Ben and Theo met my gaze over Josie’s shoulder and nodded. They knew how I got after nightmares like this.
“No,” Josie said, pulling back and looking at me, eyes wide. “Don’t leave.”
Her lower lip trembled and I was powerless against it.
Shit, now she was sniffling. How did I stop it?
“I’ll stay,” I said, my hands running down her body to try to soothe her. “Don’t cry.” My words came out as a demand, and I saw Ben’s lip twitch.
“Lie down,” Josie said, issuing a command of her own as she pushed my shoulders.
All I could do was obey.
I slowly lay down on the bed, suppressing a growl when Josie moved off of me. But then she started arranging blankets, taking the one I had knitted for her and placing it over me. She let out the cutest fucking omega growl of her own when Theo or Ben tried to interfere. They looked amused, but I felt their worry for me in the bond.
Josie carefully placed soft things around me, and somehow, with every gentle pat and adjustment of a pillow, the tension in my limbs subsided. Once satisfied, she curled up next to me, tugging Theo and Ben so they were lying down. She ran her fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp. My muscles unclenched, surrendering to the care of my omega.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she whispered.
“I’ll tell you one day, sweetheart,” I murmured, hoping she would understand. I wasn’t ready. Not yet.
She traced her fingers down my jaw, all softness in contrast with the roughness of my beard.
“Okay, alpha.” She kissed me on the cheek, and something else relaxed deep in the recesses of my mind at her easy acceptance. Her touch made it okay to let go, just this once, knowing my omega was safe in my arms...and maybe I was safe in hers.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Josie
Ibit my lip, glancing at my phone. Luc had texted this morning, letting us know we had class tonight. His text was shortly followed by one from Clementine, asking if there was any way I could pick her up.
I hadn’t told the guys about self-defense class and my stomach clenched, nervous about their reaction. I was especially worried about Cam after his nightmare last night. Did he often have nightmares? I barely knew anything about their pasts... just like there was so much of mine they didn’t know.
Theo and Cam sat on either side of me at the kitchen island. Theo was on his laptop, and Cam was reading the morning paper. Every few seconds, one of them reached over and absentmindedly touched my thigh, kissed me on the cheek, or played with my hair. Each time they touched me, my omega preened with joy.
“The recipe has to have buttermilk, but I don’t understand how they get them so fluffy.” Ben sighed, exasperated as he tried to recreate the pancake recipe from yesterday morning. My eyes kept being drawn to the bright red mark on his throat and down the bare expanse of his chest, covered only by a pink apron with cupcakes on it.
“Your pancakes are better, anyway,” Cam said gruffly, without looking up from the crossword he was completing.
Ben’s face broke out into the cutest smile before he turned back to the stove. Warmth spread through me at seeing how the guys supported each other, a stark contrast from how I’d seen alphas behave growing up. They loved each other and weren’t afraid to show affection.
My phone beeped again and I jolted, reminded of the subject I still needed to broach.
“What’s wrong?” Theo asked softly, kissing my forehead. “You feeling okay? Do you want to go back to bed?”
“No,” I responded. “I… well, I have to tell you something.”
My alphas immediately looked at me with a laser focus.That’s not intimidating.
“What is it?” Cam asked, his eyes canvassing the room as if someone was about to jump out and attack.
“Umm… you know how I’ve been living alone?”Good grief, of course they know that. They were literally just at your apartment.I told the voice in my head to shut up and continued. “Well, I needed a way to make money so my friend, Poppy, introduced me to this gym owner.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Cam roared as he jumped to his feet, the counter stool clattering to the floor.
I flinched at the sudden movement and noise, whimpering as I curled into myself.
Silence blanketed the room.
