“Oh, okay.” My lips pull into a tight smile as he stands, taking the few steps necessary to reach me. “Please be safe.”
A warm, gentle hand lands at my shoulder, the tips of his fingers offering a light brushing as he holds me in his gaze. Weight presses down on my chest, my eyes stinging as the air thickens around us.
We offer each other a smile, both of us faltering, as his lips finally meet my cheek in an all-too-quick peck.
“Love you,” he tells me, like he’s done a million times before, and as he steps out of our bedroom door, I deflate.
As the engine to Tripp’s motorcycle revs to announce his departure, I move to pick up our hamper and cart it down the stairs, with Drumstick following closely behind me. He helps me start a load of laundry and stays by my feet, begging for snacks, while I hand wash the few dishes left in the sink.
A glance out of our living room window as the moon rises in the evening sky, paired with the quiet air and the unmovinggreenery outside, tells me that Tripp will likely not be back for hours.
Pulling my phone from its place on the counter, I bounce the corner of it against my palm. My teeth tug at my lower lip, my eyes darting between it and the stairs which lead to our bedroom. As I pull up Connor’s contact page for a video call, I trek upward and close the door behind me, hiding both my shame and my secrets behind it.
He answers almost immediately, wearing a bright smile that tugs one side of his mouth just a touch higher than the other.
“Hey,” he greets me. “Where’s Tripp?”
The question sends a stabbing pang of guilt into my chest.
“He left a little while ago,” I answer quietly. “I thought you might be out with him.”
His head shakes. “Koda stole my entire dinner off of my plate,” he tells me. “I’m not going anywhere for the rest of the night.”
“Aww, he just wanted to share with you,” I coo, pushing my lower lip into a pout as I cart my phone into the bathroom with me, resting it against the sink’s backsplash.
Pulling my hair into a claw clip, I push a foam headband through my hair to secure all of it away from my face as I reach for a bottle of cleanser. Connor watches as I scrub away my makeup and apply my skincare products, neither of us feeling any need to fill the silence that stretches between us.
His phone looks to be supported on his night stand, facing his bed. A bed too big, too empty for just one person. I don’t miss the gratitude that I feel at the realization that, to my knowledge, it’s at least not a bed that he’s shared with someone else.
I stop myself from asking about it, choosing instead to bring my phone with me to my own bed. Drumstick lets out a trilling chirp before leaping onto the mattress to settle into the space at my side.
Sounds from a video game on Connor’s TV filter in through my phone’s speaker as my eyes drift to the wedding ring sitting alone on my night stand. I took it off last night; I’m not sure if Tripp ever noticed. I wanted to know what it would feel like if I were to take it off, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so naked in my life.
Looking to Connor, engrossed in his game, I reach for my wedding band and slide it back onto my finger, giving it a twist out of view of the camera. As if it’s Connor that I’m betraying. My focus glues to the sparkling stones inside the silver setting, and I shake my head.
When I look back to my phone’s screen, Connor’s gaze is pinned to me. He studies me for a long while, wearing a pensive look on his face before finally wetting his lower lip and turning his attention away from me.
“What?” I probe, shifting to adjust my body in my bed.
“Nothing,” he tells me with a shake of his head. A few clicks and taps sound from the controller in his hand before his head rolls once again in my direction. “We’re just…hanging out. We’re not— I don’t know.”
I know what he’s thinking. I can feel it, too.
We’re spending time together like we’re some kind of long-established couple; and somehow, this single moment is so much worse than any of the times that we’ve snuck off and had sex with each other.
Even still, while he plays his game, I pull my e-reader onto my lap and flip open the book that I’d abandoned earlier today on the beach. The omega will finally fully connect with her mate, and everything will feel right in her world.
A girl can dream.
We keep our cameras on, occasionally offering each other a glance and a smile, while we do our own things.
And with every smile, a knot tightens in my stomach.
Chapter 10
CONNOR
Stepping out of my riding suit, I toss it over the seat of my bike, following with my helmet, and I let out a sigh. I pull my arm across my chest and twist my body, swapping to do the same with the other side before I shift my weight from leg to leg, stretching out all of my aching muscles.
