Page 16 of Lonely Alpha
“I did. And they came back as undeliverable as addressed or not at this address. I didn’t send them for a while because I was waiting for yours. You must have already moved, and my dads didn’t know how to find you. But there wasn’t a minute out there where you weren’t on my mind, alpha.”
Hearing him call me alpha broke whatever hold I had on my resentment.
Neither one of us had abandoned or rejected the other. A massive communication blockage had fueled insinuations.
The years wasted.
“You were all I could think about too. William, the way I missed you…my heart was ripped out. It still is.”
The dam broke. I extended my arms, and he wilted into them. We held each other for a long time, processing all the regret and how wrong we had been.
“Here we are,” the driver said. I was sure he heard everything we’d said but I didn’t care.
I had my omega back. At least, I hoped. I got out first and reached for William to take my hand. He did instantly.
“Let’s go have dinner.”
The restaurant was small and quaint. No ceiling lights were on, only the faint glow of battery-operated candles and lanterns everywhere. It was a perfect romantic spot, and I was thankful to Franklin and his penchant for romance. I probably owed him an apology. I’d thought William and I were his first matchmaking mistake.
I was wrong.
We touched each other through the whole meal. William chose chicken, which wasn’t a surprise but as I cut pieces off of my steak, he reached for more than one. Also, not a surprise.
“You never chose another mate?” he asked. “There’s no one else?”
I reached for his thigh under the table. “I dated some. Tried some apps, but there was never anyone but you.” I watched his mouth as he chewed. Something so simple shouldn’t be so damned sexy. “What about you?”
“I dated some as well. Nothing ever worked out beyond a few dates. I-I never took any of them to bed. Don’t know why I wanted you to know that.”
“I didn’t either. How could I? They would all pale compared to you.”
We talked through dinner and dessert about everything. What he had been doing. Where I lived now and what it was like on the other coast.
I didn’t know what was next for us, but we had tonight, and I intended to make the most of it. “How about we get back to the inn?” I asked, squeezing his leg.
“Goddess, I thought you would never ask. I saw the car pull up a few minutes ago.”
“Then let’s go.”
We got in the car and sat thigh to thigh on the way. “Remember that time you surprised me with a hotel staycation?” William asked, laying his head on my shoulder.
“I remember. You were so surprised and worried I’d missed something. We were only an hour away from home.”
He giggled. “That was a fantastic weekend. I bet the people in the rooms beside us didn’t get a wink of sleep.”
I pressed my nose into his hair, inhaling his scent. It had evolved but was still the same. Lilacs and spring and everything sunshine. “We didn’t get a wink of sleep. The next weekend all we did was nap and relax.”
“What’s going to happen now?” He whispered the question I’d asked myself throughout the night.
“I don’t know, omega, but I’m not leaving you. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you with me.”
William chuckled. “That’s good because I might not let you out of my sight for a while. Like glue. A shadow.”
“Sounds like the best plan ever.”
Chapter Fifteen
William
