Slightly surprised, he quickly glanced at me before returning his attention to the road. “No, you’ll be a godsend. You already are, and I love that you're already imaginingyour role with the four of us. I’ll be so thrilled to have you…well, it’s the omegas place to balance, for sure.”
Switching topics, we discussed the logistics of the event before finally arriving at my apartment. Demetrius helped me out of the car and escorted me up to my apartment, softly brushing his hand against my lower back. We briefly paused at my door, his hand caressing my cheek as his eyes gazed over me.
“Have a great rest of your day, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning right here,” he said, kissing my forehead. He waved to me before leaving down the hallway.
I slowly walked into my apartment, shut the door, and locked it behind me. Leaning against the door, I tried to hold onto the warmth of his touch, but it slipped away too fast.
Inside my apartment, there was no hum of voices in the background. No scent of food. No bursts of laughter. Just white walls and a ticking clock. As I looked around the sparsely decorated apartment, all generic looking, void of any personality, a thought grew louder and louder in my head that I couldn’t seem to push away.
It’s lonely here.
Chapter eleven
Posed and Poised
Lukas
Monday morning, we all found ourselves sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast together. Since Ivy had arrived in our lives, our schedules seemed to have synced more, which was a big shift from our usual independent routines.
I dug into the eggs Preston had made—medium over toast—then turned to the group. “Where are we with Ivy? How do we think she’s doing?”
“Well, she slept over at our house this weekend, that’s positive,” Isaac replied. He reached across the table for a napkin, almost spilling the orange juice.
“She also said something to the effect of wishing she could stay longer,” Preston added, sitting down next to me.
“That’s good,” I said. “Sounds like she’s getting more comfortable with the whole pack idea.”
“She’s getting there,” Demetrius agreed. “It’s so important we let her find her way to us.”
“So true,” I said. “We’ve all kissed her lightly on the cheek and forehead, but has she kissed any of us yet? She hasn’t kissed me back.”
Isaac shook his head.
Dem gave a brief shake of the head.
Preston slowly lifted his hand, trying to hide the grin forming on his face.
“She kissed you? When?” I gasped, throwing an apple slice at Preston. He gracefully swatted it away.
“Yesterday, after class in the studio. I was completely shocked when she kissed me,” Preston answered, touching his lips. “Her kiss was so delicate and sweet. It was amazing.”
Isaac’s eyes looked like they were ready to melt steel rods right now.”Probably felt she had to with the amount of dancing she’ll have to do with you.”
“Did you stun her and take advantage?” I joked, watching Preston’s cheeks turn a bit red.
“Hey, somebody had to be first, and it makes sense it was Preston,” Dem added logically, though I could see a bit of tension through his shoulders. “We should be happy she’s ready to move forward with some aspects of a physical relationship.”
Isaac replied through gritted teeth. “Agreed. I’m clearly happy, can’t you tell?”
We all chuckled at his reaction. I felt the same as Isaac, though I was happy for Preston, too.
Dem cleared his throat and added, “Let’s keep the competition light, remember? She’s not a prize to win. She’s going to be the heart of the pack—we follow her pace.”
I nodded. Today, I had a photoshoot with Ivy after her morning class. At least that would give me some more time to spend with her. It was hard to be patient when I ached to be with her, but she was worth the wait. Still, I was dying for her to be ready for me.
***
I had all my camera equipment set up in the third studio on the second floor of the company building. This studio was usually too small to rehearse in, but proved more useful for small projects like photoshoots or children’s classes.
