Cars are loaded up. The fridge is empty. We are ready to go, as ready as we’ll ever be.
I stand with Asher, Rourke, and Mason near the door to the garage. Since all three guys have their own vehicles here, we’d be a little traveling caravan—and each time we stopped to get gas or eat, I would hop from vehicle to vehicle to spend some time with each of them.
My concern must be written on my face, because Rourke says, “You all right, Jess?”
“Yeah,” I say, though there isn’t much heart behind it if I’m honest. “I’m just… I’m nervous about how this is going to go.”
“Don’t worry,” he tells me, and he says it with such vehemence it’s basically an order. “My boss handled everything while we were gone. We have a meeting with him and your aunt the moment we get back to the city. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Yeah,” Asher chimes in, lightly touching my arm. “Plus, you’ll have us next to you the entire time.”
I let out a long, slow breath as I glance between Mason and Asher, and then at Rourke. “Did any of you tell your parents yet?” It’s the last thing I should worry about right now; giving myself something new to be anxious about is dumb, but I can’t help but ask.
“Not yet,” Mason says. “We figured it’s a conversation that should be had in person.”
“Same,” Rourke says with a shrug. “If I called my mom and told her over the phone about you, she would have driven all the way up here herself and not taken no for an answer.” Though he clearly did not want his mom to come up here, I can tell by the way he talks about her just how much he cares.
I look down. “I hope they approve.”
Mason frowns at me. “Of course they fucking will. Who the fuck wouldn’t approve of you? Be serious, Jess.”
Rourke chuckles. “Yeah, what he said, minus all the needless swearing. It’s time to go. You ready?”
With a heavy inhalation, I meet the über’s sapphire stare and say the only thing I can: “I’m ready. Let’s go.” Best get on with it, otherwise I’d let my nerves get the best of me, something I’m not used to.
This anxiety is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It means I care, as silly as it might be. I want to do this right. I want their parents to like me. I want…
I want a family again.
Together, we file out of the house and into the garage. I ride with Rourke first. His car sits outside the garage, and while he backs us up and turns us around in the grass, I can’t help but stare at the house that became my home these last couple weeks. I think about all the fun we had, how fate seemed to bring us closer together before I realized what was happening.
I fell in love in that house, on this property. My life changed here.
And for the first time ever, I can honestly say it changed for the better. I feel like a different person as we leave that house in the rearview mirror. I am changed. I’m still Jess Dryers, but my heart and my mind are both open and accepting of the changes that have taken place.
The love, the acceptance, everything about these three guys. Rourke, my scent match. Asher, my childhood best friend. Mason, the closed-off alpha who slowly opened up to me. The connections I have with them are all different, and yet they’re all the same in the end.
I might not be ready to say it out loud just yet, but it’s true. I love them. I love them with all my heart, and I cannot imagine my future without them.
What will this future look like? I don’t know yet, but I suppose that’s half the fun. We’ll discover our future together—but before we get to that point, there’s one very important meeting we need to get through, first.
Aunt Cecilia, I’m ready.
The drive is long, and it feels even longer on the way back than it did when it was just Asher and me on the way to the cabin. We play musical cars, and it’s clear each of the guys have a preference on how they spend their time while they drive. Asher likes to listen to music—the radio with all of its commercials. Mason chooses a premium app where he pays extra to avoid commercials. Rourke, on the other hand, prefers podcasts.
Me? I’m used to sheer silence in the car. My aunt never liked music, and she hated podcasts.
I know, I know. What kind of person hates all music?
The entire drive is… different. I feel different, because I am different. I want different things.
A lot of differences, okay? So much so that it’s damn near overwhelming, and the only reason I don’t crawl out of my skin and find somewhere to run to is because of the alphas who’ll have my back no matter what.
After a long, long drive and a few musical car sessions later, we near the city. I’m in the car with Mason, Rourke and Asher’svehicles ahead of us on the highway. The closer we get to the city, the more nervous I become.
Which is just insane to me. I don’t get nervous.
That’s what I used to tell myself, anyway. I don’t get nervous because I don’t care about anything. Now, I can’t say any of that, simply because it’s not true.
