Evans
“Do you see that look he just gave her?” Ivii asks through a mouthful of popcorn before offering me the bowl. Her blue eyes sparkle as she turns back to the screen.
“And the way she dropped her glove on purpose?” Diane sighs dreamily.
“AND HE PICKED IT UP!” Ivii squeals, playfully slapping my thigh before making a chef’s kiss motion with her fingers. “Yearning. Pure yearning.”
Diane chuckles from the other side giving me a nudge, “Why don’t alphas yearn like that anymore?”
How did I end up here after the morning I’d had? I’d been excited, ready for a day of barbecuing down by the lake and then that ‘thing’ happened with Hunter. I scoff, unable to hold it back, drawing curious looks from Diane and Ivii.
Thing?
Thing?
The single hottest ‘thing’ that’s happened to me since…well, since I watched Hunter and Percy..
I’d walked into his room, intent on dragging his ass out of bed, except he’d been there, wide awake and jerking off. I should’ve turned around and walked right back out.
Except I didn’t.
No, because my idiot mouth has no filter.
There’s nothing to stop the words that fly out of my mouth unsupervised.
Before I knew what I was even thinking, I was asking to stay and watch.
Who the fuck does that?
What was wrong with me?
I was the one who asked to just be friends. And now, apparently I was also the one asking if I could watch him beat it.
That wasn’t even the worst part of it.
Heat floods my face, but Ivii just chuckles, thinking it’s because the alpha on screen is fucking the omega in the back of a carriage.
That’s hot, not mortifying.
There’s a difference.
No, the worst part was I couldn’t just stay by the door and jerk off there. No, for some reason I had to crawl onto the bed between his legs. I needed to watch as my thighs forced him to spread wider and his hole was exposed.
Apparently my lizard alpha brain was determined to have a front row view as precum had run down his shaft and dribbled onto his balls. Because I didn’t know fuck all about boundaries.
And now he hated me, clearly.
He ran out of there so fast. Was he feeling guilty about Percy? Was that it?
He was mine first.
My housemate.
My best friend.
We’ve even messed around in Crest Haven, which meant he was in my bed first too. Percy could get to the back of the line.
But…what was I going to do about it when he was avoiding me. Ignoring the women blushing and fanning themselves either side of me, I pull out my phone and check the time.
It’s past five pm now which means he’s been out all day.
All day.
He must be really mad.
I mean, I know he said I could…and I know he likes being watched, but clearly I messed up otherwise he wouldn’t have left.
I didn't know what to do with myself as I sat on the bed, the sheets smelling like us with my head buried in my hands. Finally, after realising he’d really gotten in his car and driven away, I’d gotten dressed.
Deciding not to shower, wanting to bask in our pheromones a little longer, I’d stolen another one of his vests.
Tossing it on, I’d walked down the path to the family cabin.
Hunter may hate me right now, but it turns out his family likes me a lot.
The twins kept me on my toes while we built a den, asking me why I’m friends with Hunter, why chickens are born in eggs and if I know what happens when an alpha goes into rut yet because no one else will tell them.
When they tire of that, I wander down to the lake where Lyle tries to distract me for a while. I know he knows something is up, but he says nothing.
He’s like Hunter the way he’s easy to be around. There aren’t many words needed while I keep him company on the dock while he does a little fishing.
I would have stayed longer.
My brain wouldn’t switch off.
It was a constant churning whirlpool of frustration, regret, anger, hurt.
How could he leave me like that?
I know I fucked it up but he was supposed to be my… My safe space.
And now he was out with an omega, doing fuck knows what.
Were they fucking?
Trading sloppy blowjobs in the car in a layby?
Getting each other off in the changing rooms of the store?
Anger simmers beneath my skin, the shame collapsing under the weight of it.
He’d known Percy for five minutes.
How dare he
He was mine.
“Hun, I think that vein might actually pop out of your head if you stare any harder.” Diane nudges me with her shoulder, her voice hushed as Ivii pauses the show and gets to her feet, heading to the kitchen in search of a cold can of soda.
“What’s my idiot son done now?” She asks with a knowing grin, like she's in on a sort of secret.
“Nothing,” I lied. How can he do something?
He’s busy on his date.
With perfect fucking Percy.
The pretty omega.
Bringing the neckline of the vest between my lips, I chew on it for a moment lightly, inhaling Hunter’s scent. It’s a bad habit I only have when I’m overwhelmed, my therapist called it a stim. Usually I’d run until it hurt.
But Hunter’s family were so kind to me.
“And yet we’re sitting here watching an incredibly steamy historical drama, with a hot cast and your brain is elsewhere.
