Chapter 17
SETH
It’s past midnight, and I’m standing over June’s bed like a goddamn creep.
The door is shut behind me. Has been for… I don’t even know how long. Enough that my legs should be cramping, but I can’t make myself move or leave. Can’t do anything except stand here in the dark and watch her breathe like that’s somehow going to fix the gnawing hunger under my ribs.
She’s asleep and has been for hours. I’m losing my fucking mind.
It’s not just the scent match. I keep telling myself that, but I’m not sure it’s true anymore. The connection between us is electric. But it’s more than biology. More than instinct.
It’s her.
The moonlight streams through the curtains, painting silver stripes across the bed.
She’s sprawled out in the center, one leg thrown over Kai’s full pillow with his body printed on it, hugging the damn thing like it’s a teddy bear.
Half on her side, half on her back. Hair fanned across the pillow, dark against the white cotton.
Her lips are slightly parted, and every exhale is a soft sound that shouldn’t make my cock twitch but absolutely does.
Her skin looks almost shimmery in the pale light.
The sleep shirt rides her breasts in the most innocent way, and those miniature shorts…
they’ve got my attention locked so hard it’s embarrassing.
I rake a hand over my jaw and blow out a breath, steadying myself, because if I keep looking, I’m going to forget how to behave.
Twenty-nine years old and I’m watching a woman sleep in the middle of the night. My father would have something to say about that. Probably something about not wasting time, about seizing what you want, about how Benton men don’t hesitate.
I think about my life before her. The circuit.
The competitions. The endless road stretching out in both directions, no beginning and no end, just movement.
I was good at being in motion, never staying anywhere long enough to get attached.
My father raised me on arena dust and motel rooms, taught me that home was wherever we parked the trailer during the circuits.
But I’m tired.
That’s the truth I haven’t said out loud. I’m exhausted from running, chasing, waking up in a different town throughout the year.
I want what my parents had before everything went to shit, a time when it was good. I remember it in flashes. Sunday mornings with pancakes. My mother laughing at something my father said. The way they looked at each other like the rest of the world didn’t exist.
I’ve always wanted that, even when I pretended I didn’t. And now there’s June.
She shifts on the bed, murmuring something unintelligible, and my whole body tightens.
Her scent drifts toward me, lemon zest and honey and wildflowers, threaded through with something warmer now.
She’s my Omega. The one I’ve been waiting for without knowing I was waiting and the one who’s going to give me everything I’ve been too scared to admit I craved.
The soft click of the bedroom door freezes me.
Someone’s easing it open, slipping through the gap, closing it behind them in the shadows. I don’t move. Don’t breathe. Just watch from my spot near the bed as the figure turns around—
And locks eyes with me.
Carter.
His whole body jerks. For a second, we just stare at each other across the dark room, both of us caught doing exactly the same creepy thing.
He recovers first. Points at me with an aggressive finger, then throws both hands up, palms open, shoulders rising.
I have no idea if he’s asking why I’m here or telling me to explain myself or just expressing general disbelief. I point back at him, then jab my thumb over his shoulder toward the door.
He squints. Shakes his head. Points at himself, then at the floor, then crosses his arms.
I try again. Point at him. Point at the door. Make a walking motion with two fingers.
He shakes his head.
Christ. I make a shooing motion with both hands.
He copies the motion right back at me, adding an eye roll.
Real helpful. Then he walks farther into the room. Great.
I’m about to just physically drag him out when the door clicks again.
We both pause.
Kai slips through the gap, easing the door shut behind him with the same careful silence. He turns around, takes two steps into the room, and stops dead when he sees both of us standing there like guilty teenagers.
His eyebrows shoot up. He glances at me, then at Carter, and lastly at June sleeping peacefully in bed.
Then a slow, shit-eating grin spreads across his face.
He doesn’t bother with silent communication. Just strolls right past us, bare feet silent on the carpet, and stops at the foot of the bed to gaze down at June. When he sees her hugging his pillow, his grin widens.
He turns back to us. Points at June, then at the pillow, and taps his own chest. Then gives us both a double thumbs-up, eyebrows waggling.
Carter throws up his hands in exasperation. I’m pretty sure my eye is twitching.
Kai points at the pillow again, then at himself, then makes some kind of gesture I can’t interpret—cradling his arms like he’s rocking something, then pressing his hands to his cheek like he’s sleeping, and then pointing at June again.
I have absolutely no idea what that means. Neither does Carter, based on the look on his face.
