“You, Quincy Barber, are definitely worth it.”
I put down my sandwich and reached for his hand to prove it.
Quincy laced his fingers with mine and held his free hand over his mouth, eyes shut. It was emotional overload for him, and I promised myself I would be more careful about setting him off in public places.
But mostly, I promised to myself that I would do whatever it took to wrestle free of my dad’s grasp so that I could make a life with Quincy, my omega, and make sure no one hurt him ever again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Quincy
It was so fucking unfair.
As Jack and I sat close, eating our lunches and trying to talk about normal things, trying to pretend we were a normal omega and alpha in the early stages of their relationship, all I could think was that nothing in my life, or Jack’s life either, was even remotely in the neighborhood of fair. I was severed and Jack was a prisoner of his class and expectations. Everything was against us.
But I couldn’t have been more in love with him than if some deranged cupid has stabbed me in the heart repeatedly with a fucking arrow.
“We’ll find a way to make this work,” Jack said once we’d vacated our table to another, probably way less star-crossed, couple and headed outside. “I don’t know how, but I’m not going to give up on you, give up on us.”
My lunch sat like a lead weight in my gut, but I turned to Jack and tried my best to smile up at him all the same.
“I’m not going to give up either,” I said, leaning closer to him and putting my hand on his chest, despite the lunchtime rush of people walking around us. “We’re utterly fucking impossible, but I refuse to let them win.”
Jack grinned and placed his hands over mine. His body was warm and his heart beat steadily, making me believe that we actually had a snowball’s chance in Hades of making this work. I guessed I could believe in fairy tales, too.
“We probably shouldn’t be seen walking back to the hotel together,” Jack said after we stood there making googly eyes at each other for too long. “If my father is still there and if he sees us, who knows what else he might do?”
I was smart enough to know that question covered a whole world of really scary shit.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, pulling my hands away.
He caught them and threaded our fingers together. “I don’t know,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Honestly, I’ll probably do whatever I can to avoid him for as long as possible. I want to stand up and fight for us, but I don’t need to throw everything in his face right away.”
I nodded, though I was anything but certain that would be a long-term strategy.
“What about your cards and bank accounts?” I asked, another wave of panic rising in me.
Jack shrugged. “This might sound crazy, but I think I’m just not going to mention anything about them and see what happens.”
“But you need money to live,” I said. “Don’t you have, like, bills to pay and groceries to buy?”
Jack’s face pinched. “We’ll see what happens,” was all he said, though.
“I’m worried about you,” I told him.
Surprisingly, Jack laughed. “You’re worried about me? And here I was the one terrified that this will somehow make your life harder.”
It wasn’t funny, but it was hard not to smile when my big and brave alpha was beaming at me like I’d hung the moon.
I wasn’t anywhere near good enough for him.
“My life is already a wreck,” I said, all the hope draining out of me as the stump of my old bond burned and itched. “Your dad can’t make it much worse.”
Jack looked like I’d stabbed him in the heart. “I’m so sorry for that,” he said quietly.
And then, right there in the middle of the sidewalk, where everyone could see, he pulled me against him, tilted my head back, and slanted his mouth over mine in an amazing kiss.
For the space of a few seconds, every drop of my fear and anxiety melted away. My heart seemed to swell and beat in my ears. The remnants of my old bond throbbed and swelled, almost like the pain that came with new teeth trying to rupture where a baby tooth had fallen out.
