She turns her attention back to the town below us. “I don’t know. I mean, it doesn’t rub me the wrong way. It sort of reminds me of those magazines in the doctor’s offices I read.”
“The ones with the quizzes in them and stuff?”
“Those are the ones. Every once in a while, they’ll have a spread of a pack. They’ll talk about themselves and how they all got together. It’s actually pretty common for Alphas to have group chat texts about their Omega.”
Their Omega.
It’s the first time I’ve ever heard her acknowledge the fact that she might actually be ours.
I try not to get my hopes up.
“Plus,” she says as she tips back the last of her tea, “it means I don’t have to keep repeating myself. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you guys or anything, but sometimes I just don’t want to keep talking about things over and over again, you know?”
I nod. “I know. But if it ever bothers you, please don’t hesitate to tell us.”
“I don’t think ‘bother’ is the right word. It’s more like I feel… protected.”
I swallow down the growl threatening to bubble up. “Protected?”
She nods as she looks back at me. “You guys having a group chat text about me sort of makes me feel protected. Is that weird?”
The shake of my head is instant. “Not at all. That’s what we want. Above all else, we want you to feel safe.”
Silence falls between us again and I take another chance. I’ve been wanting to give her space. To not crowd her and yank her into my lap the way I wish I could. But after hearing her admit all of that, I can’t not try.
I move the picnic basket backward and scoot a bit closer to her on the tailgate.
I still give her space. Our thighs aren’t quite touching, though I can feel the heat of her body radiating toward me. My attention goes back to Honeysuckle Grove, which is in full swing now that the sun has risen into the sky.
The pebbled dots of the people that fill the town move about on the sidewalks, with a few cars here and there driving through town. The old oak tree looms high and mighty, as if watching over the place.
The pressure against my thigh pulls my gaze down, however.
I hardly get a moment to register the fact that Lia has scooted closer to me before her head falls to my shoulder.
I can’t hold back. Something within me snaps. My arm sweeps around her, sliding against her waist and pulling her closer into my side. I tuck her there, just to remind me she’s real and that this is all happening.
I love the way she sighs when I do.
It doesn’t sound burdened.
“How much longer do we have?” she asks softly.
I drop a kiss to the top of her head without thinking. “We have as long as you’d like.”
“Good.”
Her legs swing aimlessly off the tailgate of my truck while we watch the sun rise. I’m not sure what time it is, and to be honest, I really don’t care. We could sit here until lunch if she wanted, and then all I’d do is invite her to the diner to sit and have a bite to eat with me.
Walker doesn’t need her until this evening, anyway.
But the sound of buzzing interrupts my thoughts.
She picks up her head. “Is that you?”
I shake my head. “My phone’s in the truck.”
“Ugh.”
