Chapter Forty-three — Theo
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
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THEO
“You want me to go on that?” Trinity stared with a face that was half terror, half curiosity.
“Not by yourself. With me.”
“And you know how to… control it?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Her eyes went wide, and I laughed. “Yes, sweetheart, I know how to control it.”
The thing we watched was the equivalent of a hoverboard, but with water. A giant hose, a lot of pressure, and a board strapped to your feet made it so you could ‘fly.’ It was fun as hell, and I wanted Trinity to do it with me.
“The worst thing that can happen is that you fall in the water,” I pointed out. “But I don’t plan on dropping you.”
“Okay,” she finally said. “What do I get if you do drop me?”
“A thrilling adventure.” I pulled her into my body, chuckling at her tiny whine. “I don’t promise you won’t go in the water, but I’m not going to drop you. Trust me.”
“I do.” She started to hand her things to Logan and mumbled. “I just didn’t realize I was going to be using a fucking water jetpack today.”
I stripped my shirt over my head and slipped off my shoes, ready to get strapped in. “You’re scared?”
“Yup.”
“Well, thank you for being brave and trying it. And if you’re still terrified once we’re up there, I’ll put you down.”
“Really?”
My chest ached. Every time Trinity said something that revealed just how much she’d had withheld from her. Or when she said things like this. As if I would override her fear for my own pleasure if she didn’t find it fun.
She knew we wouldn’t. It wasn’t a sign of distrust—just a habit. Our Omega had had so few people to rely on in her life that anyone considering her wants and needs before their own was an alien concept.
But Trinity also tended to shut down when I mentioned those things. I got it. Having the same realizations I was about her own life was painful. This weekend was supposed to be about anything but pain, so when we got home, we could ask her to finally tell us the truth.
“Of course. I just want you to try it with me.”
“Okay.”
I stepped onto the plate and helped the attendant strap my feet into the device. With two water cannons beneath you, being strapped in was essential. Trinity would be strapped in by me.
“Ready,” the man said.
“Turn it on. Let me get used to it.”
There was a giant tube connected to the bottom that funneled the water into the cannons, but it was more than long enough to fly around, flip around, dive, and do whatever else we wanted.
The force of the water lifted me. I grinned and saluted Rin on the dock before throwing myself into a backflip.
I landed in the water, since the force would propel you downwards too, but that was the whole point.
Spinning, I rose out of the water like a tornado, and when I stopped, slowly angling myself to grab Trinity, there was so much less fear on her face.
Hovering in front of the dock, I held out my hand to her. She wore a teal bikini I couldn’t really focus on at the moment. Not if I wanted to keep my body in check.
“Step between my feet.”
I held her steady while she did and wrapped my arms around her. “Good?”
“No idea.”
“Let’s go.”
We spun up in the air together. Trinity gasped, holding onto me so tightly it hurt, hiding her face in my chest. All I did was float in a circle while she realized I wasn’t going to let her fall.
Slowly, she peeked out from where she hid and saw how high we were. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”
“See?”
“This is…”
“Ready to have some fun?”
Her hands flexed against my skin, and she bit her lip. But she nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Take a breath,” I ordered.
She obeyed. I slammed my mouth to hers before tossing us into a backflip that plunged us into the water. I kissed her through her scream and kept kissing her as we spun upward. She still clung to me, but was smiling now. “Oh my god.”
“Let go of me,” I said in her ear.
“Are you crazy?”
“Trust me, Trinity. It’s no different than you kneeling for me. Let go. Let me help you fly.”
She raised her hands to my shoulders, still holding onto me. The metal of her hand chains scraped my skin. The hope in her eyes was so bright it hurt.
“I’ve got you.”
Slowly, she lifted her hands. And she didn’t just let go—she tilted her head and arms back, the picture of surrender.
We danced.
Spinning and twirling, ducking beneath the water and back up. Now Trinity laughed, smiling brighter than the sun. No more fear. Just joy.
