Chapter 2
Chapter Two
D axton
Ten years ago
My cell beeps and I stretch out an arm to retrieve it, trying my best not to disturb the omega who’s curled up beside me, head resting on my chest, reading her book. Her scent of fresh peaches engulfs my senses, her skin is warm against mine and her hair soft as it tickles my chin.
I lift the cell and peer at the screen.
A message from my dad.
He’s boarding the flight from Europe. He and my new step-mom will be home in just over twelve hours.
I stare at the words for several minutes, wishing I had the ability to change the course of events. If I did, I’d send a vicious storm their way, ensuring their flight was grounded for at least another week. Ensuring me another seven days of this.
But it’s not to be. Fate isn’t on our side. Our time is up.
I shift up on the sun lounger and Harper lifts her head to peer at me.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“They’re on their way home,” I say simply.
Harper rolls up completely. “Shit. Already?! I thought we had – I don’t know – at least another two days.”
I shake my head. “It’s the 23rd today.”
“It is?” she says, her forehead crinkling. “I guess I lost track of time.”
I smirk at her, grabbing her waist and dragging her close. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
And shit, I have been having a lot of fun. Seven days full of fun. The most fun I’ve ever had in my life. And all because of this little omega.
This little omega who happens to be my step-sister.
“They’re coming home!” she says, panic in her voice as she pushes against my chest, “we … we need to destroy the evidence.” She swings her gaze around. “We need to clean up!”
“What do you mean?” my best friend Owen says from the lounger next to ours. “What evidence? Did we commit some crime here I’m unaware of? Do we need to dispose of a dead body?”
“Are you kidding me?” Harper says, already slipping her feet into her flip-flops. “Have you seen the state of the sheets up there in the guest room? Do you think my mom might have some questions as to why someone was using that guest room? And then there are all the used … condoms.” Her cheeks blush in an adorable fashion. We’ve fucked this girl every which way possible, done incredibly dirty things with her and yet she still blushes like she’s an innocent little virgin. God, I love that about her.
She throws her coverup over her body, and clutching her book, hurries off inside.
“I assume we are keeping this …” my other best friend Wyatt says, searching for the best word to describe the last seven days.
“Fuck-fest?” Owen suggests.
“Dalliance,” Wyatt says seriously, “a secret from your parents, Dax?”
I roll my eyes. “What do you think?” I swing my feet to the ground and rest my elbows on my knees, dragging my hands through my hair. “You think my new step-mom is going to love the idea of us three fucking her daughter? Do you think there is any chance that my dad won’t kick my ass for this? She’s my sister, my little sister.”
“Step-sister,” Owen says.
I glare at him. “You think that will make any difference?”
Owen considers this. “No.”
“So we are going to keep this a secret,” Wyatt says, “but we’re going to keep seeing her, right?”
I peer towards the garden doors. Harper’s scent lingers on my skin and on my fingertips. The taste of her is still swimming around in my mouth.
“Yeah,” I say, “yeah, we’ll keep seeing her.” I run my fingers through my hair. “I think … I think I might be falling for her.”
I peer up at my friends with hesitation, prepared for both of them to laugh at me and tell me how fucking stupid I am.
Instead, Wyatt cocks his head. “I’ve never heard you say something like that before.”
“I’ve never felt this way before,” I confess. “I really like her.”
“Like her for the sex?” Owen says quietly.
“No, it’s not just the sex. I like her like her.”
“You know you have a funny way of showing it.” Owen chuckles.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“You’ve been pretty damn rude to her.”
“That was before. Not anymore.”
He nods in agreement. “For what it’s worth, I like her too. Really like her.”
We both turn and look at Wyatt.
“She’s smart and beautiful,” Wyatt says factually. “What is there not to like?”
“So we’ll keep seeing her,” I clarify, “in secret.”
“It could get messy,” Owen warns.
I stand up. “I don’t care.”
I stroll into the house and follow the trail of Harper’s scent up into the guest room.
In the room, I find her caught up in a king-sized duvet cover, struggling to get out.
