“Really.” I pressed another kiss to her knuckles before twisting my hand so that she spun underneath me and turned her around, “now go find Cobb. I’ll finish cleaning up down here.”
I took the broom from her hand, and gave her a little push towards the stairs before turning back to the kitchen to survey the mess that I would have to clean up.
“Theo?” Her voice came from behind me and when I looked over my shoulder I found that she was standing shyly behind me once again. I turned fully and she launched herself at me, pressing her mouth to mine in a kiss that was so quick that I thought that I imagined it for a second. Dropping the broom, I locked my arm around her back and drew her into my chest, returning the kiss and groaning at how strong her scent was. Usually, I could only pick up the tart strawberries and sweet cream scent from the furniture or the other members of my pack, but this was completely different. By the time that we broke apart, I was practically dizzy with how potent and strong her scent was.
Tibby rocked back on her heels and smiled. “Thank you,” she murmured before turning and hurrying up the stairs, leaving me standing stunned in the kitchen.
It was at that moment that I finally understood that Tibby wasn’t just going to become a part of Pack Simmons, but that she alreadywasa part of our pack. It had happened without me even realizing it, but I couldn’t find it in me to be upset about it.
I quickly finished cleaning up, putting the broom and vacuum away before heading back to my office. Now that my brain had finally caught up with the rest of the pack, I needed to figure out exactly how I was going to protect everyone, and I needed to start by figuring out just where the hell Jamie Jordan was.
CHAPTER 33
Iwas standing in frontof Cobb’s door, trying to psyche myself up enough to knock, when the door opened and Cobb rushed out of the room...and right into me. I fell backwards with flailing arms, I was so sure that I was about to fall on my ass that I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the impact. The impact that never came. Cobb’s hands gripped my shoulders on either side as he steadied me. I looked up into his brown eyes and everything that I had been going to say when he opened the door suddenly vanished from my mind.
“Sorry.” The words tumbled out of my stupid mouth, and I wished that the floor would open up and swallow me whole. I was so out of my element that it wasn’t even funny. I had never realized how much Aria, Matteo, and even Theo’s alpha instincts had smoothed out the awkwardness of the start of a romantic relationship. With Cobb, all of that awkwardness and newness was present because he was a beta who lacked the biological imperative that alphas and omegas had. There was no scent match—he just smelled nice—and there was no omega desire to jump him, only the warmth of a new romance. It was both exciting...and absolutely fucking terrifying. I had no idea how to flirt or seduce someone, all of my years in the academy had stunted my growth in that area. They had taught us that we were always the pursued parties, and never the pursuers, mostly because they assumed that any partners we would pursue would only be alphas.
What I really needed to do, was to rip the band-aid off of the whole situation. If it went poorly, then at least I would know. The tension in the kitchen a few minutes ago had really blown me away, and I just wanted to know what he was thinking and how he felt about the entire situation. I needed an answer from him, yes or no. If I had to wait any longer for the answer, I was afraid that I wasactuallygoing to go insane.
Cobb opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off, blurting out: “I like you. I really really like you, Cobb, and I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable or makes you feel like you can't do your job. If I don’t say it now I’m going to be too chicken to say it otherwise.” I was babbling now, but I couldn’t help it. I was worried that if I stopped talking, then I would be one step closer to rejection. Because, after all, what could Cobb want from me? I had nothing to offer him—my being an omega didn’t matter to him—at least not in the same way that it mattered to the others.
The beta, once again opened his mouth, but I cut him off once more by hurrying to say something first. “Wait before you say anything, I just want you to know that you have made me feel safe and protected. Not just as a part of your job but as a person—you calm down all of the crazy that’s inside of my head, and I’ve never met anyone who can do that as well as you can.”
“Tibby.” Cobb cut in, finally putting a hand over my mouth to stop me from continuing on with my speech, which had started to sound more like rambling than anything that made any kind of sense. He waited until he was confident that I was going to stop talking, before finally removing his hand. “I was actually just coming to find you before I took my shower.”
I had been so preoccupied with blurting out my feelings, that I didn’t notice that Cobb’s clothes and body were still smeared with flour.
“I like you too, Tibby. I should wait to say all of this until after the trial,andafter we catch the murderer,butas you’ve probably seen...I’ve been learning how to loosen up a bit.” Cobb’s smile was sheepish, and I normally would have cracked a joke about how tightly wound he could be, but my heart was too busy thudding wildly in my chest to form any kind of coherent joke. I was absolutely speechless. I had been so sure that he was going to politely rebuff me, which—in retrospect—made no damn sense seeing as we had just been kissing in the kitchen, but my brain was always sure that I’d be rejected that anything other than that seemed wild to me. Instead, I just gaped up at him like a surprised fish, which was definitely not my best look.
Cobb grinned down at me, “Did I actually make you speechless? I have to record this for posterity, hear ye, hear ye, on the—” I cut him off again, but this time I stood up on my tippy toes and yanked him down by the front of his shirt in order to bring him down to my height so that I could kiss him.
I pushed him back through the doorway of his bedroom and kicked the door shut behind me, and we stood wrapped around each other in the dim light of his room. This kiss was so different from all of our previous kisses. Those kisses had been pleasant and warm—a tentative meeting between two people who were just starting to be interested in each other, but this? This was completely different. Cobb’s fingers wound their way through my curls as he pulled me in closer and deepened the kiss, his tongue pushing against my lips until I opened my mouth and let him in. Our tongues danced together and when we finally broke apart, a thin string of saliva still connected us together which, normally, would gross me out...but all it did for me now was to send my arousal skyrocketing through my body in a wash of blazing heat.
“Are you sure about this?” I licked my wet lips, I wanted to do this more than anything right now...but I also didn’t want to push him past his comfort zone either.
Instead of answering me, Cobb released his hold on my hair and slid his hand into mine, tugging me towards the bathroom. Once we stepped inside, Cobb flipped on the lights and dimmed them until the room was bathed in a low, golden glow. The bathroom, while much smaller than the one in my room, was still outfitted with a walk in shower that could fit both Cobb and I easily.
