TW
Knot Me In Paradiseis a sweet Omegaverse Romance and is not a dark book. However, there may be triggers for some including domestic psychological threats, mention of bullying from the past, a cult like family, and mention of a father stabbing his son.
1
ADELAIDE
It’s funny how when you’re trying to get away from your own life, you don’t realize how appealing someone else’s might seem.
I’m currently sharing a coffee with my brother in what might be the warmest café I’ve ever been inside in my life. And I’m holding a mug of something sweet called aSnow Bear Latte. I only got into town a week ago, and after missing my brother like crazy, it’s been nice living with him and his pack and feeling like part of a family again. Now, I’m watching Chris, the same guy who once superglued his hand to a skateboard and called me crying from a ditch, staring at his Omega, Hannah, like she personally invented the concept of morning light.
It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.
And I’m absolutely losing it over how much I love it.
Then there’s my hometown of Whispering Grove, which feels utterly unreal. The main street alone is a picture-perfect scene of shop windows adorned with Christmas decorations, delicate little white lights strung between lampposts, hand-painted signs in the windows of the bookshop and the flower place, and they’re playing festive tunes from outdoor speakers. That’s dedication. It’s snowing outside, big, lazy flakes that drift rather than fall,settling on the windowsill in an undisturbed line. I might be in a fantasy right now.
Honestly, it’s a lot. I lived in Los Angeles for the last few years, and it doesn’t get that cold there.
Hannah’s been talking almost continuously since we sat down at the café, which I mean as the highest possible compliment. She’s constantly smiling, those brown eyes sparkling, and she’s just gorgeous.
“Okay, so I need you to tell me I handled it correctly,” Hannah says, fork hovering over her avocado toast, “because Chris thinks I was aggressive.”
“I saidassertive,” Chris adds.
“Nope, that’s not what I heard.” She grins, then turns to me. “One of his bounty targets showed up at my corporate dinner last weekend. Forty guests. Senator’s wife at table three. And this one”—she points the fork at Chris—“walks in mid-service in his work clothes and escorts the man out through the main dining room.”
I look at my brother. “Chris.”
“The job had a window,” he admits. “But it worked out, as no one left the event and they were safer with the guy removed.”
“If you say that one more time, I’m telling Adelaide about the penguin documentary.”
Chris goes quiet.
I stare at him as he picks up his coffee, not making eye contact with either of us.
“Which documentary?” I say, smiling.
“We’re not doing this,” he states.
I glance at Hannah. She mouths,Penguins,and holds up two fingers for how many times he cried. I press my lips together hard and stare at the table.
“I can see both of you.” Chris makes a grunted sigh.
That’s when I burst out laughing because I can’t help myself, Hannah joining me.
He stares at me for a moment, the way he’s been doing since I arrived, like he’s trying to work something out. “You should stay permanently here in town with us,” he finally blurts out. It’s not the first time he’s floated the idea, but today there’s more weight behind it. “A buddy of mine has connections in town, and there’s a creative agency here that’s smaller than what you’re used to, but the work is solid. It would be great to have you around more often.”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m just saying there’s space. And we’ve been doing this thing for too long.”
“What thing?” I ask, except he gives me that look and I know exactly whatthing.
Where we love each other very much from a comfortable distance, calling on birthdays, sending voice memos at weird hours, meaning to visit and then not visiting. The thing where we’ve been doing that for so long now that neither of us quite knows how to close the gap without it feeling like a big deal, which means it stays a gap.
“I know,” I admit.
