Maybe if I said it enough times, I’d believe it.
Tianna, one of the night ER nurses, knocked softly on the door, and we all turned toward her. She smiled. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to check on Eloise, and you guys shouldn’t really be here.”
“Hi, Ti. Sorry. Yeah, we’ll come back in the morning.” Jason flashed a brilliant smile at Lyla and held out his phone. “Here. Put your number in here, and I’ll text you. That way you have my number in case you need anything.”
Lyla did so, growing quiet again. “Thanks. To you both.” She gave me a gracious smile. “Eloise might not be here if you two hadn’t gotten there so quickly.”
“You did so well yourself. Eloise is lucky to have you.” I stepped out of the door, physically feeling the distance grow between us. “Try to get some sleep.”
“Yeah, after today, you might not think it, but you need it.” Jason took his phone back and every muscle tensed as he walked toward the door. “Have a good night, Lyla.” He held up his phone and jiggled it. “Remember, anything.”
Lyla gave us a small wave, but turned to Tianna as she started checking the readouts on the monitors. Jason was already texting as we walked down the hall toward the exit. I had no doubt it was Lyla.
Did I want to help my friend find the right Omega for him? Most definitely. And Lyla could be the one.
But fuck, even though she wasn’t the type of Omega who would be accepted by my family, I wanted her to be the one for me too.
CHAPTER FIVE - Lyla
I tried sleeping on the cot, but every time I curled up under the blanket, it felt like I was a Christmas pudding being covered in steaming caramel sauce. Hot, cold, hot, cold. Perspiration had my hair sticking to my face. I didn’t know if it was stress or if I had caught a virus.
When I did fall asleep in the chair, my dreams were like cheesy porn videos. Jason tugging off his shirt to reveal his ripped abs and kissing downward along my body like he might eat me up. Then lit by candlelight, Ozzi circling me and kissing my neck as his hands ran up over my naked body. That was topped by the two of them, hands all over me, filling me from both sides with their knots. So hard and thick and…
I was very tempted to run outside and throw myself into a snowbank. Naked.
Rarely did I remember my dreams, and the spiciest ones I’d ever had only involved kissing because that and some clumsy groping was the most I’d ever done with a guy. And those guys had been Betas. Sure, they were good-looking men, but nowhere near as smoking as Ozzi and Jason.
Several splashes of cold water didn’t help. The t-shirt under my sweater was sticking to my skin. I was tempted to ask a nurse to take my temperature, but if I was sick, I wouldn’t be allowed to be in the hospital with Miss Eloise.
I ate an orange as I waited for the sun to rise. Jason and Ozzi had been sweet to get me food and magazines. I’d thought maybe they were nice like that to everyone they helped, but the night nurse chatted with me for a bit and grinned when she said she’d never seen them do anything like that before.
A wave of tingling heat went through me as I recalled talking to Jason and how easily our conversation flowed. He was friendly and funny, and so fucking totally an Alpha. He’d strolledinto the room like he’d owned the place. Perhaps he was being sweet to me, but he might be a pompous ass.
Ozzi, on the other hand, kept his distance, but his dark sexy gaze bore into me. Every time I glanced at him, his eyes said ‘come here, darling, and let me devour you.’
Ack! Why was I even thinking about them? There were far more important things I had to occupy my mind. Like how I was going to have to deliver the gifts to Big Sisters for Miss Eloise and finish the rest of the baking. There was caroling on the weekend, shopping that needed to be done, and the last of my completed orders to mail out. What I really needed was coffee.
I flipped through the magazines waiting for eight o’clock to roll around and for Mariska to show up. If there was ever a person who was consistently punctual, it was my bestie. She’d have coffee and sweets and a change of clothes. Together we were a pack to be reckoned with. We’d get stuff done.
Yet the clock hit eight and no Mariska.
Eight-ten.
Eight-fifteen.
I sent her a text asking where she was. Maybe it was slow going on the streets. The wind was howling outside, and snow could have blown on the roads overnight.
At eight-thirty, I paced the small room as I called her. No answer.
I called the neighbors, but they claimed no one was home at Primrose House. Then I texted Emberlee, but she hadn’t heard from Mariska either.
What if Mariska had an accident? What if she was lying in a bed unconscious somewhere else in the hospital? Or frozen on the side of the road?
I left another message for Mariska and probably like a dozen texts. My chin trembled and tears burned my eyes. After what happened with Miss Eloise, I couldn’t stand the thoughtof losing my best friend. Santa wouldn’t smack me with a double whammy on Christmas, would he? I was one of the good girls. Well, I silently promised I’d stop reading smutty books if Mariska was okay.
Pfft. Let’s be realistic. I promised to stop reading smutty books out loud to my friends and doing all the bad accents and sex noises.
A knock at the door had me spinning around with a leap of joy rising in my chest. I’d been ready to rush to my bestie and hug her like a madwoman when I realized there were two big muscular bodies filling the doorway, and they didn’t belong to the Silver Tree Farm pack.
