Chapter 20
" W hat’s on the menu for tonight?" I asked as we headed to the store. I would have stayed with Taryn and Mathias, but I also knew he was looking forward to this mystery book she planned for him.
"Besides, Taryn?" Holt joked as he bumped his shoulder into mine. "I was thinking pasta."
"That's a good choice, just don’t over carb our girl, she'll be too sleepy for night time activities," I reminded him with an eyebrow wiggle.
"You don't have to tell me, though she needs the calories as well to keep up," he shot back with a chuckle.
We stepped through the glass doors and Holt ripped his paper in half, handing one to me. "Divide and conquer."
"Yes, chef," I teased as I grabbed a basket and headed off towards the baking section. From what Holt wrote, that smug bastard was going to make homemade noodles.
I was going to have to find something that I could impress Taryn with. Yes, she was already mine, but I didn't want to be the disappointment when stacked up against the others’ skills.
When I stooped down to find the specific flour he requested, a pair of legs stop next to me. Before Taryn, I wouldn't have thought twice about looking the owner up and down.
Now, I had no such urge. I didn't care if the omega standing next to me was hot, Taryn was the only woman I wanted and needed.
"Excuse me," a husky, female voice said from next to me.
"Yes?" I asked, not glancing up at her as I grabbed what I needed.
"Can you hand me a bag of that flour you're kneeling in front of?" she asked in a flirty tone that I also ignored.
"Sure," I answered as I palmed a sack and handed it back to her.
"Thanks," she huffed as she took it and stomped off now that I didn’t entertain her flirting.
It didn't bother me in the least that she was upset. Just because I didn’t return her flirty words or give her my attention, didn’t mean I owed her a thing.
Now that I secured the flour, I moved on to the rest of the list. Everything was a fresh ingredient and I knew that Holt would pull out all the stops for our girl, but the man didn’t have to go all out for every meal.
She already knew that he was an amazing cook, but I wasn't going to tell that grumpy ass that.
After about fifteen minutes, I had collected everything on my half of the list, so I headed back to the front of the store. Holt walked up just as I did.
"Ready if you are," I told him as I held up my basket.
"Yep, this place had even more fresh ingredients than I originally had on my list but thought would be good to have some staples at the house," he said. There was a change in the alpha. He wasn’t putting on a grumpy front or walking around tense. He was enjoying the grocery store, thinking only of our girl, and it showed.
He was relaxed, easygoing. It was strange, but I was glad to see it.
She was already changing us for the better.
"So, this is a little slice of heaven for you, just like a bookstore is for Taryn, huh?" I asked.
"Same for you at the auto supply store," he said with a shrug. He wasn’t wrong. I was really missing my shop.
"You have me there," I said as I threw a pack of gum on my basket when I followed Holt into a checkout line. “I think I’ll take her to the shop tomorrow, actually. Show it off a bit. She’ll look gorgeous on the back of a bike.”
He shot me a look and shook his head. “I guess it is time we work on integrating our lives with hers. We’ll have to go back to regular work days before too long.”
Neither one of us felt good about that. I was happy to remain here in this little bubble our pack created. Even the packhouse was better now. Full of our mixed scents, her coconut, kiwi, and vanilla seeping into the place, making it feel whole.
"Do you think that Taryn and Mathias are about done? Or should we head to the coffee shop and get a drink for Taryn?" I asked as we started to unload the goods onto the belt.
"I'll text Mathias and see. Wouldn't hurt to give them some more time together. Plus, then I can see the smile on her face when we show up and you're holding a drink for her," he told me.
"Then it's settled, coffee shop next," I said, a grin spreading across my face. I loved that our omega soaked in all the little things we did for her. She soaked in our attention now that she wasn’t fighting the growing bond and she was practically glowing because of it.
The woman behind Holt slammed down the divider on the belt with a huff, shooting daggers at us with her eyes.
Holt was confused, casting me a questioning look but I just rolled my eyes his way and gestured for him to pay. He swiped his card and waited for the receipt as she bitched on the phone to someone about stuck-up alphas.
Clearly, this omega didn’t take kindly to rejection.
I didn't say anything and neither did Holt until we were out of earshot from the store.
"You pissed that lady off," Holt said, raising an eyebrow to get the rest of the story from me.
"She came up to me and wanted a sack of flour, so I gave it to her," I told him. "It was obvious she was just flirting, but I didn’t give her a glance. I was focused on our list and getting back to our girl.”
"I agree, brother. Even if she was hot, they all pale in comparison to our omega," he agreed with a grin.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," I said. "Do you remember if Taryn said what type of coffee she liked?"
We never had to think too hard about coffee orders before. We weren’t big on it outside of just making our own pots of coffee at home, and back in college our girlfriends were happy to order and just expected us to be quiet and pay.
Maybe that should have been a red flag. One of many, honestly.
"It's coffee, there can't be that many types, right?" Holt asked. "We can just grab a variety and let her pick."
That was a good idea. I figured that the guys on the ranch would take whatever she didn't want. None of it would go to waste.
A little bell jingled when I stepped over the threshold of the coffee shop. Holt was on my heels and we both stopped at the counter and my jaw dropped. There were more than a few options and there was no way that we could take all of these back to our girl.
"Umm, what if we just get the four most popular ones?" I asked Holt as I glanced to see he was wearing the same expression that I was.
"Yep, I think that works," he agreed with a shocked laugh. It was abundantly clear we didn’t frequent coffee shops often.
I stepped up to the counter and the lady behind it smiled at me sweetly.
