That breaks the tension enough to get a chuckle out of me. And maybe it’s because I don’t want to fully admit how muchthis gesture touches something inside of me, so I don’t call her out on it. I just pick up a fork and get started.
She makes her own plate and then sits at the bar as well, leaving a stool between us for distance. There’s a textbook there, and I glimpse something about education on the front before she opens it up and starts to read while she eats her food. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Virgo or if it speaks to my academic nature, but it stimulates something in me. The sight of her concentrating while also enjoying herself causes my alpha to peek his head out, nudging me in a way that leaves me confused.
The rush leaves me disoriented as I watch her, completely content and finally calm. I never see her like this. I always leave before she finishes cooking in that chaotic way that I’ve come to fancy. She takes a bite of a piece of bacon, some of the syrup sticking to her lip, and I realize that the stirring is more than just normal admiration.
My cock hardens and I’m suddenly horrified.
My eyes jut back to my plate quickly, my green apple scent blooming at the acknowledgment of my arousal. I squeeze my eyes shut, shame crowding every other thought that pokes through.
Stop it, I will to my alpha but he just rumbles in my chest.
That causes me to roll my eyes. I look over to see Opal already looking my way, her head tilting as she looks at me with confusion. “Are you okay?” she asks.
My lips flatten, and I’m hoping more than anything that Opal can’t tell the nature of my scent. I point at the plate. “This is just incredible,” I say, trying to pin my scent on how much I like the food. She smiles, like she’s happy that I am satisfied with the meal, and it makes what’s going on downstairs so much worse. I peek at her lips, still glistening with leftover maple, and I reach over carefully. “You have a little…” I start, telling myself that I’m only doing this to help her. Her mouth gapes as I get closer and the second my thumb brushes against her lips, a jolt ofsomethinggoes right through me. I focus on getting the syrup off rather than the way my cock twitches in my pants.
“There,” I say, pulling my hand away. Her inhale tells me she was holding her breath, and I curse at myself, because I should know better than to surprise omegas with touch that’s unwanted. “I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head quickly. “No, thank you for that.” She turns back to her textbook then, leaving me to the consequences of my actions. I fight the urge to hang my head as I mindlessly pull my thumb to my mouth and lick off the remaining stickiness.
Something that my alpha wouldn’t let menotdo, apparently. I’m just glad Opal isn’t looking anymore.
The temporary endorphin leaves as the force of what just happened comes crashing down on me. I just had a sudden attraction to an omega that isn’tmyomega. The guilt douses everything as I turn back to my meal and try to rationalize my body’s response.
But no matter how alarmed I am by the biological mishap, I don’t retreat. I sit there as we eat our breakfast together quietly. It’s like there isn’t another option. I’m meant to be right here, swirling in this feeling, and I can’t get up and walk away for the life of me.
And that’s more bizarre than anything I’ve ever experienced.
THIRTEEN
Saturdays are becoming one of my favorite days as they’ve been deemed my relaxation days.
Sundays are for preparing anything Miss Blue needs from me for the week, while every weekday is filled to the brim with errands, chores, my teaching assignment, and anything else I need to do so the first day of the weekend can be stress free.
Although normally, stress-free doesn’t include random phone calls from my brother.
“You’d better have a good reason for calling me on my sibling-free day,” I say as soon as I answer his call.
Riley bellows with laughter so loudly that I can almost imagine him with his head thrown back as he shrieks the awful sound. “Good to hear from you, too, Pals. I know today is your ‘forget-everything-exists’ day, but I wanted to run something by you.”
The sigh that escapes me is involuntary. “I don’t have anything to do on purpose. I work hard throughout the week, so I don’t have to think about anything today. You should try it. For your mental health.”
He makes an awful scoffing sound. “Please. I have the best mental health of the family. At least I didn’t call you during your oh-so-busy week you’re telling me about.”
“Fine, go ahead and say your piece,” I say, pretending to be annoyed, but the truth is, Riley is my closest sibling. Being Irish twins, we kind of have to be. All our other siblings are a few years younger than us. The youngest just entered middle school this past fall. I had wanted to go a few towns over to attend Bensen, just out of reach, so that I couldn’t live at home. Not that I would want to, it was always a madhouse and I enjoy my quiet space.
But Riley was never like that. He loved being a caretaker to our siblings and helping our parents with everything they needed. He opted to stay home and go to community college, which he will be graduating from this spring.
He loves being around family, ever the extrovert. Which is why it stuns me when he says, “I want to move to the West Coast.”
I immediately halt. “Have we gone into an alternate reality? What are you talking about?”
“There’s this small town in California. I’ve only seen it in pictures and through stories, but it sounds like a magical place. Their bookstore owner just moved away, and I want to go there after graduation to take it over.”
That last part isn’t out of the realm of possibility at all, considering that’s been Riley’s dream for as long as I can remember. It all aligns way too perfectly.
“But what about mom and dad?” I ask. “Do they know?”
“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first, because I know this will seem… out-of-character to them.”