Kai tries again. Points at pillow. Points at himself. Makes a heart shape with his hands.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
I grab his arm and jerk my head toward the bathroom door in June’s room, as it’s right there. Carter is already moving in that direction, and the three of us crowd into the small space, shutting the door as quietly as possible before retreating to the far corner near the shower.
“What the fuck are you two doing here?” I hiss.
“What are you doing here?” Carter fires back, keeping his voice to a barely audible whisper.
“I asked first.”
“I was awake before you,” Carter says.
“Bullshit. I’ve been standing in here for at least twenty minutes.”
Kai snorts. “That’s not the flex you think it is.”
“Shut up. And why are you here?”
“Same reason you are, probably.” Kai leans against the tile wall, arms crossed. In the dim light filtering under the door, the tension in his shoulders flex with the restless energy he’s barely containing. “Can’t sleep. Can’t think. Can’t do anything except think about her.”
“That’s two can’ts about thinking,” Carter points out.
“Grammar police at one a.m. Wonderful.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Both of you, shut up.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “We can’t all stand around watching her sleep. That’s serial killer behavior.”
“And yet here we all are,” Kai adds cheerfully.
“Because we’re losing our minds.” Carter runs a hand through his hair. “I marked her, and instead of making it better, it’s made it worse. The bond is… it’s like a constant pull. I feel her even when she’s not in the room. And when she is in the room…”
“You want to climb inside her and never leave,” Kai finishes. “Yeah. Feels like we’re the ones going into heat for her.”
I don’t say anything, but they both stare at me.
“I get such hard-ons right in my room that it’s actually painful,” Kai admits without an ounce of shame. “I just need to be close to her. Touch her. Something. I’m going insane.”
“It’s the scent match,” I say, even though I know it’s more than that. “Being near her without being with her.”
“So what do we do?” Kai’s voice is rough with frustration. “Because I can’t take another night of lying in my room, staring at the ceiling, knowing she’s twenty feet away and I can’t—”
“We stay with her, then,” I admit.
Both of them glare at me.
Kai’s eyebrows shoot up. “Just… get in bed with her?”
“She’s asleep. We’re not going to do anything.” I feel the need to clarify that, even though we all know it’s true. “We just… stay close. Let our scents calm her. Let her presence calm us.”
“That’s surprisingly soft for you,” Carter says.
“Fuck off.”
“No, I mean it.” He’s almost smiling. “Mr. ‘I Don’t Do Feelings’ wants to cuddle.”
“I will end you.”
“I’m in,” Kai says quickly. “I’m absolutely in. I call dibs to lie in front of her.”
“Well, it’s technically my room,” I point out. “My bed. So I should get first pick of position.”
“That’s not how it works,” Carter protests, stiffening.
“It sure the hell is.”
“Since when?”
“Since I said so.”
“Okay, but Carter already spent a night with her.” Kai’s eyes gleam. “Two nights, actually. So he should get the worst spot.”
“What’s that position?” Carter sputters.
“It’s only fair. You got to knot her. You can take the feet.”
“I’m not sleeping at her feet like some kind of dog.”
“Woof, woof. Then on the floor.”
He sneers at Kai.
“Rock, paper, scissors,” I cut in before this turns into a whole thing.
Carter pauses mid-argument, brows lifting. “Seriously?”
“You got a better idea?” I ask.
Kai’s grin flashes, quick and easy. “Three people don’t work. Do it like a bracket. One round each.”
“Good,” I say. “Fast. Quiet. No drama.”
Kai and Carter square up first. “Ready?” Kai asks, already smiling like he’s about to win.
Carter holds his fist out. “Try not to cry when you lose.”
They throw.
Kai flashes rock.
Carter chooses scissors.
Kai whoops under his breath quietly, pleased with himself. “Ha. Winner.”
Carter points at Kai. “Don’t get cocky. It was one attempt.”
“It was a victory,” Kai says, turning toward me. “All right, big guy. Me and you. Winner gets first pick.”
I roll my shoulders like I’m stepping into a damn title match. “Fine.”
Kai’s eyes gleam.
We go.
I pick rock.
Kai does paper.
He freezes for half a second, then grins like the devil himself just handed him a prize. “Got you.”
I stare at my hand like I can bully it into changing. “Of course you did.”
Kai points at the bed like it’s a trophy. “I’m in front of her. That’s settled.”
“That leaves us two,” I tell Carter, nodding toward him. “Which means we play one more round.”
Carter and I square up. We throw.
Carter flashes paper.
I choose scissors.