"What can I get for ya?" the barista asked as the last customer moved to the pickup side of the counter and we stepped up to order.
"We need one each of the top four best-selling coffees you have," I told her.
Her smile turned into a grin and I had a feeling she could tell that I was more than a little overwhelmed.
"First time in?" she questioned as she walked over to a fancy-looking machine.
"Yeah, our omega loves her coffee. So, we thought we'd surprise her," I answered with a shrug.
"That is sweet of you. Haven't been together long?" she asked.
"Why do you say that?" Holt countered. It wasn’t aggressive this time, just curious.
"Because you don't know what she drinks," she answered with a snort.
"It’s fairly new, yes," I admitted. There was no point in hiding it.
She didn't say anything else as she got the order together. Holt took a seat and was tapping his foot as we waited.
"Here you are. I think it's wonderful that you're going to surprise her with a treat. There needs to be more romance with the younger generations," she told me as I paid and made sure to leave her a big tip in the glass jar near the register.
"Ready?" I asked as I headed to where Holt was waiting.
"I’m more than ready to get back to our omega," he agreed, stretching out his neck and rolling his shoulders. “I don’t like being away from her for long.”
“Same, brother,” I agreed as we headed back to the bookstore. It wasn't too far from where we were, so I could almost smell her.
I was so focused on Taryn that I missed a familiar scent in the air and my blood ran cold when she spoke.
"Ash and Holt, just the two handsome men that I wanted to see," Sadie stated as we both stopped dead in our tracks. What, were we omega magnets today?
Just when I was the happiest in my life, I was thrown into the depths of Hell once again.
“Sadie,” I said with a sigh. “Now isn’t a good time.”
She gave an overly exaggerated pout with her red lips as she fluttered her fake eyelashes at us. I never realized before how much makeup she wore. It was flawless, but definitely prominent as my eyes tracked over the darker shades of her contour and red cheeks and nose where she dusted blush.
It was the complete opposite of my omega who preferred natural looks. I wasn’t judging Sadie, I always thought she was beautiful, but now that I had my girl, I couldn’t imagine anything other than her flawless beauty.
“Don’t be like that, Ash,” she said, leaning in and wrapping her hand around my arm, her red claws digging into my bicep where she couldn’t quite reach.
I shrugged out of her touch and stepped back, her jaw dropping at the reaction. Anger flashed in her eyes and she crossed her arms. The action pushed her tits up and her scent was stronger now, the cherry blossom holding a sour note now.
“You can’t just push me away after all of our history,” she huffed.
“Sadie. We’re a pack,” I said, gesturing to Holt. “I’m not going to keep dating you. Plus, we found a scent-match.”
She took a step back like I had slapped her.
“What?” Her eyes darted around, a desperate edge to her as she moved closer again after spotting no one. “Was this what that call was about? I knew you sounded weird.”
“What, his lack of interest had you suddenly ready to have him in your clutches again?” Holt asked. If she thought this would be a happy reunion she was fucking wrong. We were both annoyed and frustrated.
I handed over the coffee to Holt and faced off with my ex.
“It is. Taryn is our mate,” I said. “And I would suggest you keep any and all misguided bullshit opinions to yourself.”
“That would be wise,” Holt said, eyes murderous and making her swallow hard.
She moved fast enough I couldn’t hold her back as she latched onto me, pressing her lips to mine. It felt sloppy and wet and I nearly gagged at the contact. Before I could shove her off she was ripped away and thrown to the ground.
Taryn’s angry face was looming over her and I swiped a hand over my mouth, prepared to beg for forgiveness as a weight settled in my gut.
“Princess, I swear I didn’t know she was going to do that.”
She gave me a smile that was full of malice. “Oh, I know. I heard you guys tell her you had a mate and yet she still felt it was alright to try and take what is mine.”
“You bitch!” Sadie bellowed as she moved to her feet and lunged for Taryn. Our girl met her with a fist to the face, knocking her down before Mathias shoved between them.
“Back the fuck up, Sadie!” Mathias growled.
“She hit me, I’m pressing charges!” Sadie screeched loud enough I winced.
“Go ahead, and I will tell them how you were rejected, then you assaulted this alpha, and triggered his omega’s possessive instincts,” a calm voice said from behind us. Dani had stepped out of the bookstore and was glaring at the offending omega.
Sadie let out another frustrated screech, turning her fury on me. “Really, Ash? You’re going to let them do this? You know I’m the better choice. I’m prettier, smarter, sexier, and so much better for you than she could ever be.”
Taryn laughed, a slightly unhinged one that had Mathias putting his arms around her.
“What’s his favorite color?” she asked Sadie, serious now.
Sadie turned toward her and rolled her eyes, but I could see doubt creeping in.
“How about his favorite food? His favorite shirt?” Taryn continued, crossing her arms now and raising her brows. She was the picture of confidence and fire. It was hot as hell.
Then doubt was hitting me. Did Taryn know those answers? And if she did, what excuse did I have for not knowing her coffee order?
“He likes pizza and the color red, he always told me to wear the red dress when we went out,” she said, a defiant smirk on her face that made Taryn snort.
“Wrong. His favorite food is his omega. The color? Black… or the blue of my eyes,” Taryn said with a sexy as fuck smirk my way.
Sadie sputtered at her words but Taryn dismissed her, turning to me and pointing to the car. “Get in, you need to wash that bitch off of you before I kiss you again.” She stopped at the door of the car and turned. “And if you dare to touch what’s mine again, I’ll break your fucking hand.”