Vic frowns, “What the hell? I thought you two were doing well together! I’ll call her and ask what’s up. This is not cool.”
A small piece of me warms at Vic’s protectiveness, but then I remember that he’s lying to me.
“You’re not my parent, you don’t need to go defend me to other people.”
“We’re Pack, of course, I’m going to defend you.”
“Are we?” I ask.
“Are we what?”
“Pack? Are we Pack?”
There it is. Vic’s face goes a little pale, and he looks extremely uncomfortable. I shake my head, unwilling to suppress the disgusted huff that comes out of me.
“I thought maybe it would be different this time, you know? I’m real fuckin’ hesitant to do the Pack bond thing, but I figured if I have you, it won’t be so bad. You’d have my back. You’d understand my fears and help me through them.” I say.
“Si, can you wait long enough to hear my side?” he asks.
“I tried to be calm enough to do that, I really did, Vic,” I tell him, my voice tight, “Then I realized you did the same thing as they did. You made me think I was wanted, then went behind my back and excluded me.”
“You said you weren’t ready!” he exclaims.
“You said Pack looks out for each other! Is this looking out for me? Is this helping me ‘see the light’?”
Vic throws his hands in the air, “God, Simon, I don’t know how the hell to explain anything to you when you’re so consistently closed off about this!”
“Don’t bother trying, I hope you and your Pack are happy with your Omega,” I tell him.
I can hear Vic make an attempt to stop me, but he doesn’t try for long. When I make it to my room, I toss the protein bar on mydresser and flop back onto my mattress. My heart is shredded. I know I said I wasn’t sure if I’m ready, but dammit we didn’t even sit down and talk about it one on one. They didn’t even try.
Clearly, they didn’t inform my Angel about it either. She was so excited when she told me. There have only been a few times in my life as an adult that I’ve cried. I hate crying. It makes me feel too vulnerable. As I lay here, though, it feels inevitable.
So, I let the tears flow down my face and just let it come.
twenty-six
JOSIE
I’ve been restless all week, and subconsciously, I understand what’s happening. I refuse to think about it. If I don’t pay attention, it will go away, right? That’s exactly how this works, I swear. My hair falls into my face, and I blow it out of my face, irritated at the distraction.
Finally, after determining the bathroom floor is clean, I pull myself up and stretch backward. Maybe scrubbing the floor wasn’t the best course of action to dispel this restless feeling. My back aches, and my hands are red from scrubbing without wearing gloves. Probably not my smartest decision, but I admit to not thinking it through; I just acted on the need todosomething.
My phone buzzes, and when I check it, I see several messages from the guys. A smile appears automatically when I see their names. These guys have completely wormed their way into my heart, and even though two of them aren’t excited about the idea of Pack bonding, I can’t help being head over heels for them. It feels like I’m finally coming out of a world of gray and seeing color everywhere.
Before I get a chance to sit down and dive into whatever shenanigans are happening virtually, there’s a brief knock at thedoor. Looking through the peephole, I see Jesse standing on my small porch. Grinning, I fling the door wide open.
“Hey you!” I greet him.
Jesse gives me his shy smile, “Hey Jojo.”
I stop back to let him in, and Jesse takes full advantage of the situation and pushes me back against the open front door. I happily let him pin me down and ravage my mouth with his own. My body lights up as his lips press into mine, his tongue demanding entrance. He pulls back way too soon, and I chase him a bit with my lips.
“Let’s get all the way inside,” he chuckles, pulling me away from the door.
Jesse smellsamazingtoday, and I can’t help but stick right next to him. I’m giving him zero personal space, and he chuckles as he maneuvers the door shut and brings me to the couch to sit.
“Feeling a bit needy today?” he asks softly.
