15. Sadie
Sadie
I wake up to the sound of quiet voices and the smell of coffee drifting through my apartment. For a moment, I’m disoriented—my head pounds with a proper hangover, my mouth feels like cotton, and there’s something different about how my space smells. Warmer. More complex.
Then memory comes flooding back in fragments. Truth or dare. Tequila. Kissing all three of them. Taking off my sweater and asking them to stay.
Oh god, did I really do all that?
I sit up carefully, testing the severity of my headache, and realize I’m still wearing yesterday’s clothes under the soft blanket someone must have covered me with. The thoughtful gesture makes me feel cared for without any uncomfortable questions about boundaries.
The voices are coming from my kitchen—low, considerate murmurs that suggest they’re trying not to wake me. The consideration makes my chest warm despite my embarrassment and the dull throb behind my eyes.
I pad to the bathroom first, catching sight of myself in the mirror. My hair’s a mess, mascara smudged, but there’s something different about my expression. Softer somehow. Like I’m someone who’s been taken care of.
I take my suppressant with a glass of water—back to my regular schedule. After spending too much time around them I really need to take it daily or I will go into heat.
When I emerge, the talking stops. Then Reid appears in my bedroom doorway, holding a mug of coffee and wearing yesterday’s dress shirt unbuttoned over his undershirt.
His bergamot scent is mixing with the lingering cedar and sandalwood that clings to everything in my apartment now.
Even on suppressants, being surrounded by their combined alpha scents makes something settle with contentment in my chest.
“Good morning,” he says gently. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I drank half a bottle of tequila,” I admit, accepting the coffee gratefully. “But also... good? Confused, but good.”
“You asked us to stay,” he says. “We got you settled in here, then camped out in your living room—very platonically—to make sure you were okay.”
“In my tiny living room.”
“Levi took the chair, I had the pull-out couch, Caleb squeezed onto the floor.” His smile is rueful. “None of us got much sleep, but we weren’t leaving.”
The simple statement makes my throat tight with emotion. “You really stayed.”
“Of course we stayed.”
I take a careful sip of coffee—it’s perfect, of course—and try to piece together everything that happened. “Did I really dare myself to kiss all of you?”
“You did. And it was perfect.” Reid reaches over to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “No regrets here, if you’re worried about that.”
“I should probably apologize for getting so drunk and making you all?—”
“Sadie.” His voice turns firm. “Don’t apologize for trusting us enough to let your guard down. Don’t apologize for having a good time. And definitely don’t apologize for being human.”
The kindness in his voice makes tears prick my eyes. “I don’t usually drink that much.”
“We know. That’s why we took care of you.”
Reid grins. “We were hoping...” He pauses, looking uncertain for the first time. “We were hoping you might want to spend the day with us. All of us, or individually, whatever feels right.”
The offer hangs between us, loaded with possibility. A whole day. With all of them.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well,” Reid says, choosing his words carefully, “I thought maybe we could start with breakfast. There’s this place in Pine Valley—quiet, good food.”
“You want to take me on a breakfast date.”
“I want to spend time with you.”
I consider this, sipping my coffee and studying his face. He’s patient, letting me process without pushing. “What about Levi and Caleb?”
“Levi mentioned lunch with you.” Reid’s smile turns warm. “And Caleb thought maybe dinner later, if you’re up for it.”
Three dates. In one day. With three different men who somehow all want the same thing—me, happy and taken care of.
“That sounds...” I try to find words that encompass how overwhelming and wonderful and terrifying this feels. “That sounds perfect.”
Reid’s relief is visible. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. But first I need a shower and actual clothes and maybe some aspirin.”
“Take your time. We’re not going anywhere.”
He stands to leave, then pauses at the doorway. “Sadie? Last night wasn’t just alcohol talking. For any of us. I want you to know that.”
After he leaves, I sit in my bed holding my coffee and trying to process everything. Three men who want to date me. Who stayed all night in uncomfortable positions just to make sure I was safe. Who are making me breakfast and planning a whole day of... what? Courtship?
The traditional term feels right somehow. That’s what this is—a courtship. All of them courting me, but together instead of in competition.
The shower helps clear my head, though my body’s still humming with awareness of what happened last night. The memory of Levi’s hands in my hair, Caleb’s lips on my palm, Reid’s arms around me. The way they all looked at me when I took off my sweater.
