8. Riley
“What about the two of us?” Claire questioned.
“Before this goes any further, the two of you should talk to each other about what you want from each other and what you want out of a pack. We said no pressure and we meant it, but the last thing we want is to start this off on the wrong foot without all the cards on the table,” Vance said, giving me a very pointed look.
It was refreshing how straightforward he was. Guessing games were definitely not my style.
I wanted to be the drama, not deal with it.
“As you may have surmised, we do not open up our lives to just anyone,” Adrien said, swirling the red wine in his glass around. “Honesty and communication are incredibly important to us, and you should know that those are two things that are non-negotiable for us.”
“That’s a relief to hear actually,” Claire said, setting her fork down. “I—well, I haven’t dated all that much, and the few times I did…let’s just say there’s a reason I focus on my work so much.”
I knew Claire had dated, although only one of those I would truly count, and the beta and her were like polar opposites, but it still hurt to hear in a weird way. I wanted her to have the very best of everything, she absolutely deserved it.
A foot trailing up my calf had me startling at the table, my eyes scanning the table to find an insistent Vance still staring holes into the side of my head with his damn dreamy blue eyes.
I knew what he wanted me to say, to be open with Claire about how I felt, that while we both agreed we wanted to be in a pack together, that I wanted to date her as well. That I wanted all of us to date each other.
“I’m going to grab some more wine,” I said, moving from the table and walking to the kitchen.
I knew telling her was the right thing to do, I just needed a minute. Or two. Or another couple of weeks. A month really.
Footsteps echoed behind me and when no scent followed in its wake, I knew one of the alphas had followed me.
“What do you need right now, Gorgeous?” Vance asked.
“To find my balls that I love so much,” I muttered under my breath before turning to face him. “I didn’t expect this tonight.”
“That’s fair, but you’re Riley fucking Ortiz. You’re the beta who doesn’t back down, who has the town eating out of the palm of his hand, and who loves with his whole heart. You don’t have to do it tonight if you’re truly not ready, but I can tell you that you won’t be alone. The fact that you love Claire with every fiber of your soul, that you would do anything for her? It means that you literally will go to the ends of the earth to protect her. Take a chance, Riley. You won’t regret it.”
“I guess you would know.” I blew out a breath, tugging at my necklace to center me. “Okay, let’s do this. I want to start this off with everything out in the open, but if this goes horribly wrong I expect Adrien and you to ply me with wine all night and kiss it better.”
“Promise,” Vance said. “But it won’t come to that, Riley. Plus, we’ll do that one night just for fun.”
He placed his hand on the small of my back, eliciting a shiver down my spine, as we rejoined the table. Thankfully, he’d remembered to grab a new bottle of red.
“Oh good, you’re back,” Claire said with a relaxed smile as she enjoyed another breadstick. “I was just asking Adrien how you and he met.”
“It’s a bit…bittersweet,” Adrien said, before looking to Vance fondly. “But it brought us together and for that, no regrets.”
“Basically my foster parents couldn’t accept my sexuality and were…let’s just say I’m glad I packed up everything at eighteen and left them behind moving halfway across the world to get away from them,” Vance chimed in.
“He came into the cafe I was interning at, sitting at the same table every single day. I burned a batch or two of goods, getting distracted by him,” Adrien said with a little laugh.
“Have a habit of stalking people in cafes do you?” Claire asked Vance teasingly.
“Only the people I adore,” he said sweetly, making a little sigh escape her mouth. “But at the time I met Adrien, I was a broke college student on a strict scholarship studying creative writing, and all I could afford was bread.”
“Please tell me he snuck you all the good treats and plied you with food?” I asked, feeling myself getting dragged into the story.
“Oh yes, I couldn’t have him going hungry. That just wouldn’t do,” Adrien agreed seriously.
“Then what happened?” Claire asked.
“We became best friends and fell head over heels in love. My parents couldn’t accept that I bonded an alpha and Paris…well it’s not Holiday Hollow. This is the first place that has been promising,” Adrien said.
“It hasn’t always been easy but we’ve always had each other. Plus, that led us here to both of you,” Vance said, taking Adrien’s hand in his. “Everything works out in the end.”
“With my best friend by my side, how could it not? Je t’aime, mon chéri. I couldn’t imagine life without him, nor would I want to. A love like this is special, no?” Adrien said, tilting his head towards me.
Okay, so apparently Vance had filled him in on Operation Cupid and he was leaving me the perfect door and set up to have this conversation. All I had to do was walk through it.
“It is special,” I agreed, taking a deep breath and reaching over for Claire’s hand. “Claire’s been my best friend for ages, and I think it was that foundation that led to me falling head over heels for her too.”
“Ri?” she asked, turning fully towards me and squeezing my hand hard. She had a look of uncertainty in her eyes and I hated that I put it there. But it was the hope and excitement that had me continuing.
“Vance and Adrien asked for honesty and communication and we agreed,” I started. “I tell you every day I love you, but I’ve never told you how much and for that I’m sorry. I was scared you wouldn’t feel the same way about me, that I’d somehow ruin what we have. But you’re my Claire Bear, and I’m your Ri. When you agreed to being a pack like we used to always talk about, I knew it was only a matter of time before I needed to say something. So this is it. No smooth lines or smolders to try and woo you with, just me.”
“The same you that steals all the butterscotch chips from my trail mix?” she interrupted.
“They’re the best part.” I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. “I’m pouring my heart out to you and this is what you ask me?”
“Please do proceed, I’m quite enjoying this. We don’t have any popcorn do we?” she asked, casting a look over to Adrien and Vance who were watching us with shit-eating grins on their faces.
“Claire!” I said throwing my hands up in exasperation. She was taking this very vulnerable moment and using it to playfully torment me in true Claire fashion.
