Chapter 14 #2
We ate in comfortable silence for the first few minutes. Through the window beside the table, I could see Main Street settling into evening, shops closing, people walking home. Our own private world above the bookstore.
“This is amazing,” Talia said finally. “Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“My grandmother. She believed in competence across multiple domains.” I smiled at the memory. “Reading, cooking, gardening, basic carpentry. She said specialization was for insects.”
“Heinlein.”
“You know Heinlein?”
“I know a lot of things that surprise people.” She set down her fork and looked at me directly. “Hollis, why did you ask me here tonight? Really?”
Here it was. The moment for honesty.
“Because I saw you with Jace this morning, and it made me realize I’d been waiting for the perfect moment to tell you how I feel.
But there is no perfect moment. There’s just honesty.
” I met her gaze steadily. “I have feelings for you, Talia. Romantic feelings. I think I’ve had them since the moment you first walked into my store. ”
She didn’t look surprised. “I thought you might. But I wasn’t sure if I was reading too much into things.”
“You weren’t reading too much into anything.” I paused, gathering courage. “And I need you to know that seeing you with Jace this morning didn’t change how I feel. If anything, it clarified things.”
“How?” The question was soft, genuinely curious.
“Because I realized I wasn’t jealous. I was happy for you. Relieved that you’re letting yourself connect with someone again.” I leaned forward slightly. “And I want to be part of that too. If you’ll have me.”
Talia set down her wine glass carefully, precisely. “There’s something I need to tell you. About what Jace and I talked about last week.”
“Okay.”
“He told me about pack dynamics. About how it’s normal in Hollow Haven for one omega to bond with multiple alphas.
” Her voice was steady but I caught the underlying nervousness.
“He said he was okay with me having feelings for other people. That it didn’t have to be a choice between him and someone else. ”
“That sounds like Jace. He has a way of seeing through complicated things.”
“The thing is, Hollis, I already know I have feelings for you too. I’ve known for a while. I just didn’t know what to do about it because I thought wanting both of you meant something was wrong with me.” She looked down at her hands. “And then there’s Cassian.”
“Cassian Black?”
“He’s been helping with the bistro renovations. Being incredibly kind and supportive and making me feel competent instead of helpless.” She finally looked up at me. “I have feelings for him too. Which makes me three for three on impossibly complicated situations.”
I processed this, turning it over in my mind. Cassian Black. Not many people know how much he’d sacrificed to save Hollow Haven. Brilliant, wounded, fiercely loyal to the few things he cared about.
“So you’re telling me you have feelings for three alphas simultaneously,” I said slowly.
“Yes. Which is probably too much. Too complicated. Too…”
“Stop.” I reached across the table and took her hand. “Talia, look at me.”
She did, and I saw years of conditioning telling her that wanting things for herself was wrong, selfish, greedy.
“There’s nothing wrong with you. Nothing broken or too complicated or too much.” I squeezed her hand gently. “You’re honest about what you’re feeling. That’s brave. That’s healthy.”
“But how can this possibly work? Three alphas and one omega who’s still figuring out how to trust anyone?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I know I’d rather try to figure it out with you than walk away because it seems complicated.” I paused, making sure she was really hearing me. “And I think Jace probably feels the same way, based on what you’ve told me.”
“And Cassian?”
“I don’t know Cassian well enough to speak for him. But from what I know of his reputation, he’s someone who thinks strategically about complicated situations. Who values loyalty and honesty above convention.”
“So you’re saying you’re okay with this? With me having feelings for all three of you?”
“I’m saying I love you.” The words came out before I’d consciously decided to say them. “I love you, Talia. And part of loving you means wanting you to be honest about what you need. Even if what you need includes other people.”
She stared at me like I’d started speaking a foreign language. “You love me.”
“I love you. And I’m not asking you to say it back. I know this is insanely early. I’m not asking for exclusivity or promises or anything except honesty about what you want.”
Talia stood abruptly, moving to the window to stare out at Main Street below. I watched her shoulders rise and fall with deep breaths, giving her space to process.
“Jace made it sound so simple,” she said to the window. “Like pack formation was just another way people build families in Hollow Haven. Like it wasn’t this huge, impossible thing.”
“It probably isn’t as impossible as it feels right now,” I said gently. “But it does require trust. And communication. And all of us being willing to put your wellbeing above our egos.”
She turned to look at me. “And you think you can do that?”
“I think I want to try. I think Jace wants to try, based on what you’ve told me.” I stood and moved toward her slowly. “And I think if Cassian has feelings for you, he’ll probably be willing to have a conversation about it.”
