Page 19 of The Omega’s Nest

His smile slips. “Addie, what is it?”

He rushes over to me and falls to his knees. “Did someone hurt you?”

“No.” I shake my head and lean into the hand he places tentatively on the side of my face. “I’m just happy.”

I know my scent is blooming with joy at seeing him. I also know I should be telling him to leave, putting what’s better for him above my own needs. But my scent can’t lie—I’m so happy to see him again it’s like I could burst, and I can’t stop the truth of that.

His answering grin reminds me of when we were boys, his pure, unbridled joy. Leo liked anything to do with speed—ice-skating, go-carting, anything that made the rush of wind streak over his face. It’s why he dreamed of the Air Force. “Nothing faster,” he used to say with giddiness in his eyes.

“Hi,” he says around his perfect white teeth. He tackles me to the ground, and we fall back against the pillows, laughing.

Burying my face in the crook of his neck and shoulder, I take a deep hit of his scent.

“Did you shower?” I ask, my lips skimming his skin.

He shakes his head, his own face buried against my throat.

“No,” he replies, muffled. “Want to smell like you.”

I giggle, charmed and electrified all at once. “You can smell like me again after tonight. I mean …” I backtrack quickly. It still feels so bold to assume.

Leo pulls back and studies my face. “After we do stuff tonight?” he asks hopefully.

I exhale in relief. “Yes.”

“Good.” His smile is smaller now, turning heated. He leans down to kiss me and I’m lost.

We came in our pants again, but Leo finally relents to having a shower if I join him. The bathroom attached to my room is tiny, a perfunctory thing—toilet crammed against the side of a shower stall, the paint peeling, cornices and ceiling stained with mould. I’m embarrassed to lead Leo in there.

I turn around to see if he’s following. He’s staring at me with parted lips and wide eyes. He’s trying to get his boots off, hopping around on one foot and scrabbling at the boot on the other foot while his gaze roves all over my body.

I can’t help it, I laugh at him.

“Shut up,” he mutters, but he’s smiling that shy smile again.

I face the shower stall, take a deep breath for courage, and reach for my waistband. It’s ridiculous, I’ve lost count of the number of alphas who’ve seen me naked, and while it still makes me nervous each time, Leo is different.

Of course Leo’s different. I want Leo to like what he sees. And not in the usual way of omegas wanting alphas to like us, but I want Leo to like my body because it’s mine, not because I’m an omega.

He crowds up behind me before I can spiral further.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he whispers against the shell of my ear. “I can shower alone. I was just joking when I said I’d only shower if you came with me. I mean, I want that, but only if you do too.”

He’s rambling, a hesitancy to his tone I once knew so well. All the times he’d make a choice for me, like when he was at my house and he’d pick a horror movie for us to watch and I’d scrunch my face up, he’d backtrack adorably, trying so hard to make sure I knew he’d do whatever I wanted to do while also not putting me in a position to assert my will over an alpha.

“I want to,” I tell him. His hands slip around my waist and pull me back against his chest. “I’m just, I don’t know …” I close my eyes and tell the truth, my scent is broadcasting it anyway. “Nervous.”

“Nervous? Why?” he asks as if he can’t imagine a world where I’d be nervous around him.

“I want, well …” I clasp my hands over his. “I want you to like … me. What you see.”

Desire washes over me like the crashing of a wave.

“Addie.” He says my name like it’s something profound. “Believe me, I’m going to like everything about you. Fucking everything. I already do.”

Well, it’s not like he hasn’t seen me almost naked before, getting changed out of my wetsuit, but that was before.

“Okay,” I say, gaze fixed on the cracked tiles. I do my best to believe he’s going to like this scrawny version of me and go for my buttons.