Chapter Thirteen
Pierce
Waking up in the middle of two hot, sexy alphas was nothing I ever expected to be part of my life, but here I was doing exactly that. I loved being wrapped by their warmth, their comfort, their scents. It was like something out of a dream. I wanted to stay there all day.
But also…being in the middle sucked, because I needed to get up to use the restroom, and I didn’t know how to get up without ruining their sleep too. They looked so peaceful and after the hard work they’d done last night, they deserved all the sleep.
I slid down, using my feet to pull me toward the foot of the bed in an attempt to try not to wiggle too much and wake them. I almost did it. I almost got there without waking them up.
And then I fell.
Plop—to the floor with a loud thud. So much for being stealthy.
I don’t know which one of them heard me first, but their voices echoed through the air, both of them asking if I was okay as they rushed around the bed to help me.
It was embarrassing enough, having them hear my fall, but needing them to untangle me from the blanket? That brought it to a whole new level.
“Seems our mate doesn’t know how to get out of bed.” Quill chuckled.
“I guess we should help him,” Rafe added.
“Just go back to bed and pretend you didn’t see my clumsiness,” I grumbled. It worked fine the last time I tried it. My cheeks were burning up. Thank gods, my face was still covered.
And then it wasn’t. Everything was light again, the blankets up off my face, two hands outstretched to help me up. They weren’t laughing. If anything, they looked more concerned than their light tones had indicated.
“We’ll go back to bed, but let’s help you out first.” Rafe wasn’t asking.
I took their hands and stood up. The smiles on their faces weren’t mocking; they were filled with adoration. They were keepers.
“I’ll be back,” I mumbled and booked it to the bathroom.
When I came back, they were both in bed, Rafe lying on his back, Quill snuggled into his side, head on his chest. I climbed in so that I was on Rafe’s other side, making him the middle now. Would Quill be the middle next time? Was it a turn-taking thing or whatever felt natural? Last night, I never felt an ounce of jealousy, so I imagined it would be whatever felt right at the time.
“I tried not to wake you guys up. It’s early.”
“It’s not early.” Rafe kissed the top of my head. “It’s nearly nine. We were just up late…a little preoccupied by each other.” That was an understatement.
“We were a whole lot preoccupied.” Quill expressed what I’d been thinking.
My body was deliciously sore, and I found myself stretching without thinking about it, nearly whacking poor Quill in the face..
“How about I get up and make us breakfast?” I offered. It was a lot better than accidentally smacking my mates.
I was glad we weren’t at my place where I’d have nothing to feed them. In a perfect world, I’d offer to take them out for pancakes, but that wasn’t in the cards either. Gods, how embarrassing, I came into this relationship with no job, no money, no home. Heck, I didn’t even know my true designation at the time.
“Oh no. Absolutely not.” Rafe hugged me closer. “We’re going out.”
I froze within his embrace, and I must have looked as stressed as I felt in that moment because Quill reached out and brushed his hand across my cheek. “You don’t like eating out?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s—when I met up with Rafe…” I closed my eyes, once again embarrassed. “I was there because I really needed the job. And the place to live. I can make something. I don’t mind—”
“Honey.” Quill’s finger traced along my cheekbone. “We got you. Don’t worry about money. Let’s just go out. Somewhere by the beach. We can eat, take in the gorgeousness that is the ocean, and plan the rest of our day.”
“You sure?” I never wanted to be an imposition.
“Of course we are.” Rafe kissed Quill’s head and then mine. I liked him being in the middle almost as much as I liked being there.
I’d been on dates before. Dates to nice places, even. And usually we shared the expense. Looking back, all that did was say something about my choices of date, I supposed. But it was my frame of reference, and this was definitely veering away from that.
These were my mates. Of course we would all do anything for each other. That was kind of the point.
We took a shower, not together because we wanted to actually leave for the day, and being wet and naked together wasn’t going to achieve that goal. If we were all in there at once, we’d be…distracted, to say the least.
I don’t know how he did it, but Rafe managed to get us an ocean-view table at the fanciest brunch place in town. None of us were exactly dressed for the occasion, but they didn’t seem to mind, leading us right to our table. The scent of the ocean wafted through as we picked out what we wanted from their fancy-shmancy menu that belonged on a feature of some food show.
It was fun, the three of us sitting there, talking about the menu options, chatting about the ocean, sharing random getting to know you tidbits. The food was as wonderful as I’d have expected.
Even with all of that, nothing was as great as what came after.
We crossed the street and walked, hand in hand, along the shore, watching the waves. Families playing in the water, surfers, sunbathers…you name it. They were all there, just enjoying a leisurely day like we were.
And as we walked around a father and son building a sandcastle, I couldn’t help but think about how that could one day be me…could be us.
Discovering I was an omega, after all this time, was a huge deal. Most omegas in my family were late bloomers, not presenting at puberty like so many others did. But even knowing that, I’d assumed I’d missed that window. I’d pretty much come to terms with it. But this? This was so much better. Meeting my mates somehow triggered my omega side. It was amazing. Like a whole new world had opened up to me.
And sure, finding out that Quill was a cute porcupine shifter was fabulous too—although I was pretty excited about the fluffy wolf as well.
Probably shouldn’t call him fluffy, though. He was a predator and to be feared, right? But in any case, my life had completely tilted on its axis yesterday.
And I couldn’t be happier.