“I’m sorry for all of it. I feel like I misled you.”
“You didn’t. It’s not like you hid that you’re an omega.”
“Thanks for being so understanding.” I wanted to change the subject. “Are the pills working? Are you still in pain?”
“I’m fine.”
He was lying. I could tell the fall had shaken him up.
“You need to get some rest. Do you want me to help you get under the covers?”
Dale shook his head, setting his coffee aside and settling himself down further under the blanket, closing his eyes.
I was reluctant to leave him, but I needed to hide a bit after all my confessions. I felt responsible for everything that had happened, and I didn’t like that. What was wrong with me?
I got up.“I’ll be on the couch. Call if you need anything.”
Here I was, a big lawyer now in a prominent firm, proving myself as capable as any aggressive and blustering alpha. I loved the job and the prestige. I loved the money. I loved the ample vacation time. Everything had worked out beautifully. Except one thing. My private life remained almost nonexistent. To my family, that was a disaster. And to Dale? He must see me as one bumbling, ridiculous omega.
I went to the couch, put the TV on low, trying to focus on anything but reality. A few minutes later, when I dared to check over my shoulder, I saw Dale had turned under the blanket, more curled up. He faced me but his eyes were still closed. Good. He was sleeping.
My reindeer wanted to go over to him and snuffle him, his way of showing comfort.
“You’ll wake him,” I whispered.
But deep inside me, every ounce of feeling inside me wanted to care for Dale, hold him, be with him.
I did the heat checklist. Nothing yet. It wasn’t any sort of heat that was generating this reaction. It was just me. Genuine caring and affection. I liked Dale a lot. I wanted to be around him. I wanted to hold him as he napped away his aches. I wanted him.
That last thought threw me. It couldn’t be denied. I was falling for my roommate on a vacation where I’d planned to be alone.
My breath hissed through my teeth.
I fell back on the couch sideways, clutching a throw pillow. Even with the heat, the air was cool because no fire had been started.
I closed my eyes. This was Christmas Eve. The time when magic happened. When the things you wished for came true. But all my wishes had now become too big too quickly. I could navigate the business world just fine. Give me books to read and tests to take and I’d ace them. But this personal and emotional stuff I knew much less about. It was an alien world. Experimenting when I was younger had been disastrous and distracting from my fiscal path and affected my omega feelings of self-worth.
Now Dale was complicating things in my mind. Changing my world. It was terrifying.
I also liked it.
But I really had no clue how to handle it.
I let my mind drift and woke to the sound of the bathroom door opening. Dale stood before it. He wore dry clothes now, looking refreshed.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. I slept for about an hour.”
“You’re walking,” I pointed out.
“Yep. Moving about just fine. I still feel the pull in my back, but it’ll be okay.”
“I’m so glad.”
Dale came over to the couch and sat. “We need to talk a little more about—about the subject that came up earlier.”
I started to shake my head.