“This is insane.”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s just honest.” I stopped a few feet away, giving her control over the space between us. “The question is whether you want to explore it. Whether the three of us are worth the risk of trying something unconventional.”
She studied my face for a long moment. “I’m terrified.”
“I know.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if I hurt all of you? What if…”
“Talia.” I waited until she focused on me. “Can I kiss you?”
Her breath caught. “Yes.”
I closed the remaining distance slowly, giving her every opportunity to change her mind. My hands came up to frame her face, thumbs brushing along her cheekbones.
The kiss was gentle at first, a careful exploration. She tasted like wine and lemon from the piccata, and underneath that, her own unique sweetness. Her hands came up to grip my arms, anchoring herself.
I deepened the kiss gradually, letting her set the pace. Her scent spiked with arousal and surprise and relief, wrapping around both of us. This was different from what I’d imagined. Less tentative, more certain. Like she’d already made decisions I was only now learning about.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard. Talia kept her eyes closed for a long moment.
“I kissed Jace on Saturday,” she said quietly. “In the meadow during our foraging trip. It felt right. Natural.”
“Good.”
“And now I’m kissing you. And it also feels right.” She opened her eyes. “How can both things be true?”
“Because they are.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “Different connections meeting different needs. That doesn’t make either one less real or less valuable.”
“I haven’t kissed Cassian yet.”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes. God, yes.” She pulled back slightly to look at me. “Does that bother you?”
“Honestly? No. It makes me curious about what happens next. About whether the three of us can actually make this work.” I smiled. “And it makes me want to meet with Jace and Cassian. Talk to them directly. Figure out if we’re all on the same page.”
“You’d do that? Talk to them about me?”
“About us. About what we might build together if you want it.” I tucked a curl behind her ear. “But only if you’re ready for that conversation. Only if you want to pursue this.”
She was quiet for a long moment, processing. Then: “I should probably go home. Think about all of this.”
“Of course.” I stepped back, giving her space even though everything in me wanted to keep her close. “But Talia, I meant what I said. All of it. I have real feelings for you. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Even if I need time to figure out what I want with Jace and Cassian too?”
“Especially then. Take all the time you need. We don’t need to make any decisions now. There’s nothing wrong with taking things slow.”
She studied me for another long moment, then rose on her toes to press one more soft kiss to my lips. “Thank you. For being honest. For not making this harder than it already is.”
“Thank you for trusting me enough to be honest back.”
I walked her downstairs and out to her car. Before she climbed in, she turned back to me.
“Hollis? When you talk to Jace and Cassian, if you talk to them, tell them I’m not trying to play games. I’m not trying to manipulate anyone. I just don’t know how to want only one person when I clearly want all three.”
“I’ll tell them you’re being honest. Which is the only thing that matters.”
She nodded, then drove away into the October darkness.
I climbed back upstairs and stood at my window, looking out at Hollow Haven settling into night.
Somewhere out there, Talia was processing what I’d told her.
The insanity of me realising I was in love with someone I barely knew and just blurting it out at her.
Somewhere else, Jace was probably finishing an evening patrol, unaware that I now knew about them.
And Cassian Black was likely in his house on Ridge Road, isolated and brilliant and apparently part of something complicated that was just beginning.
Three of us orbiting the same omega, each offering something different. Each wanting her in ways that might complement rather than compete.
The logical part of my mind knew I should reach out to Jace first. Have a conversation before things got more complicated. But tonight wasn’t the time for that. Tonight was for Talia to process what I’d told her, to sit with her feelings and figure out what she actually wanted.
The rest would come when it came. Conversations with Jace and Cassian. Figuring out if the three of us could actually coordinate instead of compete. Learning whether pack formation was a real possibility or just a beautiful theory that wouldn’t survive contact with reality.
But for tonight, I had the memory of her kiss and the certainty that I’d finally been honest about what I wanted. That was enough.
My grandmother’s voice echoed one more time, warm with approval. “The right words at the right time can change everything, Hollis. You spoke them. Now trust that the people worth having will rise to meet your honesty with their own.”
I’d been honest tonight. Completely honest.
Tomorrow I could start figuring out next steps. Tonight, I’d let the truth settle and trust that Talia would know what to do with it.
I finished the wine, washed the dishes, and eventually made my way to bed. But sleep came slowly, my mind full of possibilities and complications and the taste of vanilla and honey that lingered despite the wine I’d drunk to wash it away.
Whatever happened next, everything had changed tonight. For better or worse, I’d laid my cards on the table.
Now I just had to wait and see what hand we’d all end up playing.