Chapter 21 Theo
THEO
“What happens now?” The question escaped my mouth before my brain had a chance to figure out I’d spoken.
We had managed to make it back upstairs to my apartment before I broke the silence that had settled between us after visiting the shop downstairs.
Dalton getting his tattoo artist license and building up a tattoo parlor were long-term goals.
Something in me needed to know what happened now.
Were we a threesome? A throuple? Whatever the hell we called it, it was hard to wrap my head around the whole idea that I might now be in a relationship with not just one man but two.
It was exhilarating and nausea inducing at the same time.
This wasn’t me. I was an omega without much experience in the boyfriend department.
An introvert through and through, I focused on my business rather than my personal life because that was easier.
Now I faced how I fit into a relationship with two men who were already an established couple.
The sex during my heat had been out of this world, sex dominated by Peyton as the alpha.
While the dynamic included Dalton, and he came multiple times, I hadn’t had Dalton inside me yet.
I didn’t know if that would always be the case or that was heat specific since most alphas had a hard time allowing anyone near an omega in heat.
How did we all fit together? Was this a relationship between me and Peyton?
Peyton and Dalton? How did Dalton and I fit together?
The questions circled in my head until I was dizzy. It hadn’t realized how dizzy until Peyton stepped up, gathering me in his arms and helping me sit until my head was between my legs.
“Breathe, Theo. We’ll figure it all out, I promise.”
I took Peyton’s advice and simply breathed, concentrating on the air going into my lungs and then back out again.
After a few breaths, I felt better. Not as dizzy.
Better enough to slowly lift my head. My eyes locked onto Peyton’s as he held me close.
It wasn’t until I straightened up even more that I noticed Dalton on my other side, his hand rubbing calming circles on my back.
Sitting between the two of these men, both of them taking care of me, felt good. Really good. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel alone. I enjoyed their care.
“I’m okay. I think I got overwhelmed for a second. I hate going into uncharted territory, trying to figure out what the rules are and how I fit.”
“As for the rules, I don’t know that there are any.
We’ll figure out our own rules, see how they fit us and adjust as needed.
Just because what we are doing isn’t common doesn’t mean no one’s done it before.
My great-great-grandparents were proof of that.
” Peyton looked between Dalton and me. “I have to admit I never saw this coming and it makes me feel like a complete jackass if I’m honest. I spent a lot of time reassuring Dalton I didn’t need an omega.
That he was enough. I can’t imagine how he feels now that you’re a part of the us that used to mean just Dalton and me. ”
As much as it hurt to hear Peyton say that, I could see where he was coming from.
Looking at Dalton, I had to wonder how he was feeling my self.
The beta had seemed like he was all in during my heat, but it was difficult to remember much about anything except the rush of sex and the desires that had been swirling in me for the first time.
I said the one thing I remembered that popped into my head.
“I’d never had a heat like that before. It was intense. But I think it wouldn’t have been as satisfying if it had only been you, Peyton. Yes, I needed your knot. But there was something special about having Dalton there. I can’t explain it. But having Dalton there made it perfect.”
I looked at Dalton as I spoke, saw the impact my words had on him.
Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how insecure he must have been feeling.
I hadn’t met many betas. I knew they existed, but they were like unicorns.
There was something special about being in the middle these two strong men.
I didn’t know if I was the right omega for them, but I wanted to be very much.
Something about it felt right as I stood there with with both an alpha and a beta I’d already shared so much with.
I knew in that moment I wanted both of them in my life.
“Move in with me.” The words were out before I could reel them back in. It left me gasping. What was I thinking?
“Are you sure?” Dalton asked, looking at me with such hope in his eyes, but then that hope faltered. He glanced at Peyton, a shadow crossing his face. “We… we haven’t exactly figured out everything back home yet, though. Have we, Peyton?”
Peyton sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face.
The easy confidence he usually wore slipped, revealing a tired edge underneath.
“No. We haven’t. We pretty much dropped everything to come here.
The landscaping business with Judd, the investments…
hell, Dalton, your half of the shop is sitting there gathering dust. We can’t just abandon it all. ”
“I’m not asking you to abandon it,” I said quickly, fear spiking that I’d pushed too hard. “I just… I don’t want you to leave. Not for good. Not yet.”
“We’re not leaving you, Theo,” Peyton promised, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
“But Dalton’s right. We have loose ends.
Knots we need to untie in West Virginia before we can fully commit to being here.
We can move in… for now. But we’re going to have to go back. Probably sooner rather than later.”
“Just for a trip, though?” I asked, needing the reassurance. “To pack up? To settle things?”
“To settle things,” Dalton agreed. “One last trip. Then we’re yours.”
I couldn’t stand the idea of Dalton being uncertain about my feelings, or the looming threat of their past life pulling them away, so I stepped in close.
Standing on my tiptoes, I still needed the man to lean down so I could kiss him, grabbing his shirt to pull him down to me.
Our lips crashed together in the most inelegant of kisses.
It was over all too quickly, but that kiss confirmed what I already knew.
He was as important to me as Peyton was.
Both of these men were mine. I just had to figure out a way to keep them once they figured out how boring a person I was in real life—and before their life in West Virginia tried to reclaim them.