Moving my arms, I lifted her so her legs wrapped around my waist. Riskier, but I wanted her closer. Our breath mingled. I slowed us down into a gentle spiral. There wasn’t going to be a better time than this. “You ready?”
Trinity was breathless. “What for?”
“I love you.”
She went still, lips parted.
“Don’t let go.”
I flipped us twice, plunging us deep beneath the water once more. By the time we broke the surface, I was kissing her again. She didn’t want to let me go when we returned to the dock, and the feeling was mutual.
“Let me get out of this. Stay close.”
“Okay.”
As soon as the attendant had my feet free, she was in my arms again. “You survived,” I teased her. “Wasn’t so bad, right?”
“You mean it?” She wasn’t talking about the ride.
“I don’t think I’ve ever meant anything more.”
She swallowed and looked like she wanted to speak, and swallowed again. Rin sometimes had trouble speaking when she was overwhelmed. This seemed like one of those times.
I scooped her up into my arms bridal-style and carried her back toward the rest of our pack. “Listen to me. I’m not saying I love you so you can say it back. I’m saying it because it’s true. There’s no expectation. I just need you to know.”
She made sure I didn’t step away when I set her on her feet. “I want to say it back,” she whispered. “I’m not sure I know how.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
Her stomach growled, interrupting the moment. She flushed red, and I burst out laughing. “Well, your stomach seems to be ready to speak, that’s for sure.”
“I’m fine.”
The others hovered a couple feet away, giving us space. We put our clothes back on. The day was so hot and bright we were already halfway dry. “Logan,” I called. “You hungry?”
“Fucking starving.”
I gave Trinity a pointed look. My Omega needed to realize that having needs was okay. Voicing them was okay. Continually sacrificing herself and her comfort for others wasn’t necessary. Not in life and not with us. Even for something as small as being hungry.
Her cheeks were still pink, and it wasn’t sunburn. She looked toward the ground as we walked. I didn’t want her to feel shame when we gently corrected her either.
“Trinity.”
“Mm?”
“You know how much we want you, right?”
She looked up at me with a frown, squinting in the sun. “Why?”
Pulling her to a stop behind the others, I blocked the sun so she could see me properly. “Because I think you’re afraid it’s not real.”
Her lips parted in shock. She cleared her throat while her eyes dropped to my chest. “I’m not sure what you mean?”
“I don’t have to know what happened to you to see the effects.
It will take time to pull apart the little things you’re used to.
But when I say I’m not going anywhere, I mean we aren’t going anywhere.
There isn’t anything you can do or say that’s going to make us change our minds.
You’re allowed to want things, and basic needs like food are not optional. ”
Slowly, I saw the puzzle pieces click together. “Oh.”
I tangled my fingers in her wet hair, massaging her scalp. “I’m going to keep redirecting you in those moments, like I did just now with Logan. But I’m not doing that to shame you or make you feel bad. Is that how you felt?”
We slowly started walking again as she thought about it. “Not shame, no. More… frustration.”
“Oh?”
“I didn’t even realize I’d done it until you drew attention to it. I don’t like that it’s my default. Can’t seem to stop it.”
“Like I said, it will take time, and we’ll help.”
“Thank you.”
Brooks jogged back toward us. “What do you want to eat, baby?”
“Nothing heavy. Maybe a salad?” She placed a hand on her stomach. “A salad with chicken sounds great.”
“Perfect. We’ll find something. We want to stay down here on the beach until after dark.”
It was late afternoon now.
Brooks jogged back to the others, leaving Rin staring after him. “What’s happening after dark?”
“While you and Logan were occupied yesterday, we checked what’s around here.” I pointed down the beach in the distance, where things were being set up on the sand and in the water. “Every year they have a festival toward the end of summer, and it’s happening right now.”
Trinity laced our fingers together. That single movement made my heart skip a beat. Simple. Natural. Commonplace. That was what I wanted. For Trinity to believe that this was forever as much as we already did. “What kind of festival?”
“Not sure,” I said honestly. “This year it’s called ‘sinking stars.’ Seems like it has something to do with light.”
But even if the festival was only light, I doubted anything would shine like she did.