The way I felt completely safe, even drunk and vulnerable.
I dress carefully—jeans and a soft blue sweater that brings out my eyes. Not trying too hard, but not hiding either. When I emerge from my bedroom, I can hear all three of them in my kitchen.
“Morning,” Levi says, looking up from where he’s reading a book His hair’s mussed from sleep, and there’s something domestic about seeing him barefoot in my space that makes my pulse quicken.
“Sleep okay?” Caleb asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Reid mentioned you all had plans for today.”
“Only if you want,” Levi says quickly, his bookish tendency to overthink showing in the careful way he phrases it. “No pressure if you’d rather rest or have space or?—”
“I want,” I interrupt, then feel heat rise in my cheeks at how eager I sound. But I don’t take it back. My scent sweetens involuntarily, honeysuckle blooming richer as my omega side responds to being wanted by three alphas. “I mean, it sounds wonderful. Spending time together.”
Reid’s nostrils flare slightly at the scent change, his bergamot warming in response. “Individual time, we thought. Easier to get to know each other without managing group dynamics.”
The way he frames it in business terms makes me smile. Even discussing dates, he can’t help thinking in organizational terms.
“Breakfast first,” Reid continues, his scent shifting with anticipation, “then Levi’s lunch adventure, then dinner with Caleb. Strategic sequencing.”
I look between the three of them, these men who somehow ended up in my life at exactly the right moment. “That works for me.”
Levi kisses my cheek soft and sweet before heading home to change and plan. “I’ll collect you around noon,” he promises with that gentle formality he uses when he’s excited but trying not to show it. “I’ve been wanting to share this place with you.”
Caleb’s goodbye is more lingering, his lips finding mine with gentle command. “Enjoy your morning,” he murmurs against my mouth, voice dropping to that gravelly tone that makes my knees unsteady. “I’ll see you tonight.”
The possessive way he says it makes my omega side practically purr. Fresh slick dampens my underwear as my body responds to being around him.
And then it’s just Reid and me, standing in my kitchen. The air thrums with anticipation and the layered scents of three different alphas who’ve marked my space as theirs. Without my suppressants at full strength, I’m acutely aware of how my body craves their attention.
“Ready?” he asks.
“More than ready,” I say, and I mean it. The excitement bubbling up in my chest surprises me with its intensity. “I can’t remember the last time I looked forward to something this much.”
Something’s different about Reid today. He keeps glancing at me, adjusting his mirrors unnecessarily. The polished confidence from yesterday has been replaced by something more uncertain.
“You seem nervous,” I say, and immediately wish I hadn’t. What if he’s having second thoughts?
“I am nervous.” His honesty surprises me. “I’ve wanted this for weeks, and now that it’s happening...” He glances at me again. “I don’t want to mess it up.”
The vulnerability in his voice makes warmth bloom in my chest. “You won’t mess it up.”
Though honestly, what do I know about not messing things up? I flooded my own shop last week and nearly ruined the most important wedding of the year. But he doesn’t need to hear about my track record right now.
“Tell me about your work,” I add, because I want to know more about him. “What you actually do when you’re not in Honeyridge Falls.”
His shoulders relax at the familiar territory. “Architecture. Commercial buildings and mixed-use developments.” He seems more confident now, talking about something he knows. “Right now I’m consulting on a project in Pine Valley—that’s how I discovered this area.”
“Happy accident,” I say.
“The best kind.” His smile turns genuine. “Pine Valley’s nice, but this town has something you can’t engineer. Real community.”
“You mean the way everyone knows everyone’s business?”
He laughs. “I mean the way everyone actually cares about everyone else.”
When we pull up and park the car. I see the café and it’s perfect—exposed brick, hanging plants, the kind of place that feels intimate without trying too hard.
When Reid takes my hand as we sit down, the contact sends electricity up my arm.
Being this close to his scent while my suppressants rebuild makes my omega biology sing with contentment.
“You really researched this place,” I say, leaning forward. The movement brings our joined hands closer, and I catch his full scent—cedar and leather and something purely alpha.
“I wanted everything perfect.” His thumb traces circles on my palm. “I wake up thinking about you, Sadie.”
My scent sweetens involuntarily, and his pupils dilate in response. This close, with my system still vulnerable from yesterday’s missed dose, he can smell exactly how his words affect me.