“How long did that take?”
“Six months. That’s how long it took him to convince her that he was the perfect man for her. That no one could make her as happy or love her the way he could.” I look at her. “She was a law student. She wanted serious and stable. He was attractive, but the second she learned he was a musician, she told him he wasn’tthatattractive.”
Maisie laughs. “To his face?”
I grin. “Yup.”
She sits back in the seat, blanket tugged up over her shoulders to keep the chill out. “Then what happened?”
“She didn’t account for her feelings. Or the bond that had snapped between them.”
“They were alpha and omega?”
I get why she would assume that. Everyone believes that alphas and omegas have the strongest bonds. When you have physical attraction, sexual need, and scent compatibility, the combination is intense. Betas lose a bit of that by not having a scent. I know differently. Hearing the story of how my parents fell in love changed my view of everything.
“She’s an alpha. He’s a beta.” He pursued her as unrelentingly as any dominant alpha would have, and she submitted to him in a way no alpha would have submitted to anyone.
Love changed all the rules, and that’s what I want for myself. That’s why I refuse to settle for anything but forever with someone who can make me feel the deep, forever kind of love they have for each other. Their love is so constant. As real as it israw. That’s what I want, and that’s what only Maisie can give me. I feel it in my soul.
“Oh,” she says faintly, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Head down, I strum for the next several seconds. “I got hit with both of their strongest attributes. When I need to feel in control, I go for a run; when I just want to feel, I pick up the guitar.”
She hugs her knees. “So how come you’re not a musician or a lawyer?”
“My parents ask me that same question every year, and I never have an answer for them.”
“Do you want to do construction forever?” she asks, resting her chin on her knees.
With a shrug, I admit, “I like to do stuff with my hands right now, and I like knowing that what I build will outlast me. Maybe that’ll change one day, but what I do and who I do it with is enough. When I want things to change, I’ll change them.”
“What about the rest of your family?”
“They’re still in New Jersey. I have three older sisters. What about you?”
I don’t expect her to answer. For the most part, she’s heavily guarded her past from us. I get why. She was trying to protect us, and she didn’t know if she could even trust us, but the less we know, the less we can protect her.
“I have an older sister,” she eventually says. “And a niece and a nephew. They were three and five the last time I spoke to my sister.”
She said as much when she was telling us about her ex-husband, but she hasn’t mentioned her family again.
“When was the last time you saw her?” I ask, hearing the longing in her voice.
She lifts one shoulder in a subtle half-shrug. “Too long. It wasn’t safe. Derek…” Her voice trails off, and she looks at herknees. “He would hurt my family trying to get to me, and I couldn’t let that happen. Even if it meant being alone.”
“Call her tomorrow.”
She lifts her head to look at me. “What?”
I put my guitar down on the ground beside me and lift her feet into my lap, resting my hands on top of them. Her feet are slender, as petite as she is, and I barely feel their weight. “Call her. Derek hasn’t shown his face, and he clearly knows where you are to have set the fire in your apartment. What’s there to lose in calling her and talking with her?”
She studies me for a beat, thoughtful and slightly amused.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re very confident.”
I squeeze her feet. “About the things I want, yes. Very.”