I lean against the doorframe and smile.
“Is that you, Harper, or do I need to call for a priest for an exorcism?”
“I’m stuck!” she says. She spins around and pulls at the cotton material. It does nothing.
“Do you need me to rescue you?” I stalk towards her.
“I don’t know where you are,” she says, twisting around again.
I laugh. “You know I’m six feet three inches tall. My arms were made for changing sheets. All you had to do was ask.”
“I panicked,” she confesses. “My mom has a sixth sense for trouble – a mommy intuition. She’ll only have to look at my face and know something is up.”
I wrap my arms around her and catch her up in the sheet. She squirms, attempting to wriggle free, giggling like crazy.
“They’re not going to know,” I say.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she says, stilling in my arms and sighing, “at least I hope so. It helps you’re heading back to college. Your classes start again in a few days’ time, don’t they?”
“Yeah,” I say without much enthusiasm. I’m loving learning to be a doctor. I’m one of those weird freaks that loves college for the classes and the learning. But for the first time, I’m not that keen about returning.
My brain is already working on ways we can have Harper come visit us, on excuses I can form for why I’m back home yet again.
It’s going to be complicated and we’re going to have to be careful, but it will be worth it.
“I guess all good things come to an end,” she mutters through the sheet.
“What?” I say.
“All good things must come to an end.”
My stomach plummets. I stare at the shape of Harper Hall through the sheet. “Do they?”
“Well, yeah, I guess. This was always a fling, right? … not anything serious.”
Not anything serious? A fling?
Is that what it means to her? Are we just three alphas she messed around with, had a bit of fun with? Nothing more?
I let my arms drop to my sides.
“Daxton?” she says, from within with the sheet.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, swallowing down my disappointment – something that tastes bitter in my mouth, something that’s sharp and raw as it descends my throat. “Nothing serious.”
“Right,” she says, quietly. “So we’ll just go back to the way things were. You’ll be obnoxiously rude to me.”
“And you’ll be a boring little nerd.”
She finds the bottom of the sheet and tosses it over her face. Her cheeks are bright pink and her hair is dancing around her head with static electricity.
She looks so beautiful, it makes my heart hurt. Actually hurt.
I don’t think anything has made it hurt before, not like this.
Harper – my step-sister – doesn’t like me in the way I like her.
However, though it hurts, it’s probably for the best, right? This was only going to get messier from here.
“A nerd,” she says, “but not boring.” She smiles at me, although it’s not as vibrant, not as bright as it usually is. Her eyes seem dull. I think she really is damn nervous about her mom coming home. She may have been willing to play the brat, the naughty girl, these last few days, but really Harper Hall is a good girl, one who does the right things, cares about her grades and is conscious of what people think of her.
Sneaking around for any long period of time was never on the cards. I should have known that.
“Here,” I say, holding out my hand. “I’ll deal with the sheets.”
“Do you actually know how to wash and change sheets?” She places a hand on her hip. “Little mister rich boy.”
“I’m a college student. I’ve been fending for myself for three years. I know how to wash and change the sheets. Besides, I’ve seen what happens when you don’t.”
“What?”
“Nasty, nasty skin rashes.”
“Ewww,” she says, tossing the sheets towards me.
I catch them in my arms and we stand there looking at each other, she chewing the inside of her cheek, me folding up the sheet in my arms.
Only a few minutes ago, she was lying in my arms. Now the space between us feels vast. How the hell did that happen? How did it happen so quickly?
Will I really never get to hold her in my arms again? Never get to kiss her mouth and taste her scent?
“You’re not boring,” I tell her. “You’re a lot of fun when you want to be.”
Then I turn around and leave because if I stay, I’ll be damn tempted to kiss her.
My heart continues to ache as I head for the laundry room. It’s temporary, right? So I found a girl I liked – an omega. She won’t be the only one. We’re young. There are plenty more fish in the sea.
Sure, Harper is special – really, really special – but there will be more special girls.
At least, I hope there will be, because there’s this niggling feeling in my gut that no girl is ever going to be as special as Harper Hall.