The pile moved again, and Emory scooted closer. “Would you like that?” Emory asked, clearing his throat and doing his best to push back his tears. “I would open a thousand coconuts for you, my love. Every day, for the rest of our lives, if you want me to.”
The pile shifted and then began to shimmy and shake. Finally, it seemed to grow. Emory pulled the letterman jacket off the pile, then his senior year jersey, followed by his junior yearjersey. He grabbed a Metallica t-shirt, and then Cameron was there. His beautiful omega, red-eyed and staring up at Emory…with a coconut shell on his head.
His lion let out a surprised chuff, but all Emory could do was stare at the tear tracks running over the scars on Cameron’s face.
They spoke over each other in a tumble of words and tears.
“I’m sorry, Emory.”
“Oh, my love, I’m so sorry.”
Cameron’s eyes overflowed with tears, and Emory’s eyes burned with sympathy. He tried to blink them away, but they were too quick for him. One, then two, and then a few more trickled down his cheeks.
“Please don’t cry.” Cameron reached out a hand, the same way his tentacle had done before, and Emory took it, yanking Cameron forward and into his lap. The coconut shell fell off his head, but Cameron caught it and pulled it tightly against his chest.
Instinct took over, and Emory wrapped himself around Cameron, lifting up his legs to form a protective barrier around his small, naked body. He encircled him with his arms and was careful not to squeeze too hard, lest he break the coconut shell that Cameron was clinging to.
“I think maybe I deserve to cry,” Emory said, taking in a shaky breath as he tapped their foreheads together. “It seems like you’ve done enough in the past few days. I’msosorry, Cameron. I should have said something or done a better job standing up for you. I didn’t even know how bad it was getting until Ronan said something last night, but I didn’t want to steamroll over you and I… I’m sorry.”
Cameron trembled in his arms, pressing his wet face into Emory’s chest. He was wearing a button-down his father had given him, as well as a blazer that was beginning to make him feel claustrophobic. Cameron fingered the lapel of the jacketwith one hand and hugged the coconut shell tighter to his chest with the other.
“You don’t deserve to cry, Emory. You also don’t deserve to have me admitting I love you in a rant to yourevilaunt.”
Emory made a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh. It was an almost childish sentiment, but it resonated with Emory’s lion. Good and evil. So simple, even if in reality nothing was ever quite that black and white.
“She is pretty evil, huh?” Emory said, stroking his fingers back through Cameron’s hair.
Cameron nodded, pressing his face even harder into Emory’s pec. Emory heard Ronan’s words echoing in his head, and he heard his father’s and mother’s voices, too.
He cupped Cameron’s cheeks and waited until he looked up at him. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, Cameron. Thank you for defending us and the family we’re going to create. You, me, and more love than any of my bitter, and yes, sometimes evil relatives could ever comprehend.”
Emory drew in and then released a long breath. This was it. He knew it, his lion knew it, and in just a second, Cameron would know it, too. It shouldn’t be intimidating, since Cameron had already said it first, but he could still feel his hands shaking where they were clutching Cameron’s back. If his fated mate could be brave enough to face down his entire family, he could damn well do this.
“I love you, Cameron Klein,” he said with utmost certainty. “More than anyone or anything on this planet. The only thing I felt hearing you say you loved me was joy and relief that I finally get to say it, too. I love you. I love yousomuch.”
Cameron sobbed and ducked his head, pressing his forehead to Emory’s mouth. Emory pressed a kiss to his heated skin and then dragged his lips down, skimming over his wet cheeks and brushing across those two freckles until he found his mouth.
Cameron threw his arms around Emory’s neck, still holding the coconut. Emory pulled him impossibly closer, and Cameron straddled him, wrapping his legs around his back as they continued to kiss.
“I love you, Emory,” Cameron whispered against Emory’s mouth.
“I love you, honey.”
Emory sealed their mouths together, as all of his swirling emotions crested and slowly settled into a near peaceful state. His lion sat down, curling his tail around his feet as Cameron’s sweet energy flowed around them.
Of course, because Emory could never truly know peace, his lion only allowed him a few more kisses before he tilted his head and warbled in curiosity.
“Cameron?” Emory asked slowly, and Cameron pulled back and tilted his head in question.
Fondness exploded in Emory’s chest, and he kissed those two freckles he loved so much. “Well, first,” he said, unable to contain his laughter. “That probably isn’t a habit you want to pick up from my lion.”
Cameron stuck out his bottom lip, stubbornly tipping his head the other way, and Emory kissed him again. “Alright, as you wish. What I was going to ask was, is there something special about the coconut?”
Cameron bit his lip, and his cheeks turned even redder than they already were from crying. “Oh, uhm…so, I told you I’m an octopus?”
Emory blinked. “Yes?”
“Amphioctopus marginatus?”
