Sort of less conspicuous.
After a few deep breaths, I get my instincts buried long enough to step out of the corner. Her music still thumps faintly through the walls behind me. Lia’s scent of brown sugar and cinnamon clings to my clothes like I’ve been standing too close to a fire.
Go back to her. She’s yours.
“Shut up,” I hiss at my instincts.
I don’t take four steps before a hand reaches out and grabs my arm.
“Knox,” Walker says.
It takes me a moment to force a grin in his direction. “Hey. Everything okay?”
He studies me for a beat too long. His gaze drags over my face, sharp and assessing, like he’s trying to read something written between the lines.
“The trolley,” he says finally. “Is it up and running?”
“I was actually just coming to find you about that. Yeah, it’s good as new. I gave it a full test run. She’s ready.”
“Good.” He doesn’t let go of my arm. “You sure you’re alright?”
The question lands heavier than it should. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Walker’s jaw tightens. “You look off.”
I want to glance back down the hallway toward the kitchen where Lia is, but I resist the urge. Her music is still playing, and my mind imagines those hips of hers swiveling and bobbing to the beat. My hands burn to touch her. My nose aches to press into her hair. Can Walker not feel it? The charged electricity in the air? I feel like it’s following me.
Like something important is happening just out of sight.
The words are out of my mouth before I can catch them. “You’d be a good pack leader, you know that?”
He blinks. “What?”
I shrug out of his touch. “Just saying.”
His nose wrinkles. “Where the hell did that come from? You sure you’re good, Knox?”
Not until Lia’s in my arms. “Just musing out loud.”
I can’t help it. This time, I pivot my eyes over my shoulder and peer down the hallway back toward the thumping music. I must stare too long, because when I turn back to face Walker, a flicker of understanding washes across his face.
“She okay?” he asks.
“She’s fine,” I say with a bit of a sigh in my voice. Hate that shit. “Focused. Doing her thing.”
“You okay?”
“Just headed to my lunch break.”
His eyes narrow. “That wasn’t what I asked.”
Before I can stop myself, I smile. “See? Great pack leader already.”
I wait for the epiphany to hit. I wait for him to realize that we’re pack. That Lia is ours, and me, him, and Eli are destined to take care of her.
It’s insane to me that the two of them didn’t smell it in Dr. Quinn’s office almost two weeks ago. It’s insane to me that we’re not already crowding her space, giving her everything she needs to succeed. It’s so wild how we’re just standing on the sidelines and not in every inch of our Omega’s life already.
I don’t know how he’s holding himself back. Has he not realized it yet? Is he fighting it? Do I need to shake him around a bit so that all of the pieces rattle into place?
