Chapter 29
Courting
Liora
Finn was the one courting me, but Aiden and Mace didn't slink off to pout in a corner like I'd anticipated.
They seemed to step up their game. I never woke up without coffee and breakfast waiting for me in the kitchen and they treated Geo like he was already my bonded mate.
It warmed my heart to see them include him in things.
"May I take you out on a date tonight?" Finn asked a couple of days later.
"Sure, where are we going?"
"It's a surprise. Wear clothes you can walk in and comfy shoes."
"I only have one pair of shoes," I reminded him and he frowned.
"We'll go shopping for shoes next time. Your sneakers will work for now."
It was his turn to be at work that day, so I didn't see him until five when he arrived to pick me up. I was ready in jeans, a t-shirt and light jacket.
"Have fun, you two." Geo gave me a kiss on the lips and winked at Finn. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"So anything goes?" Finn teased.
I followed him out to his car and we headed out of town. After a while, he turned down a narrow road that I'd never seen before and I glanced over at him.
"Um, Finn, you're not taking me into the woods to kill me, are you?"
"Nope, just to woo you." He grinned at me. "You'll love this, trust me."
A few minutes later, the road, which had turned into a two lane track, abruptly ended in a little overgrown clearing. Finn parked the car there and got out, running around to open my door.
"Come on, you're going to absolutely love this." He was so excited he practically bounced as he went to the trunk and pulled out a backpack that he put on. He tossed me a bottle of Aiden's iced tea and walked toward the forest.
"It's pretty out here." I looked around at the greenery all around us as I followed him down a barely there path.
Finn held back a branch so I could pass before letting it snap back into the path. "Isn't it? I've been hiking more since . . . well, in the past couple years and nature is really fucking cool."
We suddenly emerged onto a small beach along the edge of a beautiful lake. A waterfall poured down into the lake not too far away, but far enough that the sound wasn't overwhelming.
"Whoa." I stopped and stared at the water. Several ducks were floating serenely on the water away from the waterfall and a frog hopped along the edge of the water. "Finn, this is so beautiful!"
He chuckled. "I know. It's my favorite spot. I've never even seen anyone out here, though the trail must mean someone knows about it."
When I turned around, he had a blanket spread out on the grass and an array of food in containers. "Come sit."
"You brought a picnic?"
"I didn't make any of it," he told me. "It's not that impressive. I stopped by Allan's Deli on the way home and picked it up."
"I love the sandwiches there."
"Pastrami on rye, right?" He pointed to the wrapped sandwich on my side of the blanket. "And a giant pickle. Never understood how you liked those things."
"They're delicious." I sat down on the blanket. "You didn't even do things like this the first time you courted me."
"We didn't really court though, did we? It was more of a 'hey, we like you, you like us, let's get together.
'" Guilt flickered in his eyes. "I'm sorry we didn't do more back then.
We should have realized just how valuable you were.
It's fucking ridiculous that it took you being gone for us to see the purpose you held in our lives.
Everything has been so dull and broken without you. "
"Broken? You guys exploded a business, had it go international, I think you're doing fine."
"That business is yours now, remember." He gave me a cheeky grin. "So, really, we did it all for you."
"I'm sure that's what you were thinking when you worked that hard." I shook my head. Picking up the sandwich, I unwrapped it and bit into the thick bread and through layers of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and the huge pile of pastrami that Allan always added.
A groan escaped my throat. "This is so good. I've missed food."
Finn made a distressed noise and shoved a pickle at me. "I'm sorry, Li. You never should have missed anything in your life, but especially not food."
"I appreciate every bite so much more now," I said. "But I'm getting fat. The pants you got me originally are already too tight."
"You're not fat, you're still way too skinny. You need to get back to a proper size," he told me. "But even if you did put on some excess, or a lot of excess, it wouldn't matter. I love you for you, not because your body fits some crazy ass standard society says omegas need ot adhere to."
"In the center, we were told alphas wouldn't want us if we were overweight," I told him.
"I used to work my way through those classes, wondering if that's what I did wrong.
Maybe I'd gained a few pounds and that's why you all stopped wanting to sleep with me.
Why Mace put me on suppressants. Maybe I just disgusted you all, like they told us. "
"God, no!!" Finn threw himself across the food to wrap his arms around me, knocking me back onto the blanket.
"Sweetheart, you are perfect as you are.
Anything we did was because of us, not you.
Our libidos dropped from all the stress.
Aiden did some research and apparently that's a thing for men, not just women.
We were so focused on the business, sex with you seemed like a distraction and taking a week for a heat was time we didn't want to spend away from the business. "
"Are you sure you want me back?" I raised an eyebrow. "What if that happens again?"
"Well, now you're our boss and you can just tell us not to work." He winked at me. "But I think losing you made us realize what's really important in life. When you were gone, we had a big fucking hole in the middle of our lives. My heart missed you every day."
"I had no idea. I figured you were far happier without me." I pushed against him lightly so he would get off me and he moved back to sit on his side of the blanket.
"If you'd felt us through the bond, you would have known we were miserable as fuck."
"It hurt too much to feel you, so I just blocked the bond," I told him. "Sometimes it slipped, but when it did, I was feeling too intensely in the moment to notice anything in the bond."
"We felt those times." Finn shut his eyes for a second. "Pain, fear, those came through loud and clear, but only for short periods of time. The only reason we found you when you ran was because it was open for so long and you were so terrified. It was like a beacon."
"I'm glad you found me." I bit into my pickle, the sour salty flavor bursting on my tongue. "And on that note, let's enjoy this beautiful spot and this delicoius food and not talk about that crap right now."
"Agreed." Finn wrinkled his nose. "I can smell that pickle from here."
"Want some?"
"NO!" He grabbed a container of pasta salad and held it up. "I'm going to eat normal people food."
We ate and chatted about mundane things and then sat in silence, just soaking up the stunning view until the sun dropped behind the trees.
"Do you know how to get back in the dark?" I asked, a little worried that the sky was darkening so fast.
"I have a flashlight, but it's not hard. Just stick with me, baby."
We packed everything up and Finn carried it all while I manned the flashlight. It was spooky in the forest at night and it reminded me too much of running for my life. I was glad to emerge into the little clearing where the car was parked and climb safely inside.
"You're spooked by the dark? I never knew."
I shrugged as he turned the car and headed back down the narrow lane. "I wasn't before. I guess . . . things change."
"I'm glad you weren't when we were working all night." He gave me a worried glance. "Geo is with you all night, right?"
"Except when he sneaks off to talk to you guys." I laughed at Finn's worried face. "Don't worry, there's plenty of light in the room. And it's not the forest, which is terrifying at night."
Finn hummed and reached over to pat my leg. "I'm sorry, yet again. I wouldn't have brought you out here so late if I'd realized."
"It's okay." I leaned back in the seat and watched the trees go by. "It was a really nice date, Finn, thank you."
"Any time. I'll do the next one in the daylight, though."