” She nudges me again, bringing me out of my thoughts.
Hints of nutmeg wrap around me, comforting me in a way only an omega knows how to.
“You’re clearly madder than a wet hen about something.
And it’s not about what Mr Codsworthy is packing in his britches. ”
And now my anger is tinged with guilt.
The whirlpool keeps churning, pulling everything into the undertow. I ruin everything.
“I’m sorry,” I rub the back of my neck with a soft sigh, letting go of the vest. “I’m spoiling the season finale for you. I know Hunter said you were waiting to watch it with Ivii.”
Glancing around quickly, Diane leans in to whisper. “I’m going to let you into a little secret, I already watched it two weeks ago. But my baby girl wanted to watch it together, so here we are.”
I blink, wide eyed, at her as she chuckles with a mischievous twinkle. Her acting skills were incredible, I never would have guessed that she’d already watched this episode. All her reactions had been completely natural, every giggle, every coy little blush.
“You know, something I’ve learned over the years is that it’s not what people say that matters. It’s what they do. Just remember that.
“Now, you’ll have to excuse me, age and birthing four children means my bladder isn’t what it used to be.”
Actions matter.
Did that mean she was telling me to give up?
Hunter wasn’t here with me. No, he was out there somewhere with Percy the perfect.
Fuck. Why do I keep doing this to myself?
Why did my brain keep latching on to every negative thought?
Swallowing, I glance down at my phone again. It had been oddly quiet all day, Sadie must’ve finally given up trying to harass me into returning.
As if I’ve willed it into being, my phone buzzes.
It’s a text from my father.
Father: Happy birthday Benedict.
Oh.
I forgot.
Wow, didn’t that just make everything so much worse.
I sit on the sofa of the entertainment room by myself for twenty minutes before I realise that Ivii and Diane aren’t coming back. Now even they’re sick of my shit.
I was a mess.
Maybe Hunter was right to leave me, to pick Percy over me.
He was less of a screw-up.
Everybody else left me, my mother, my nannies, my father couldn’t leave me but he was never around so it was the same thing, wasn’t it?
Everyone left me… other than Sadie.
My fingers twitch.
Don’t call her Evans. You’re not that weak.
You don’t need her.
Don’t get sucked back in again.
I take a breath.
Then another.
By the third one I almost believe I'm okay.
I’ll be fine when Hunter comes back.
“Evans! Dinner’s ready!” Ivii yells from downstairs. And before I can crumple any further, I take a deep breath and push to my feet.
Fixing a smile on my face, I walk.
Numb.
As I head down the stairs, I realise how quiet the whole cabin is. Where is everyone? Had they all left? They weren't that cruel, surely?
Maybe Hunter had told them about this morning.
Maybe they were angry at me…
A chill runs down my spine. This wasn’t funny. Where was everyone?
The cabin wasn’t a house that was ever designed to be quiet. It was a house that should be filled to the brim with noise and laughter, barely containing a family who loved hard and loudly.
As I reached the bottom step, I call out. “Hello?”
Nothing.
Why are all the lights off?
I was going to kill Hunter if this was another one of his stupid pranks.
Everyone always blamed me, thinking it was my idea to do dumb shit. But Hunter was always there right next to me. That time we stole a rooster, I never told anybody when he blamed me, but it was his fucking idea. He said that it looked sad, that we were its new poultry daddies.
Balling both my hands into fists, I head down the corridor towards the kitchen. I creep along, almost holding my breath as I inch forward.
There’s a strange orange glow ahead.
Someone snickers.
I walk towards it on high alert. As I get closer, I can make out the shadowy planes of his face, half obscured by the darkness. His tattoos look shadowy, almost like they’re moving as the light flickers.
Why was he so hot like this? Grinning, he arches a brow, daring me to come closer.
It isn’t until I’m standing before him that it finally registered what’s going on.
The glow is a fucking candle.
He’s holding a birthday cake.
My chest tightens and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear my eyes started to sting. Just a little. Dust allergies, clearly.
He didn’t forget.
As if they were all waiting on some sort of unspoken cue, the rest of the family jumped out with poppers and streamers shouting ‘SURPRISE!’
But my eyes never leave his.
He didn’t forget.
He didn’t leave me.
The corner of Hunter’s mouth lifts as he holds a chocolate cake with my name piped in swirly writing on the top. Happy birthday Benny.
As everyone else sings happy birthday, loudly and out of tune, Hunter nudges me with the toe of his boot.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” he murmurs.
“You’re a dick.”
There’s a lot left unspoken between us.