Page 135 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

“Why do you look like someone whose sugar daddy passed and left you the inheritance?” Desi had asked.

Nohen had rolled his eyes and turned the phone toward her, and a second later, her eyes softened.

“You’re all welcome.”

“For what?” Adra asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“For being awesome at giving relationship advice,” Desi announced. “Now get back there like she asked,” she demanded, her finger pointed toward Lyric’s nest.

Was whatever Lyric was about to share with them because of Desi? Was whatever had been on her mind… good?

It didn’t seem like it.

Tension filled the room, settling in the shoulders of Emerson, Henry, Nohen, and Adra. Even Javier was tiptoeing around as he set breakfast plates down.

“Javi, you too. Sit.”

She waited for the alpha to sit obediently before she continued.

“I’m an unmated omega who lives alone, and who avoids alphas… usually.” She tacked on the last with a nervous laugh and a matching glance at her audience. “There are a couple reasons for that, and it’s not all due to my mom’s influence.” Lyric huffed out a dry laugh and tucked her hair behind her ear before stopping and leaning against the far wall. “I’m sure you saw my apartment, how secure it is.”

“Uh-huh,” Emerson hummed and crossed his arms, brows furrowing as she talked.

Dread curled in Adra’s stomach.

“After my mom died, it took me a bit to move out because I was dealing with the funeral arrangements and everything. It was a lot, and it just took time. But while I was staying there… someone broke in.”

His heart stopped. Adra growled before he could catch it in time, the dangerous sound curling through the air. Lyric’s gaze jumped to him, and he choked the sound back, offering a comforting smile. He wasn’t the only one affected. Even Javier’s fists were clenched where they rested on his knees.

“I wasn’t home,” she continued, and he released the breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding.

“So I wasn’t hurt and didn’t even see who it was, but the place was… trashed. I had to start over from scratch because he’d completely destroyed my room. They never found him, but I knew it was an alpha from his scent. It permeated everything.” She shuddered, and Adra fisted his hands, digging his nails into his palms to keep himself from crossing the room to comfort her. “I left all my stuff behind, and when I found my own place, I had it decked out with extra security measures.”

He wanted to hunt the asshole down, but that wasn’t practical, nor possible at this point. It was all instinct. Protection.

“Lyric, that’s awful,” Nohen murmured. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

She waved a hand through the air as she laughed nervously. “It’s not that big of a deal. I moved on, but I think that contributed toward my dislike of alphas. I mean, it goes… deeper. I’m aware, and there are a lot of things that I need to work through. But what I’m saying is that—” She paused, her cheeks burning brightly as her gaze jumped between them all. “I want to work through them. I’m saying I’m open to this” —she motioned her hand between herself and the rest of the bus as she spoke— “but I think I need to take it slow. If that’s okay? Like, turtle slow. No! Snail slow.”

Warmth flashed through him as her blue-green eyes met his own. It burned away the dread, and in its ashes something dangerously close to hope sprouted.

Lyric might have sounded nervous, might have been fidgeting, but her gaze was filled with all the emotion she wasn’t putting into words.

Odd’s heart fluttered with an odd kind of anticipation. At first, he hadn’t even dared hope for something—someone—so good as Lyric. Carefree but guarded, smart, passionate, ambitious, and talented. But as the weeks had gone by, and he’d watched her slowly open up to them, to trust them with tiny pieces of her, he’d cherished and collected each one.

After his last pack’s omega had cast him aside, he’d been cautious, content with only the pieces she’d given them glimpses of, too afraid to let himself want more.

But now, as she stood there sharing yet another piece of herself with them, telling them she was willing to try…

All his reservations went out the window. Because if Lyric, with her past experiences and present fears, could promise to try… so would he.

“Hey, man, you okay?” Emerson asked, nudging an elbow into his side.

Adra blinked, the ground coming into view, and he lifted his head to glance at Emerson, reading the concerned expression on his face.

The room was quiet, and he turned his attention outward to find everyone’s gazes on him. Henry, Nohen, Emerson, Javier, Desi… and Lyric.

“I’m fine,” he said, and held Lyric’s gaze. Noted the worry in her eyes and wanted to ease it. “I don’t think any of us expected this when we walked on this bus,” he admitted. “I know I didn’t. But I want you to know I’m more than willing to give you all the time you need to make whatever decision you need to. Just make sure it’s a decision for you,” he amended, “not for us, not out of guilt or a sense of duty you think you owe us for the time we’ve spent together. If we do part ways at the end of tour—” She flinched when he said it, the action microscopic as she dropped her gaze, and the couch hissed as he stood. He found himself crossing the room and gently tipping her head up to meet his. “If that is your decision, know I’m lucky to even have spent a few weeks of my life with you.”