Before I lock her doorknob and ease myself out of her place.
By the time I get to my car, it’s much too quiet. I dig my cell phone out of my pocket, and it doesn’t shock me that the Alpha group chat has several messages from both Eli and Walker.
I don’t even bother reading them.
I send the message I know they’re waiting for.
Knox:I got her home safe. She wanted me to stay until she fell asleep. Just getting back to my car. Guess what?
Walker’s response in instant.
Walker:About fucking time. What?
Eli:Lia okay?
I resist the urge to tell them about the air mattress.
Knox:She’s starting to believe we’ve got her back.
Eli is the first to respond.
Eli:Wait, seriously? She said that?
Knox:Clear as day.
Walker takes a weird amount of time to respond.
Walker:Got a breakfast delivery set up for her for tomorrow morning. It’ll come with a reminder to drink her tea.
Eli:Good. She’ll like that.
I start my car before sending one last message.
Knox:Guys? We all smelled how close her heat is, right? What are we going to do? Do you think she’d let us help her through it if we offered?
But instead of a confident answer from Walker or a soothing answer from Eli, all I get is silence during the one moment the answer actually matters.
So, I put my phone away and back out of my parking space.
Even though every instinct I have insists I head to my workshop so I can build Lia a proper bed for her nest.
Lia
The knocking drags me out of sleep.
Pickles lifts his head first, a low woof rumbling through his chest before he hops up from his bed next to mine and trots toward the front door. My brain feels wrapped in cotton as I push myself upright, the nest of blankets and pillows shifting around me.
Someone knocks again.
“Hold on,” I croak.
My throat feels dry, but the rest of me feels… surprisingly okay. Better than yesterday, at least.
I shove away the reminder that my heat is closing in.
Pickles dances impatiently by the door while I stumble across the apartment, rubbing sleep from my eyes before unlocking the knob. When I pull the door open, a man in a delivery jacket is standing there with a brown paper bag in his hand.
“Delivery for Lia?” he asks.
