Page 189 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

As Henry left the bus, Lyric watched him go before turning her attention to Nohen. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt especially clingy today. She motioned for him to come sit beside her, and she cuddled up to him as he placed a gift bag on the ground.

“I brought you something,” he said.

Lyric could already scent the bath items and grinned up at him.

With hours until the final show, they’d made it. Through six weeks of tour. From strangers in an audition to… this. Lyric gazed up at Nohen.

Truth be told, she hadn’t ever been the spoiled type. Her mother certainly hadn’t been one to treat Lyric with any favors. Always claiming it was an alpha’s job to spoil her.

Well, now she had four alphas. And a beta.

Suck it, Mom.

Pulling the bag close, Lyric heard jars and bags crinkle within, and arched a brow. She couldn’t deny she was enjoying the hell out of opening presents. Christmas hadn’t been a very big celebration in her household growing up, and even less so after she learned Lyric was an omega.

Sweet, floral, and gentle scents reached her nose as the bag rustled, and her gaze trailed to Nohen. He would be the one to buy her these kinds of things.

“We don’t have a tub,” she commented as she reached in and pulled the first bath bomb out.

“Yet,” he argued with a wink. “We will.”

Her heart flipped over in her chest. “Is that a promise?”

“Sure is. Once we get everything figured out, we can look for a place with one of those fancy clawfoot tubs.”

“A big one, fit for two,” she teased.

“Damn right,” Nohen agreed.

Lyric smiled at that, and smelled each bath bomb and bubble mix, unable to conjure words that would do the emotions flowing through her justice.

“No more scent-erasing body wash, huh?” she teased.

Nohen cleared his throat. “Of course. Everyone will know whom you belong to.”

For once, that phrasing didn’t bother her. Instead, something in her warmed at the declaration. And kept warming her.

She cuddled up to Nohen, spent a fraction of the afternoon snuggling her beta and talking about all the plans once tour ended. It was crazy to think that in just a handful of hours it would be all over, and the plans they were dreaming about would be a whole hell of a lot closer.

But she felt… restless. And was on the verge of asking Nohen if he wanted to go for a walk before the bus door opened again.

Adra and Emerson appeared, spied the open present and the tissue paper, and crossed their arms. “So we’re doing this now, huh? I thought we agreed to wait.”

Nohen flushed guiltily, and Lyric watched them bicker with stars in her eyes. “Well…” Nohen began. “It’s the last day of tour. I wanted to surprise her, but Henry beat me to it.”

Adra hummed, reaching up to scratch at his cheek. “I have a surprise too. Would it be okay if I gave it to her now?”

Lyric sat up. “Yes. I can confirm she’s okay with that.”

Her chest ached in the best way as they chuckled, and her cheeks flushed. Maybe she could get used to this spoiled thing.

“I’ll be right back,” Adra murmured, and walked past them to the bunk room. Rustling followed, and Emerson folded the table into the floor to open up space for them before taking a seat on the opposite couch.

When Adra returned, Nohen shuffled and stood up. “I’ll give Adra the spotlight,” he said against her lips before retreating to Emerson’s side.

Adra cleared his throat before he sat on the couch beside her, a simple, thin brown box in his hands, about the size of a small canvas.

“You really didn’t have to,” she said softly.