people left behind.
We were inseparable until she joined the same college Kai had been attending. That's where she met her fiancé, Val. Kai’s best fucking friend.
Stella didn’t even need to tell me he’d be the best man. The second my phone rang and she told me she was getting married, I knew. Two weeks later she asked me to be her bridesmaid with an absolutely adorable invitation, and I called her to say yes.
Him coming back to town was inevitable, and I was mentally prepared for him to arrive with everyone else, but this? Fucking hell, why is this happening to me?
“Something you want to talk about, Plumdrop?” Dad asks, snapping me out of my thoughts as I swing the axe again. Hisalpha scent of cranberry and spice shifts in the air, trying to soothe me.
His scent hasn’t been the same since Mom passed, though, and no matter how long it’s been, there’s still a sour, sad tinge to it that burns in the back of my throat. Bitter cranberries fill my lungs, and I hold my breath, waiting for it to pass.
My heart aches, because I know he’s doing his best, but old resentments die hard, so the next log I split clatters to the ground dramatically when I severely over-swing.
“Not really, Dad. Can I just be alone, please?” I try to keep my tone even. I hate when he fucking pouts after I snap at him.
He’s doing his best; he’s trying. Thisis his best…
I try to remind myself of that, but there’s a darker voice, the one I try to shove down whenever it rises to the surface. It whispers from time to time, saying things like, ‘But where was he when Ineededhim to do his best? Where was he when I was just a kid who needed her father to protect and care for her?’I’m an adult now, and I don’tneedhim anymore. His best doesn’t mean shit to me when it comes so late.
