I don’t.
Instead, I watch her from the corner of my eye as her breath catches. Her scent deepens, taking on that honeyed warmth that tells me she’s as affected as I am.
“I’ve got a surprise for you tonight,” I hear myself say.
She stares over at me, eyebrows raised. “Oh? Tell me more.”
I flash her a grin. “I’m taking you somewhere after we finish here. You’ll see.”
“That’s very mysterious of you.”
“I’m a mysterious guy.”
She snorts. “You literally cannot keep a secret to save your life, Kai.”
“Okay, that’s fair.” I laugh, and I let my hand stay where it is on her thigh a beat too long, thumb tracing slow, lazy circles like I’m marking time. Like I’m testing how much she’ll let me get away with. “But I’m keepin’ this one. You’ll just have to trust me.”
Her eyes narrow like she’s pretending to be suspicious, but then she smiles. Soft, genuine, lighting up her whole face like the sun decided to pick favorites. Fuck me, she’s beautiful. She’s the kind of stunning that makes you forget to blink, the kind that digs in deep as though it has claws.
“So,” she says, voice turning teasing, as if she knows exactly what she’s doing to me. “What was with you all coming to my bed last night?”
The question catches me off guard, but I don’t let it show. I keep my grin in place. “Did it bother you?” I ask, casual, like I’m not watching her mouth every time she speaks.
“Actually…” She pauses, and I watch her think, her lashes dipping as she searches for the right words. “It was so calming. I had the best night’s sleep of my life.”
Something hot and satisfied spreads through my chest at her response. Possessive, too.
“It’s the growing bond,” I explain, keeping it light even as my gut tightens. “Alpha and Omega pull. It’s buildin’ and drawin’ us in.”
“Kai…” Her voice does that soft warning thing, like she wants me to stop and also doesn’t want me to stop. I move my hand away to change gears, already missing her touch, and she’s tugging down on her skirt.
“You do know you’re ours now, right?” I say, and I let the joke fall away, let her see what’s underneath. “There’s no going back from this. Not for any of us.”
“Let’s not talk about?—”
“You can’t keep dodgin’ it, June. You can pretend you don’t feel it, but your body’s not faking it. You melt right into us.”
Her throat moves when she swallows. “It’s not that.” She bites her bottom lip, and I have to force my attention back to the road, because if I stare at her mouth too long, I’m going to crash. “I just… I still don’t know what I want. Or what I’ll do. My parents want to sell my real estate business, and?—”
“Then perfect,” I cut in, because the idea hits like lightning and I’m the kind of man who grabs lightning with both hands. “You come with us. Be our on-tour photographer. You’re alreadytaking pictures for the rodeo anyway, so why not make it official?”
She just stares at me. “But what if I don’t want to leave this town? What if I want to settle down?”
My hand stills for the first time, fingers on the steering wheel. I glance over, meeting her eyes, and my smile turns slow and serious.
“Then we settle down,” I say, like it’s obvious. Like it’s already decided. “You think I can’t plant myself somewhere if it means I get to wake up with you every morning? You want roots, doll, we’ll grow ’em. You want a home, we’ll build it. You just gotta stop talking like you’re doing this alone.”
Settle down. She said “settle down.” A house most likely in town. Sharing her bed. Kids running around with her curly hair and my eyes, or Seth’s jaw, or Carter’s smile. A family. A real one, not the broken mess I came from.
I’ve thought about it before. Mentioned it to Seth and Carter in those late-night conversations where we got too drunk and too honest. But to hear her say it and know she’s thinking about it too?—
Fuck, for June, I’d give it all up. The circuit, the competitions, the constant movement. All of it.
I reach over and take her hand, lifting it to my mouth and pressing a kiss against her fingertips. She doesn’t pull away. Her breath catches, and when I look over at her, her eyes are wide.
“We would give you the world if you asked for it,” I say quietly. “All three of us. So there should be no doubts. We’re meant to be together, and nothing is going to come in our way.”
She smiles, but there’s still doubt there, and fear, and I wish I could kiss it away. But she glances up, and I follow her gaze to the open farm gate we’re approaching. A sign reads CRAWFORD FARM in faded letters.
