CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO #2
Her rhythm builds, still steady but more urgent now, and the way she squeezes around me has me breaking apart at the seams. Every clench is a demand, every roll of her body a plea I can’t deny.
I slide a hand down between us, fingers circling her clit in tight, practiced strokes. She gasps, rocking into the pressure, chasing the edge. Her face is inches from mine, eyes wide and wet, mouth parted.
“Look at me,” I say again, voice cracking. “Don’t look away.”
She doesn’t. Her gaze locks on mine as her orgasm rips through her, her entire body spasming around me. The way she cries out my name, the way she shakes against me, it unravels the last of my control.
I thrust up into her hard, hips snapping, desperate to bury myself as deep as I can. My release crashes over me in hot, violent waves, pulsing through me until I’m emptied inside her.
My mouth finds her breast again, teeth grazing the swollen peak, and for a heartbeat I almost do it — almost sink in, almost bind her to me forever. But at the last second I tear myself back, groaning against her skin instead, biting down just hard enough to leave a mark that will fade.
When it’s done, we collapse together, her head tucked under my chin, our bodies still joined. Her walls flutter around me in soft aftershocks, and I swear I feel her memorizing the shape of me from the inside out.
Neither of us speaks. There’s too much in the silence.
Finally, she shifts off my lap, moving slow, tender, like she doesn’t want to break the moment even as she’s ending it. She dresses without looking at me, and I can’t find the words to stop her.
At the door, she glances back with that sad, small smile. "I don't regret any of it, you know. Getting to know you. All of you. I'm glad I did."
There's something in her tone that sends warning signals through every nerve. "Reese, what does that mean?"
She doesn't answer. Just opens the door and slips out, leaving me standing in the middle of my room with the distinct feeling that something just ended.
I sink back onto the couch, her scent still clinging to the cushions. My phone buzzes. Another call from my father. This time, I answer.
"Gray." His voice is cold. "We need to discuss your future."
I close my eyes, already knowing what's coming. "Yes, sir."
"The Hamiltons have a daughter. Another Alpha, from a good family. She'll be visiting next weekend."
"I'm in the middle of the season."
"You'll make time." It's not a request. "This is important, Gray. More important than some college rowing team."
Some college rowing team. Like it hasn't been my entire life for the past four years. Like the crew doesn't matter. Like Reese doesn't matter.
"I understand," I say, because what else can I say?
"Good. Your mother will send you the details."
He hangs up without saying goodbye. I stare at the phone in my hand, then throw it across the room. It hits the wall with a satisfying crack.
I think about Reese's words. About the version of me my parents created versus who I actually am. The problem is, I'm not sure I know the difference anymore.
My door opens. Bo leans against the frame, taking in my disheveled appearance and the phone on the floor.
"She was here," he says.
"Yeah."
"You didn't claim her."
"No."
He's quiet for a moment. "Your parents?"
"Among other things."
Bo steps into the room, closing the door behind him. "You're going to lose her, you know. If you keep letting them control you."
"You think I don't know that?"
"I think you're so used to following their script that you've forgotten you can write your own."
I laugh, bitter and sharp. "Easy for you to say. Your parents support you."
"No, they don't." Bo's voice is quiet. "They think I'm dating a nice Beta girl from my economics class.
If they knew the truth about all this? About sharing an Omega with seven other Alphas?
" He shakes his head. "Sometimes you have to decide what's worth fighting for.
And sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. "
I stare at him. In all our years of rowing together, I've never heard him talk like this.
"The difference is," he continues, "I've already made my choice. My family will either accept it when they find out, or they won't. But I'm not giving her up for their hypothetical approval."
"It's not that simple."
"Isn't it?" He picks up my phone, sets it on my desk. "She's not going to wait forever, Gray. None of us expect her to."
After he leaves, I sit in the dark room, replaying the evening. The way she looked at me. The way she said she didn't regret it, like she was already putting us in the past tense.
I think about calling her, but what would I say? That I'm sorry? That I want her but can't have her? That I'm too much of a coward to stand up to my parents?
Instead, I pull up my laptop and open the email from my mother about the Hamilton girl. Alexandra. Pre-law at Whitmore. Blonde, accomplished, everything they want for me.
Everything I don't want for myself.
I close the laptop and stare at the ceiling, trying not to think about how empty the room feels without Reese in it. Trying not to wonder what she meant by being glad she got to know us all.
Trying not to feel like I just made the biggest mistake of my life.
But the growing dread in my stomach tells me it might already be too late to fix it.