“Hmm?”
“Do you have anything to say back to me about what I said?” I asked, completely flabbergasted on why she was acting so damn cute and calm.
“About you apparently being hopelessly in love with me and secretly wanting to jump my bones for who knows how long?”
“Yes, that,” I deadpanned.
“That you probably could have saved me a ton of batteries if you spoke up sooner,” she said before taking a drink of her wine, making the alphas across the table choke on theirs. “Honestly, I’m just feeling relieved.”
“Relieved is a good thing, right?” Adrien asked, using his cloth napkin to wipe his mouth.
“After the day I’ve had? Absolutely,” Claire told him before turning to face me. “Riley Amelio Ortiz, I’ve been in love with you since our sophomore year of high school. Do you know how absolutely exhausting that is?”
“I’m sorry?”
Was I dreaming? Was this some sort of prank show?
But in truth, it was Claire being Claire. She was the queen of deflecting with humor and her easy acceptance was reassuring.
“I genuinely had given up,” she finally admitted. “You’ve only dated men and I thought you weren’t interested.”
It’s because no women had lived up to her. None I’d met had her humor, her expressive eyes, our easy friendship, none of the things I loved about her but was stupidly afraid to admit. Instead I’d wasted the years being her loyal best friend and leaving her open to be swept off her feet.
Thank god she wasn’t.
The thought alone had my chest aching and I rubbed it absently as we had a silent stare off. She finally reached over and took my hand again. For the first time in a long time I let myself enjoy the feeling, soaking in her presence and letting it ground me.
“So what does this mean now?” Claire asked bluntly. Her eyes flitted between the two alphas then back to me, waiting for someone to speak up. Apparently Vance was our spokesperson since neither Adrien or I volunteered.
“It means we put out in the open if we are all on board with giving this a shot,” Vance explained. “Now that we’ve all met and are all interested, we see how this goes.”
“I agree,” Adrien said. “We don’t jump into things lightly. I want you to be certain and if you are, I want us to take the time to give this chemistry a chance.”
“I’d like that,” Claire said. Her voice was quiet but we all heard her easily. My poor Claire Bear was out of her element. Hell, so was I.
“This has gotten heavy, and we all seem to be done with the main course. Let’s go sit in the living room,” Adrien suggested. “I’ll make coffee.”
“I can help,” I offered as Vance helped Claire walk to the other room. My eyes followed them until they turned the corner and when I looked back, the other alpha was watching me with amusement.
“They’re a sight, aren’t they?” Adrien mused. I swallowed hard, something about the alpha’s presence making me feel seen. I’d never shied from the spotlight, but this was different, more intense.
“So are you,” I flirted. He saw right through me and stepped closer. Looking up into his green eyes had all of my bravado fading away.
“You know, I find you so intriguing,” he husked, in a low enough voice I felt it vibrate right through me. “So strong and outspoken unless confronted. It makes me wonder just how submissive you are.”
“You wish I were submissive,” I laughed nervously. Yet the thought of me on my knees for these two alphas, Claire and I side by side as they gave us orders, had my cock stirring to life. I may be submissive in the bedroom, but there’s no way in hell I was going to give him that information for free.
“Stop flirting and get the coffee!” Vance called out. There was amusement in his voice that had the moment bursting between us. Adrien seemed just as dazed as I was and that thought had pride filling me. I loved that I could affect someone like him.
“How do you and Claire take yours?” Adrien asked as he finally shook it off and led me to the kitchen.
“Claire likes it sweet, I like it to taste like coffee,” I answered, already opening the fridge to grab out creamer. Adrien got out a tray and loaded it with sweeteners, stirrers, and made everything look fancy. When he was finished and satisfied with the display, a small adorable smile took over his face.
“No coffee for you?” I questioned, noticing he’d only put out three cups.
“I’m more of an espresso person if I do partake, but I don’t need that much caffeine this late. What we do need now is something sweet,” he said to me. Again he was moving through the kitchen and compiling a small snack board of confections and little pastries.
“It’s beautiful,” I told him. It wasn’t like I could help him much since I didn’t know where anything was so I spent the time appreciating the man at work. He was intense and focused, yes, but he was doing it out of passion and I was seeing that now.
“Thank you, Riley,” he said as he picked up the coffee tray. “Will you bring this one?”
“Of course,” I said quickly, forcing myself to focus on anything but him for a change.
Vance and Claire were sitting on the couch, not touching but I could tell they both wanted to. I appreciated that they were letting her set the pace. She deserved to not be rushed.
There was a fire going in their fireplace and their soft sectional was perfect. Adrien settled next to his husband while I sat next to Claire. It would be interesting to see how that dynamic shifted as we got to know each other.
“These are amazing,” Claire groaned as she let a truffle melt on her tongue. The moan she let out as her eyes rolled back had the scents in the room amping up. Omega pheromones had never seemed suffocating before, but now that it wrapped around her peaches and cream scent, I felt like I was drowning.
“Uh, Claire Bear. Rein it in, it’s not that kind of party,” I teased. As she met my eyes, I let her see how I truly felt. I knew mine were full of lust and her face flamed red.
“Shit. Sorry,” she squeaked out.
“Don’t apologize for that, I like when you enjoy my chocolates,” Adrien said in a gravelly tone.
“You have no idea how captivating you are,” Vance agreed as he took a long sip of his coffee.
“So, how about a movie?” Claire asked in a strained tone. From the sweet scent of her slick I could tell she was both loving and hating the attention. She would be so much fun to tease when things progressed.
But for now, I was content just sitting here on the sectional, enjoying an evening with the two alphas we never expected to crash into our lives and bring us together.
My best friend knew how I felt and she loved me back. Now that my secrets were out in the open, it could only go up from here.